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Tripadvisor is hoping a brighter green and accompanying brand refresh will inspire more travelers to turn to the company for experiential vacation bookings. The online travel company, which announced 1% year-over-year quarterly revenue growth in May, traded its almost-pharmaceutical turquoise green for a more vibrant electric lime as part of a brand refresh with creative agency Koto Studio. The company’s logo, an owl named Ollie, remains, but he’s now animated with moving eyes. [Image: Tripadvisor] The last time Tripadvisor launched a meaningful brand refresh was in 2020. The timing, of course, couldn’t have been worse. “We have the new assets of that brand refresh for the first time in airports in April of 2020 [when] there’s like 18 people walking through the airport seeing this thing,” Matt Dacey, Tripadvisors chief marketing officer, recalls to Fast Company. But five years later, it’s trying againwith new lessons about how people travel today. The pandemic “fundamentally changed how people thought about travel,” Dacey says. Tripadvisor has seen a rise in bookings of vacations associated with sports and other events, with customers often speaking highly about tour guides they had on their trips. The emphasis on standout tour guides could mean that today’s travelers are looking for human connections and local experiences. Tripadvisor seeks to capture that sentiment by making user-generated content (UGC) central to its brand. [Image: Tripadvisor] Tripadvisor is also leaning into UGC for a new campaign. The assets are images like a selfie taken by a monkey or a shot of a kayak tipped in the water, and the result is creative storytelling from the point of view of the traveler, not the creative agency. That makes strategic sense, considering how much consumers rely on reviews while planning their travels. In a 2019 TripAdvisor study, 72% of surveyed respondents said they always or frequently read reviews before making decisions about where to stay and eat or what to do while visiting a destination. “People trust people,” the report noted. Who better to tell a story than the person who was actually there? “We just kept seeing image after image that people were actually putting on the platform that was far cooler than probably anything we could have come up with,” Dacey says. Arthur Foliard, a brand designer and executive creative director for Koto, tells Fast Company that user-generated content also provided the inspiration for the brand’s refreshed and expansive secondary color palette. The agency used an internal tool to upload photos, pull out the three most important colors, then simplify those colors into flexible palettes that can be used for different travel locations and seasons. [Image: Tripadvisor] “We liked this idea that if you were in Tokyo during cherry blossom season, then you would have a completely different color, or the vibe of the brand would be very different than if you come here to New York right now,” Foliard says. The brand refresh is just one outward sign of a larger company effort. Tripadvisor has refreshed its app, is fine-tuning its use of AI, and, Dacey says, will launch the largest global travel membership program in the world in the third quarter of 2025.
Category:
E-Commerce
James wanted to reach the senior VP or CTO level, but feedback was clear: He was viewed as a working manager, not a leader of leaders. His identity as the expert got him only so far. Now it was the very thing limiting his advancement. James was a recognized expert at his medical tech firm: one of its first employees and instrumental in building its core software platform. Over 16 years, his deep expertise and calm problem-solving skills earned him the role of vice president of technology. Known for his composure in crisis and passion for learning, James was admired for his reliability, humility, and ability to sit with messy problems until real solutions emerged. He always showed up and could be counted on to fix what was broken. But this exact reputation was beginning to hold him back. Because he was so competent and quick to step in, James stayed in the weeds, solving issues rather than shaping future vision. Despite his VP title, his role remained execution-heavy. Jamess story is a familiar one. High-performing employees are often burdened with additional work without corresponding recognition or advancement opportunities, which is also known as a quiet promotion. Ive seen it with many of my clients. Being too good at your job can trap you in itso much so that you end up asking the same frustrating question: If Im so good at my job, why am I not getting promoted? Here are four ways to rebrand yourself from dependable doer to strategic leader: THE SHIFT FROM EXPERTISE TO INFLUENCE The shift starts with delegation. Many years ago, my boss gave me an opportunity to present to the companys leadership team. When the CEO and leadership team asked questions I couldnt answer, my boss didnt jump in to save me as many would. Later, I learned that she had informed them that I was on a stretch assignment and she would be sitting in as an observer. This is a creative example of delegating a low-stakes task. Oftentimes, people make high-impact mistakes because leaders delegate when the stakes are too high. So, the key to breaking this cycle is to start delegating with low-stakes tasks. Instead of being the one solving every problem, start empowering others to take ownership, and resist the urge to jump in and fix things when they struggle. Invest time in setting direction, shaping strategy, and influencing outcomes. When colleagues come to you for answers, redirect them: “This is something my direct report now handles. Ill connect you.” Its important that you are no longer the only one with the answers; youre building a team that owns the answers. Thats what leaders do. AVOID THE HIDDEN GEM TRAP Many hidden gems are bright, diligent, and high-performing leaders. They are frequently a leadership team’s go-to problem solver. They deliver consistently, yet may watch less-competent colleagues get promoted. Avoiding self-promotion for fear they will come across as braggy, they believe their hard work and results should speak for themselves. Unfortunately, those efforts often dont get noticed because their boss is too busy to connect the dots. Doing excellent work isnt enough if no one sees or understands its strategic impact. Proactively align and advocate your work results to company goals and talk about impact in strategic terms. Say things like This initiative helps us reduce risk in X, or This supports the CEOs Q3 priority on customer retention. This approach positions you as a leader who is visible and valuable, making it less about you specifically and more about linking your efforts to how they help the organization. ADVOCATE FOR YOURSELF I coach many high-performing leaders who are brilliant at mentoring others, cheering on peers, and celebrating team wins. However, they rarely apply that same energy to their own advancement. If youd write a glowing email to recommend a mentee for a project, write one for yourself. If youd encourage someone to take a stretch role, say yes to your own. Schedule check-ins to talk about your growth, not just your deliverables. Think of self-advocacy not as a performance, but as a responsibility. Your future team needs a seat at the table, and you can’t secure it by staying silent. Speak in Future Tense Heres a subtle but powerful shift: Stop talking only about what youve done, and start talking about what youre building. Many professionals unintentionally brand themselves as reliable and steady,” but not as innovative, visionary, or future-ready. As organizations endure immense pressure to grow, adapt, or change due to economic or competitive pressures, how are you helping identify and navigate these challenges?Shift your language from past-tense accomplishments to future-focused initiatives. Instead of Ive always done X, say Im currently focused on growing our capability in Y, or Im exploring ways to help our team do Z more efficiently. This frames you as someone evolving and aligned with whats next, and shows that youre not just proud of what youve done but youre also paying attention to whats next. Thats the kind of mindset that makes you promotable. Its important to remember that rebranding yourself at work doesnt happen overnight. It takes intentional effort to stop being seen as the person who always comes through and start being seen as the person who creates the conditions for others to come through. You dont get promoted for being reliable. You get promoted for being visionary, influential, and growth-minded. So ask yourself: How am I teaching others to see me? And, more importantly: Who am I becoming next?
Category:
E-Commerce
If we took everything at face value, todays media headlines, studies, and overall assumptions about the next generation currently entering the workforce could be considered true. Unreliable. Entitled. Difficult to work with. Zero work ethic. Screen-obsessed, except on Zoom calls because their cameras are always off. Unwilling to work in the office or collaborate with others. These are just a few of the stereotypes overshadowing Gen Z, the youngest generation in the workforce and, apparently, the bane of business leaders around the world. Personal Experience They also remind me of what I personally experienced when I started my professional career in the late 2000s. My first professional opportunities were often marked by generational biases and unintentional leaders who made it more difficult to grow my skills and gain the experiences necessary to mature as a leader. I was told I didnt look like a leader and that I looked more like a celebrity or influencer than a traditional businessperson, which is both inappropriate and unhelpful. Its also a bad reason to decline to provide the proper coaching or professional development opportunities that would have helped young professionals like me thrive. As a millennial and the leader of a New York City-based public relations agency, I also have my own unique experience breaking out as a young founder. I often navigated client meetings, partner negotiations, and overall business operations. I had to be the most strategically minded person in the room while simultaneously being the youngest person there. Collectively, these experiences prompted me to cultivate a different culture for the next generation. They shaped my approach to leadership and mentorship. More Than a Stereotype As a leader always looking for new PR talent, I often received comments about how mature and advanced my leadership abilities were for someone my age, especially as a young senior leader. People were surprised that someone from my generation could be at the advanced stage at which I found myself in my career. I have since taken that learning and applied it to the young professionals who I manage today. In other words, I infuse in them the expectationversus the surprise or doubtthat they can advance as quickly as they can put their mind in action to do so. No assumptions As Gen Z navigates the complicated professional world following the 2020 pandemic disruption to their educational and personal lives that no other generation since the early 1900s flu epidemic had to navigate, I take any and all assumptions about this generation with a grain of salt. Im placing a deep investment in helping them realize their dreams. I’m not surprised that leaders in todays business world, almost like incumbents, are raising red flags about the new arrivals, mistaking differences for deterrents. That’s been true of every new generation to enter the workforce. These leaders undermine not only their industries but also the broader business landscape and, ultimately, the very companies they claim to serve, forgetting that today’s entry-level employees are tomorrow’s breakthrough innovators, mid- or senior-level managers, and changemakers. An opportunity and obligation Amid all the negative buzz on the state of Gen Z workers, so many overlook that Gen Z brings real value to the table right now. As leaders, we have the opportunity and the obligation to seek out aspirational talent, treat them like who they could become, and meet them where they are as the ultimate support approach to help them get to where they ultimately could be. If leaders arent flexible enough to connect with and bridge differences in the workplace, collaborate more effectively, and help raise the next generation of talent to the highest level, they have lost the most important aspect of cutting-edge leadership: the ability to adapt to a continuously changing environment while continuing to lead effectively. That means inducting the next generation into America’s workforce with open arms, open hearts, and a teachable mindset. But How? Todays leaders must stop focusing on Gen Zs divisive stereotypes. They need to start focusing on the individuals they meetwho may be from any generation, but especially this generationto unlock their unmistakable talent and innovative potential. Heres how. 1. Start Early Focus on cultivating talent at the internship level. For burgeoning professionals, the word is out: Internships matter, and they are clamoring for hands-on learning opportunities. At my agency, we receive a deluge of applications every season, selecting just a handful for an interview. Only a few will receive an internship offer. This selectivity allows us to best invest our time and attention in every intern. We spend a lot of time ensuring each intern fully understands the task at hand, so they can work for us and with us, not just complete low-level tasks without guidance or growth-minded intention. We value our interns in the same way we value all our team members. While some will find that PR isnt their thing (and you will find that some of your interns are not the right fit for your company or industry), others will become rock stars who we want to cultivate into full-time team members. Ultimately, we want our interns to know exactly what its like to work at a PR agency so that whether we hire them or they move on to the next opportunity, they are in a position to succeed. Everyone benefits when we take this approach. 2. Mentor at Each Phase Mentorship is for everyone. Whether seasoned executives or fresh faces out of college, we all have room to grow. Even as the owner of the company, theres still work to do. This isnt diminutive. Its empowering. Mentoring gives the right guidance to the right people at the right time so they feel successful at work, value their position, and want to stay longer. Its a win-win-win. Practically, effective mentoring empowers executive decision-making by stepping back and being available but at the same time making Gen Z-age professionals accountable for making decisions. 3. Invest in Connection As a busy leader, connecting with people often feels like the last thing I can smash into my schedule. Its also the most important. With my team, daily personal engagement consists of team touch bases at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time (10:30 a.m. on Fridays) and 4 p.m. Eastern time Monday through Thursday, with an additional casual 12:15 p.m. meeting for water cooler discussions. The team operates virtually with set hours from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Eastern time, balancing structured connection points that typically last 20 to 30 minutes, with flexibility for personal appointments and family needs. 4. Prioritize Recreation and Celebration Regardless of generation, people want to be seen. Thats why we prioritize recreation and celebration Notably, for every birthday and work anniversary, we send flowers to employees and make birthdays special with social media shout-outs and advance planning to ensure proper recognition. Our team also holds two major annual celebrationsa summer retreat and family partyand we invest our time and money to give employees time away from work to feel celebrated and acknowledged for their hard work throughout the year. All these celebrations are deliberately planned to make employees feel special and valued, with an emphasis on ensuring these are genuine breaks from work responsibilities. 5. Live by Example At the end of the day, teaching is only as effective as your practice. Even as Gen Zers develop their own opinions, perspectives, and preferences, they are looking at leaders and taking notes. For my staff, this means that on vacation time, we prioritize true disconnection, requiring employees to set up out-of-office documents and making it a team effort to avoid contacting vacationing colleagues unless the situation is urgent, which I demonstrate by being unavailable during my own vacations. Outside of business hours, I don’t contact employees unless it’s urgent, believing people need downtime to feel fresh for the next day, and we actively avoid blurring lines between personal and work life to prevent frustration. What we do is more valuable than what we say, so we should take care to practice what we preach. Ready or Not Gen Z workers arent on their way. They are here. Now. We can continue to accentuate their most sensational characteristics, or we can get to work, recognizing that every new generation brings unique values, perspectives, and competencies to the workforce. We can cultivate these through intentional mentorship, structured support, and genuine investment in their growth. As a business leader, Ive discovered that Gen Z brings fresh perspectives, digital fluency, and innovative thinking to our organization. Their approach to work-life integration, commitment to purpose-driven careers, and ability to adapt to rapid change aren’t weaknesses. As the older range of the Gen Z generation approaches their mid-twenties in 2025, they need to be recognized as assets that we should all embrace and integrate now because, ready or not, Gen Z is part of todays workforce, and only moving upward from here.
Category:
E-Commerce
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