Dear friends and colleagues,
Happy 2009!

This new year's trimming down has less to do with losing weight, and more with tightening money belts, doesn't it?! But rather than spinning down the vicious cycle of reduced budgets and shrinking staffs toward risk aversion and stagnation, I encourage you to seize the coming year as an opportunity for growth.

Now is a great time for brand-building. This brief includes a short piece on 5 ways to build your brand in a tough economic climate. And I'm also offering a FREE webinar to jump start you on the road to a stronger brand.

Also I've been spending more time on my blog these days, so I hope you visit it often and join the conversation. Recent posts include:

• brand-building: yohn on ries -- my response to Al Ries's column on brand-building
• losing more than a brand name -- questions I have about FedEx's decision to drop Kinko's from its name, and
• trends we watched in 2008 -- a recap of the top 10 trends forecasted for 2008 and how they panned out

I'm always interested in hearing about news items, topics, or questions you'd like me to address in upcoming briefs or blog posts, so please let me know.

Looking forward to staying connected in the new year!

5 ways to build your brand in 2009

Today's tough economic climate may cause you to be leery about the prospects of your brand in the coming year. But contrary to popular opinion, brand-building doesn't depend on splashy advertising campaigns and big media budgets. Instead, you increase the power of your brand by improving the fundamentals of what your company does.

Here are five ways to build your brand in this year's tough economy.

read more articles from me

free webinar: get your brand ducks in a row:
how to achieve brand alignment with a brand toolbox

• Is there a gap between your brand strategy and your brand execution?
• Do different internal groups disagree on what's "on brand" and what's not?
• Do you wish your business partners understood and embraced your brand vision?

Effective brand execution depends upon brand alignment among all stakeholders.

Learn how to develop a brand toolbox and achieve brand alignment in a free webinar on Thursday, January 29th, 9:00am PT / 12:00noon ET.

I'm offering this pratical and instructive webinar as an complimentary learning opportunity to help you learn how to build a stronger brand. Register now.

• pitching the proposal for my upcoming book, The Brand Disconnect: Why's There's a Gap between Brand Vision and Reality and How to Close It
• preparing for the webinar on 01.29.09 - Get Your Ducks in a Row - How to Achieve Brand Alignment through a Brand Toolbox

This brief's featured service is:
brand diagnostic

Having a thorough, objective understanding of how your brand is currently performing in the market relative to the desired position -- and why -- is the baseline from which all brand development and operationalization efforts start.

Download a summary of this service offering.
Learn about my other services.