In a world of globe-bestriding brands like HSBC, Starbucks, Nike and Coca Cola, it would be easy to assume that branding is just for the big boys. But you’d be wrong. After all, your business, however small, has to stand for something. It has to have an identity. Branding is simply how you communicate this identity, which means, of course that branding is pretty much everything your company ever does. As author, blogger, web-innovator and ‘Good Experience’ guru, Mark Hurst puts it, “The brand is the customer experience.” Independent brand development consultant, Scott Bedbury, who has previously worked with giants like Starbucks and Nike, takes this a step further, saying “It is not just what you do anymore. It is also how you do it.” (more…)

Another day, another portent of impending financial crisis. If the last six months had been an episode of Dad’s Army, this would be the point at which Private Frazer cried “We’re all doooomed Cap’n Mainwaring!”. After years of what some would call generous and others would call reckless mortgage lending, the banks and building societies are finally reigning in their largesse. The sky is black with chickens coming home to roost. (more…)