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The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. A companys corporate brand name should be its hardest working marketing asset. Nothing will be used more often or for longer than the companys name. And in a world where competitors can copy almost everything else, they cant duplicate your name. However, sometimes the original name, chosen long ago, no longer fits and it’s time to rebrand. Rebranding a company is not just a superficial exercise; this strategic move can redefine your business, energize your team, and reshape your future. Steve Jobs, a master at communication, understood that a brand is more than a name or logoits a story, a purpose, a promise, and the right name can make or break a brand. After all, the man turned a company named after a fruit into one of the most successful brands in the world. Here is some guidance on when to rebrand and the steps to make a rebrand successful, with inspiration from Steve Jobs. When to rebrand So, when is it time to rebrand? Maybe your brand no longer reflects who you are or what you stand for. If your company has evolvedexpanding into new markets, adopting new technologies, or shifting its missionyour brand must evolve too. Just as Jobs famously redefined Apples purpose to focus on innovation and simplicity, you must ensure your brand reflects where youre headed, not where youve been. Perhaps your brand is facing increased competition. If customers cant tell the difference between you and your competitors, its time to stand out. A rebrand can help clarify what makes your business unique and why it matters. And most common, you are merging or acquiring another company. Mergers and acquisitions often demand a new identity that reflects the combined strengths of the entities involvedan opportunity to tell a fresh story. Once a decision has been made to rebrand, here are five steps for success. 1. Tell the story first We are all wired for story. When someone says, I have a story to tell you, we lean in. So the first step is to tell the story of the rebrand with emphasis on the benefits to the audiences. Why you are changing is a good start, but what does this mean for your customers? Craft a narrative that resonates emotionally and aligns with your audiences needs. As Jobs said, People dont buy what you do; they buy why you do it. Anchor your rebrand in a strong why. And an even stronger what! 2. Write your future headlines Imagine the article you want to see in The Wall Street Journal or The New York Times about your brand. What would they say about your rebrand? This exercise will clarify your vision and guide all creative efforts. While this sounds simple, the strategic exercise can be your compass as you prepare your creative and launch activities. Take a recent Lexicon name, Lucid Motors. The companys mission statement expresses that through technology, we create exceptional experiences to drive the world forward. For this assignment, the client was looking for a name that would capture that notion while setting itself apart from any other auto brand. The name Lucid achieves this by working on our imagination, moving us from the literal meaning clear-headed to exceptionally efficient brain powerto exceptionallyefficient battery power. While this is going on in the intellectual realm, weexperience the shock of the names unexpectedness in its category. Of course, shock by itself is not enough. As we see, the name also moves us from the literal meaning of lucid to one that fits the character of the car. 3. Focus on the unexpected and emotion. Humans like to think of themselves as rational animals, but it comes as no news to marketers that we are motivated to a greater extent by emotions. Logic brings us to conclusions; emotion brings us to action. Whether we are creating a poem or a new brand name, we wont get very far if we treat the task as an engineering exercise. True, names are formed by putting together parts, just as poems are put together with rhythmic patterns and with rhyming lines, but that totally misses what is essential to a name’s success or a poem’s success. Consider Microsoft and Apple as names. One is far more mechanical, and the other much more effective at creating the beginning of an experience. While both companies are tremendously successful, there is no question that Apple has the stronger, more emotional experience. What is that worth? 4. Identify your audience and speak directly to each group Different stakeholders care about different things. Employees need inspiration; investors need confidence; customers need clarity on whats in it for them. Break down these audiences and craft tailored messages for each group. Identifying the audience groups can be challenging. While the first layer is obviouscustomers, employees, investors, and analystsall these audiences are easy to find and message. However, what is often overlooked is the individuals in those audiences who can more positively influence the rebrand. It may be a particular journalist, or a few select employees. Once you have identified these influencers, develop more relevant conversations that help them understand the rebrand. 5. Plan for longevity A successful launch must be roadmapped with events and reminders over a 9-18 month timeline. It is much more than simply reannouncing the name change; it becomes an opportunity to build stronger relationships with the audiences that matter most to your brand. Consistency builds trust. Plan events and marketing efforts over a longer timeframe to reinforce your new identity. For example, company or industry conferences are excellent venues to reinforce the change and show where the company is headed. Any event must be viewed as an opportunity to strengthen the reasons for the rebrand. Steve Jobs approached branding with clarity, simplicity, and a relentless focus on storytelling and user experience. He didnt just change Apples logohe transformed its identity by aligning every touchpoint with its purpose: empowering individuals through technology. By following these principles, you can ensure that your rebrand isnt just a name change but a strategic leap forward that captures attention, inspires loyalty, and drives growth. As Jobs might say, Think different. David Placek is founder and CEO of Lexicon Branding.
Category:
E-Commerce
If you’re feeling detached from work and lacking motivation lately, know that you are not alone. Gallup’s most recent State of the Global Workplace report revealed that employee engagement fell to 21% in 2024, declining 2 points from the previous year. In the last 12 years, employee engagement has only fallen one other time, in 2020, due in part to COVID-19, the shift to working from home, and increased isolation. The report “offers what may be our last snapshot of a workforce on the cusp of seismic change,” Gallup CEO Jon Clifton said in the report. “We are witnessing a pivotal moment in the global workplaceone where engagement is faltering at the exact time artificial intelligence is transforming every industry in its path.” The most recent decline can be linked to disruptions in the workplace over the last five years, including layoffs, the introduction of AI across industries, ongoing friction around RTO policies, and more. Broken down by region, the U.S. and Canada tied with Latin America and the Caribbean for the region with the highest engaged employeesalthough the percentage was still low, with less than a third being engaged. The region also ranked at the top for employees experiencing daily stress. Managers need help The report found that the global decline in engagement centers around one particularly affected group: managers. Managers under 35 years old and female managers were the most affected, with engagement declining by 5 and 7 percentage points, respectively. The findings suggest that a lack of engagement from the top is trickling down to employees, and resulted in a loss of $438 billion in productivity to the world economy. Despite the declining rates, Gallup identified ways that employers can take action and lean toward a productivity boom: First, training managers on basic roles may boost engagement, with 44% of managers reporting a lack of training. Second, Gallup suggests teaching managers techniques for effective coaching, which could boost performance by up to 28%. Lastly, improving manager well-being should be prioritized, with manager development training and an encouraging peer working environment boosting well-being by up to 50%.
Category:
E-Commerce
The death of Pope Francis has been announced by the Vatican. I first met the late Pope Francis at the Vatican after a conference called Saving Our Common Home and the Future of Life on Earth in July 2018. My colleagues and I sensed something momentous was happening at the heart of the church. At that time, I was helping to set up the new Laudato Si Research Institute at the Jesuit Hall at the University of Oxford. This institute is named after the popes 2015 encyclical (a letter to bishops outlining church policy) on climate change. Its mission is rooted in the popes religiously inspired vision of integral ecologya multidisciplinary approach that addresses social and ecological issues of equality and climate breakdown. Originating from Argentina, Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pope, witnessed firsthand the destruction of the Amazon and the plight of South Americas poorest communities. His concern for justice for vulnerable communities and protection of the planet go hand in hand with his religious leadership. In his first papal letter, Laudato Si, he called for all people, not just Catholics, to pay more attention to the frailty of both our planet and its people. What we need is no less than a cultural revolution, he wrote. As a theologian, I recognise that he inspired significant change in three key ways. 1. At global climate summits Its no coincidence that Pope Francis released Laudato Si at a crucial moment in 2015 prior to the U.N. climate summit, Cop21, in Paris. A follow-up exhortation, or official statement, Laudate Deum, was released in October 2023, just before another U.N. climate summit, Cop28 in Dubai. Did the decisions at these global meetings shift because of the influence of Pope Francis? Potentially, yes. In Laudate Deum, Pope Francis showed both encouragement and some frustration about the achievements of international agreements so far. He berated the weakness of international politics and believes that Cop21 represented a significant moment because the agreement involved everyone. After Cop21, he pointed out how most nations had failed to implement the Paris agreement which called for limiting the global temperature rise in this century to below 2°C. He also called out the lack of monitoring of those commitments and subsequent political inertia. He tried his best to use his prominent position to hold power to account. Promoting a general moral awareness of the need to act in ecologically responsible ways, both in international politics and at the local level is something that previous popes, Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI also did. But, Pope Franciss efforts went beyond that, by connecting much more broadly with grassroots movements. 2. By advocating for Indigenous people Cop28 marked the first time that close to 200 countries agreed to transition away from fossil fuels. Pope Franciss interventions potentially helped shift the needle just a little in the desired direction. His emphasis on listening to Indigenous people may have influenced these gatherings. Compared with previous global climate summits, Cop28 arguably opened up the opportunity to listen to the voices of Indigenous people. However, Indigenous people were still disappointed by the outcomes of Cop28. Pope Franciss lesser-known exhortation Querida Amazonia, which means beloved Amazonia, was published in February 2020. This exhortation resulted from his conversations with Amazonian communities and helped put Indigenous perspectives on the map. Those perspectives helped shape Catholic social teaching in the encyclical Fratelli Tutti, which means all brothers and sisters, published on October 3 2020. For many people living in developing countries where extractive industries such as oil and gas or mining are rife, destruction of land coincides with direct threats to life. Pope Francis advocated for Indigenous environmental defenders, many of whom have been inspired to act by their strong faith. For example, Father Marcelo Pérez, an Indigenous priest living in Mexico, was murdered by drug dealers just after saying mass on October 23, 2023, as part of the cost of defending the rights of his people and their land. While 196 environmental defenders were killed globally in 2023, Pope Francis continued to advocate on behalf of the most marginalised people as well as the environment. 3. By inspiring activism Ive been speaking to religious climate activists from different church backgrounds in the U.K. as part of a multidisciplinary research project on religion, theology and climate change based at the University of Manchester. Most notably, when we asked more than 300 activists representing six different activist groups who most influenced them to get involved in climate action, 61% named Pope Francis as a key influencer. On a larger scale, Laudato Si gave rise to the Laudato Si movement, which coordinates climate activism across the globe. It has 900 Catholic organizations as well as 10,000 of what are knownas Laudato Si animators, who are all ambassadors and leaders in their respective communities. Our institutes ecclesial affiliate, Tomás Insua, based in Assisi, Italy, originally helped pioneer this global Laudato Si movement. We host a number of ecumenical gatherings which bring together people from different denominations and hopefully motivate churchgoers to think and act in a more climate-conscious way. Nobody knows who the next pope will be. Given the current turmoil in politics and shutting down of political will to address the climate emergency, we can only hope they will build on the legacy of Pope Francis and influence political change for the good, from the grassroots front line right up to the highest global ambitions. Celia Deane-Drummond is a professor of theology and director of Laudato Si’ Research Institute, Campion Hall at the University of Oxford. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Category:
E-Commerce
Starbucks is brewing up something new in Texasand this time, it’s not just what’s in the cup. Next week, the coffee giant will open its first-ever 3D-printed store, a drive-thru-only location in Brownsville that looks more like the future of construction than your average café. Built with layers of concrete piped out by a giant robotic printer, the 1,400-square-foot structure is part of the companys ongoing effort to modernize operations and trim costs. But does a 3D-printed café actually save moneyor is this just a buzzworthy experiment? Is 3D-printing more cost-effective? Peri-3D, a German company, used a giant 3D printer to pump out layers of concrete mixture to create the structure. According to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, the cost for building the small scale coffee shop was about $1.2 million. The accounting platform Freshbooks says building a restaurant from the ground up can cost up to $2 million. However, a smaller-scale quick-serve restaurant may cost less to build. According to KRG Hospitality, it costs around $535 per square foot to build a quick serve restaurant, which comes out to $749,000 for a 1,400-square-foot structure like the new Starbucksa bit less than the $1.2 price tag for the 3D-printed build. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Brownsville Today (@brownsvilletoday) Of course, the new method is a first for the brand. And builders say, the more they use the technology, the more efficient they are at it. In Georgetown, Texas, an entire community of 100 homes was recently built using 3D-printing. The company who built the community, Lennar, says they’re seeing costs drop with each build. Stuart Miller, chairman and co-CEO of Lennar, told CNBC earlier this year that the construction company says their costs and cycle time go down “by half” by adopting 3D-printing. “This is significant improvement in evolving a housing market that has the ability to change over time and being more adaptable and more functional in providing affordable and attainable housing for a broader swath of the market, said Miller.Likewise, many building materials are becoming more expensive all the time. According to a 2023 report by construction cost data tracking firm Gordian, 82.5% of construction materials have skyrocketed since 2020, with the average increase at 19%. Now that the impact of tariffs is looming, those costs are expected to increase even more.3D-printing is also much faster, meaning that projects can be completed in a fraction of the time, potentially drastically cutting labor costs. According to the World Economic Forum, 3D-printing can cost just 30% of what building structures the old-fashioned way costs. That’s why some companies are using it as a tool to address labor shortages and the housing crisis. The future of restaurant building? 3D-printing is gaining momentum for construction purposes, given it’s less time-consuming and has the power to be less costly. In addition to housing, in Japan, a 3D-printed train station was just erected. And Peri-3D, itself, has completed at least 15 construction projects, including residential buildings in Europe and Germany.3D-printing has been incorporated into some restaurants when it comes to customizing food, or even making 3D-printed furniture, too. But building restaurants with the technology is a brand-new development. With restaurant chains looking for cost-cutting initiatives in the wake of inflation, rising operating costs, and the impact of tariffs, 3D-printing could eventually become a time-slashing, and cost-slashing way for establishments to expand. Especially because, no matter how the restaurants are built, the food, and the coffee, are likely to taste the same.
Category:
E-Commerce
The infamous Am I the A**hole? subreddit is making its way to the small screen. Hosted by Jimmy Carr, the new game show for Comedy Central U.K. will feature members of the public appearing before Carr and a panel of two comedians to reveal their deepest secrets and most bizarre disputesbefore receiving judgment, per Deadline. The show is based on the popular Reddit subreddit of the same name, which boasts 24 million members at the time of writing. The subreddits creator, Marc Beaulac, is one of the executive producers of the series. Jimmy Carrs Am I the A**hole? is being produced by STV Studios-owned Tuesdays Child. Filming will take place in late spring, and the series is set to premiere later this year on Comedy Central U.K., consisting of eight hour-long episodes. Steph Harris, executive producer at Tuesdays Child, said per Chortle: Am I the A**hole? is only a question you ask if you’re convinced you’re right in an argument, but will our guests get the answer they’re hoping for when they share awkward real-life scenarios with comedians who pull no punches in delivering judgments? Carr added: Seems odd that anyone would ask me to host a show about a**holes. I should be grateful, but I feel a little insulted. I guess I’m an a**hole. Well, it takes an a**hole to know an a**hole, so I’m the right man for the job. I’m very much looking forward to being Comedy Central’s proctologist-in-residence. There are an impressive number of a**holes in our country, and they’re finally getting the recognition they deserve on national television. From giving your stay-at-home wife a written performance review (kind of the A-hole) to calling out a lactose-intolerant milk thief (not the A-hole), Reddit’s “Am I the A**hole” threadalso known by the acronym AITAhas become a safe space for people to vent anonymously and ask an impartial jury of Internet strangers: Am I in the wrong? Since its creation in 2013, AITA has evolved from a niche online forum into a cultural phenomenon, the subject of philosophical and demographic study and endless internet discourse. Over a decade on, it has inspired an entire ecosystem, including TikToks and podcast episodes dedicated to dissecting the most viral posts. Now, a panel of comedians and a TV audience will have their turn weighing in on real-life conflictsoffering insight, validation, or, in some cases, a much-needed dose of self-reflection.
Category:
E-Commerce
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