It's Not New York, But the Brands Speak English In Spain!

Sunday in New York: The Brand is Spectacular

The Brand of the Moment: When Everything Changed...The Evolving Brand of the American Woman

Gail Collins, the brilliant voice of OP ED in the New York Times has gifted us for the holidays and beyond...RUN, don't walk, and buy as many copies as you can of her wonderful new release, When Everything Changed, The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present.

Gift your daughters,your sisters, your husbands..even the ex's... your sons, all of the men in your life, with this amazing chronicle of the social and historical profile of the coming of New age 2010 for the American woman. Its entertaing and meaningful tone is irresistible ...it starts with the story of how one woman's choice to wear pants to pay a parking ticket to a narrow-minded in 1960 was a cause for media coverage.

For a baby boomer, the references are startling...I kept thinking...is that why my mother was doing that and HER mother? Is that why I did that...why I became a teacher ? And what about my daughters?

From the plains of the settlements of the earliest pioneer women to Michelle Obama, the journey of women from the Feminine Mystique to the 2008 meltdown, women have carved out a place that is deserving...and will continue. The Brand of the MOMENT...evolution!!!

MAD Ave Principles: Understand, Develop,and Live your Winning School Brand

MAD Ave Principles: Understand, Develop and Live your Winning School Brand is the new working title for my upcoming book on the power of bringing Branding Lessons...MAD Ave's Branding Principles... to "School Principals", our educational decision makers. Public education's leaders have to rally communities around school excellence in an existing client base, and leaders who manage private schools, colleges, universities need to build a more connected brand to attract clients. Both camps have the same needs. They must develop a level of personal experience through positive personal interactions between the organization and its market, its client--- AT EVERY POINT OF CONTACT! As Nike, Coke and Apple attest...having a well defined BRAND can achieve this.

The best way to assure that the audience/market you have and the market that you want to attract, experience the highest customer satisfaction with your school organization's service is to become MAD. Yes,MAD, as in absolutely flaming MAD. That's MAD as in "MADISON AVENUE savvy". To do that, hit the books, well, hit my book as soon as its published!

Until then, continue to read my blog.

Today's school managers must study BRANDING Lessons to learn facets of BRANDING and the framework of BRANDING, systems that have been honed for many years by MADmen ADmen on MAdison Avenue. These ideas empower school managers to accept a new frame of mind, and ready them to lead a 21st century campaign to bring an educational BRAND to the community. A BRAND connects emotionally and intellectually to all involved. More than MARKETING, which is fundamentally different, BRANDING education is a foundational necessity in today's world. The power of BRANDING hasn't been taught to educators in graduate school.Yet in this age of shared information, having that knowledge as a leader is essential.

As I see it from my background in business and education, there are Three Phases in growth for leaders who become MAD principals:

1. UNDERSTANDING BRANDING Dedicatie yourelf as an educational manager and thought leader to building an awareness of the power of BRANDING in educational settings. Understanding why BRANDING is important and why you should care about it. This is the first step to becoming a MAD Principal.
2. DEVELOPING the BRAND:Scope out the landscape. Build the unique framework for defining, through tangible and intangible means. The organizational shift to BRANDING is something you lead, not craft in isolation. Your school community 's brand will develop in conjunction with select stakeholders.
3.LIVING the BRAND Be ready to walk the talk. Once its captured, champion the BRAND through your leadership and motivating the organization to embark on living the BRAND for success. This will make the effort genuine and successful.


So...Are you a MAD Principal? Have you done something creative, out of the box , or tangible to demonstrate your awareness of building a relationship with your community in a new way? Please Comment.. and send this post to educator friends.I'm hunting for MAD Principals.

Defining MADman Principals

Creating the world of branding schools with the help of MADMAN Principles is a passion for me.

Getting feedback from my blog readers is so important to the process of developing the book, the platforms, the social networks that I believe can support new leaders as well as seasoned leaders, in their effort to use the best of marketing to inform their role as educational leader.

Are you a MADman Principal? Or a MADwoman? I'm in the process of defining this term and publishing it as a wiki, in fact. There's even a madmanprincipal.com as of yesterday!

Perhaps before the wikipedia entry becomes active, an elevator speech for defining MADman Principal is in order. I'll be developing that on the train today, as well as the WIKI.

For those interested, a MAD man of sorts...one of the developers of Wikipedia has gone into the educational video market!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Sanger

Branding Lessons:Connect Brand Personality to School Achievent

Every school mission statement is earnest, serious, layered, full of parallel structure and commas in series-- and without a personality! Without a USP! In this case, USP..UNIQUE SCHOOL PERSONALITY!

Isn't that what achieving success is about? The most successful people among us show how unique they are and deliver on that promise. Look at any winner . Look across the spectrum of the human experience from entertainers, to politicians,to intellectuals; and, what do you see? You see a unique personality, one that has achieved, and one that is completely connected to the market. So why shouldn't brand personality be something that can link to conversations about school achievement? Discussions on Brand Personality and how it connects to the community audience are valuable. The personality of the brand should reflect the larger community as well, and can help to "rally the troops" around whatever the USP of a school or district brand is believed to be. The Brand Personality can concisely project the a clear vision and connection to just what the school community stands for each day. And because there might be occasional disconnects between what the community wants: a winning football team, highest test score in the state, admission to Ivy League for all graduates to name a few, A clear brand personality can be easily maintained to offset those challenges. So, beyond the jargon of the mission statement...MADmen principals need to ask themselves, what does our brand personality show about us? Do we need a brand personality facelift?


Here's one mission statement picked at random from the internet:


The mission of_________ Elementary is to provide opportunities for students to achieve their personal best, become responsible and productive citizens, and embrace lifelong learning in a safe and positive environment. OK. This part is valiant and full of nobility. It's on the website...no one ever reads this stuff, really. And then it continues....

At school, we believe:

· All children can learn.

· All children benefit from developmentally appropriate materials, practices, and strategies.

· All children deserve a quality education in which individual needs are met, exceeded, and supported.

· Social skills, such as Life skills, deserve the same attention as academic ones.

· School is not just about children: it encompasses families, parents, community, stakeholders, society, the environment and the world.

· Children must be encouraged to see the connections between new learning and prior knowledge.

· Children are more than test scores.

· Children learn best in a safe, caring environment, one that values diversity, collaboration, and risk-taking.

· Children thrive when expectations are high and self-esteem higher.

· Direct instruction of students helps to increase student achievement.

Wonderful thinking....but how do we easily rally around all that...? There's so much of it. And who wouldn't agree that all schools want great test scores and safe kids. No mission statement would say we settle for middle of the road! And let's throw in some cognitive" stuff "about connecting new learning and prior knowledge ( somebody just came back from a workshop, I'll bet!). Again...who reads this stuff? It fills up websites.


Really, when choosing a brand, turn conversations to INSPIRING your target audience... your community, not overwhelming them with education-ese. If you think about brand personality, you might find yourself connecting to the leader of the school and the district. A strong leader's personality can enrich and be a model for the intangible personality of the brand... and that's great! If a MADman principal has a strong enough agenda, vision and personal brand, the school can benefit from living it...Think of Apple. The brand personality of Apple is really Steven Job's ...and it hasn't hurt that organization one bit. And who cares about the Apple mission statement when they are have achieved such quality and are sharing their unique brand personality with millions.

Branding Lessons: 5 Tips for MADman Principals to Improve School Identity through Emotional Branding

Years ago, the first time I went into the Disney store in NYC, I had tears in my eyes. Cutching my young daughter's hand, I knew she was excited. She was almost dancing with delight! But the emotion of every experience I'd had with Disney as a child welled up inside me. Inside I was dancing with delight. A lifetime of emotions for a brand. What a connection! Although research says that even the strongest brands connect at the powerful emotional level with about half of their customers, it's worth thinking about it as a Branding Lesson for MADman Principals. It's worth thinking about the subtle ways that your school's brand might benefit from genuine emotional connection to an audience. Would it benefit having the "dance of satisfactory customer service delight" about your school's services present in the subconscious minds of your community? Would you want more than half of your community to have the subliminal buzz that the school is beneficial to them? I'd say yes...and around budget time and referundum time, the answer would be a definite YES!

So a few Tips on BRANDING and Emotions. One of the best pieces on the subject is William Mc Ewan's the Power of Emotional Connection.http://www.zibs.com/mcewen.shtml



What he's learned from digging into consumer conversations can inform your next emotionally charged conversation with colleagues and staff about branding. These MADman principles come from business, but I see them with educators eyes. They absolutely relate to schools and the need to build an identity that offers an emotional connection, one that builds support for any direction the school takes to build a unique identity for student achievement:

1. Consumers' emotions aren't merely warm and squishy concepts suitable mainly for greeting cards and Hollywood movies. Emotional connections are powerful and profitable. Emotional bonds represent critical indicators of a wide variety of future positive outcomes related to achievement. Schools provide services and products. There's an impressive Return on Investment that results from emotionally engaging a community niche market - and there's a substantial cost, especially around voting, that results from disengaging them.

2. There's a crucial difference between a customer and an engaged customer. Getting schools to increase customers should never be an objective; building customer engagement should be. MADman principals can be accountable for building engagement. It's never a single factor; it's the total brand experience that determines the enduring health of a "brand marriage"in a school community. The "people" component is almost always the toughest to get right,but MADmen have the edge!

3. Every time a customer comes in contact with the school organization - with its products, stores/schools, people, visual tags, or with the stories that appear in blogs and in the newspaper - the brand relationship can be enhanced. Or it can be diminished. Brand marriages aren't static; they continue to evolve. And every change, whether up or down, has a consequence.

4. Brand relationship management isn't just a marketing challenge, nor is it a challenge that can be met solely through operational or technology enhancements. Successful brand connection management requires a passionate and empowered MADman principal , A brand champion, who leads a school-wide commitment and aligns efforts that extend across a school or district.

5. School consumers' emotions can be reliably and meaningfully measured, quantified and, more to the point, can be managed. Schools can enhance their customer connections.

As McEwen states..It's certainly not easy. But it's not really optional; it's imperative.

William J. McEwen is Global Practice Leader, Brand Managem

Branding Lessons:Branding and Gen Y: Can this Group Improve your School Brand?

An interesting post for Saturday's MADMAN thinking from KIT YARROW. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/kyarrow/index

How does this information impact your building a brand that can promote a 21st century school identity?

Kit asks...

"What are young consumers getting out of their social media relationships with brands and retailers? Here are three themes that surfaced repeatedly in interviews.


Status: Shoppers feel like smart "insiders" when they learn about special deals, new product arrivals and promotions through tweets, emails, Facebook fan pages, and by visiting shopping sites like Retailmenot. The medium has the potential to create intimacy at scale. Says, Ricardo, 23, "If I have a problem I use Twitter to complain to the company. I get much better service than I'd get if I called or sent an email, which is very impersonal and they don't really care."

When marketers reward fans and followers with exclusive freebies, promotions and information they create loyalty by elevating the status of their followers.

Connection: In our increasingly fragmented and visually oriented world, people often connect with others using brands as the vehicle. It's like wearing the school colors - a way to bond and identify like-minded others. Sites that facilitate connection between consumers are beloved for more than the merchandise - it's because of their ability to create a community. Kaboodle's popular shopping site does just that, as do Facebook fan pages like Converse's where members can share photos and ideas with other fans - united by their common interest in the brand.

Connecting consumers to each other also connects them to the brand.


When I read Kit's words...I think customer satisfaction....this is a generation that is going to have a lot to do with education...as teachers...as customers...and getting thinking aligned to customer satisfaction...To create a positive INTIMACY with this community is vital. Thinking about new hires...make sure they can develop customer satisfaction, just the way they demand it it in their own lives...



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/kyarrow/index#ixzz0XVc5abVQ

Twitter According to Rosabeth

http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/kanter/2009/11/power-to-the-connectors.html

Rosabeth Moss Kantor tells it like it is in social networking Havard Biz School style.

Branding Lessons:LinkedIn a First Step to Going MAD

You may know that Linkedin is a professional online network with 50 milllion onboard and growing every moment. Some use this for NETWORKING, some for jobseeking. It's an important tool for a MADman Principal to seriously approach.

As a former school administrator, I will tell you I had many conversations about the Loneliness of being the Boss. Who will administrators share with in a school? Picking up the phone to call your significant other during a stressful day, doesn't work. In this day, the other ...is at her/his own stressful job.


As an author of an networking book, I believe LinkedIn to be a great resource, especially for the occasional moments that face isolated school leader. Building a network of other professionals who are in your shoes through LinkedIn is a great value. If you are not on any of the social networks I posted earlier, get on Linked in. Establish your profile, copy and past your resume onto your home page. DOWNLOAD YOUR PICTURE..a MUST!-- and get started.

Place your schools website into your profile and search for some key words that will match your position: educator, principal, schools,etc.

Join a few groups.

Answer and create discussion questions....pretty soon you will see connections grow as you invite others. Soon you'll be invited too, and the isolation of the school administrator will not be as keen. A forum for questions, connections and content sharing will enrich any day. And INVITE ME TO YOUR EDUCATORS PARTY!

Branding Lessons:Linking Up with Social Media

The 50 Best Sites for Tuning into Social Media :
http://www.insidecrm.com/features/50-social-sites-012808/

A great reference! for Madman Principals especially. Sites that follow look really important for Educational thought leaders:

Professional-Networking Sites
Sign up with these online networking communities as a company or as an individual to take advantage of recruiting opportunities, cross-promotional events and more.

LinkedIn: LinkedIn is a popular networking site where alumni, business associates, recent graduates and other professionals connect online.
Ecademy: Ecademy prides itself on "connecting business people" through its online network, blog and message-board chats, as well as its premier BlackStar membership program, which awards exclusive benefits.
Focus: Focus is a business destination where business professionals can help each other with their purchase and other business decisions by accessing research and peer expertise. Most importantly, Focus provides open, quality information for all businesses that is freely available, easily accessible, and community powered.
YorZ: This networking site doubles as a job site. Members can post openings for free to attract quality candidates.
Xing: An account with networking site Xing can "open doors to thousands of companies." Use the professional contact manager to organize your new friends and colleagues, and take advantage of the Business Accelerator application to "find experts at the click of a button, market yourself in a professional context [and] open up new sales channels."
Facebook: Facebook is no longer just for college kids who want to post their party pics. Businesses vie for advertising opportunities, event promotion and more on this social-networking site.
Care2: Care2 isn't just a networking community for professionals: It's touted as "the global network for organizations and people who Care2 make a difference." If your business is making efforts to go green, let others know by becoming a presence on this site.
Gather: This networking community is made up of members who think. Browse categories concerning books, health, money, news and more to ignite discussions on politics, business and entertainment. This will help your company tap into its target audience and find out what they want.
MEETin.org: Once you've acquired a group of contacts in your city by networking on MEETin.org, organize an event so that you can meet face-to-face.
Tribe: Cities like Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, New York and Chicago have unique online communities on tribe. Users can search for favorite restaurants, events, clubs and more.
Ziggs: Ziggs is "organizing and connecting people in a professional way." Join groups and make contacts through your Ziggs account to increase your company's presence online and further your own personal career.
Plaxo: Join Plaxo to organize your contacts and stay updated with feeds from Digg, Amazon.com, del.icio.us and more.
NetParty: If you want to attract young professionals in cities like Boston, Dallas, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Orlando Fla., create an account with the networking site NetParty. You'll be able to connect with qualified, up-and-coming professionals online, then meet them at a real-life happy-hour event where you can pass out business cards, pitch new job openings and more.
Networking For Professionals: Networking For Professionals is another online community that combines the Internet with special events in the real world. Post photos, videos, résumés and clips on your online profile while you meet new business contacts.

Niche Social-Media Sites
Consider linking up with one of these social-media sites to narrow down your business's target audience. You'll find other professionals, enthusiasts and consumers who are most likely already interested in what your company has to offer.

Pixel Groovy: Web workers will love Pixel Groovy, an open-source site that lets members submit and rate tutorials for Web 2.0, email and online-marketing issues.
Mixx: Mixx prides itself on being "your link to the Web content that really matters." Submit and rate stories, photos and news to drive traffic to your own site. You'll also meet others with similar interests.
Tweako: Gadget-minded computer geeks can network with each other on Tweako, a site that promotes information sharing for the technologically savvy.
Small Business Brief: When members post entrepreneur-related articles, a photo and a link to their profile appear, gaining you valuable exposure and legitimacy online.
Sphinn: Sphinn is an online forum and networking site for the Internet marketing crowd. Upload articles and guides from your blog to create interest in your own company or connect with other professionals for form new contacts.
BuzzFlash.net: This one-stop news resource is great for businesses that want to contribute articles on a variety of subjects, from the environment to politics to health.
HubSpot: HubSpot is another news site aimed at connecting business professionals.
SEO TAGG: Stay on top of news from the Web marketing and SEO (search-engine optimization) industries by becoming an active member of this online community.
General Social-Media Sites

The following social-media sites provide excellent opportunities for businesses to advertise; promote specials, events or services; and feature published, knowledgeable employees.

Wikipedia: Besides creating your own business reference page on Wikipedia, you can connect with other users on Wikipedia's Community Portal and at the village pump, where you'll find conscientious professionals enthusiastic about news, business, research and more.
Newsvine: Feature top employees by uploading their articles, studies or other news-related items to this site. A free account will also get you your own column and access to the Newsvine community.
43 Things: This site bills itself as "the world's most popular online goal setting community." By publicizing your company's goals and ambitions, you'll gain a following of customers, investors and promoters who cheer you on as you achieve success.
Wetpaint: If you're tired of blogs and generic Web sites, create your own wiki with Wetpaint to reach your audience and increase your company's presence online. You can easily organize articles, contact information, photos and other information to promote your business.
Twitter: Is a social networking and microblogging service that allows you answer the question, "What are you doing?" by sending short text messages 140 characters in length, called "tweets", to your friends, or "followers."
Yahoo! Answers: Start fielding Yahoo! users' questions with this social-media Q&A service. Search for questions in your particular areas of expertise by clicking categories like Business & Finance, Health, News & Events and more. If you continue to dole out useful advice and link your answer to your company's Web page, you'll quickly gain a new following of curious customers.

Branding Lessons:THE WORKSHOP/MADmen Principles for School Principals

Branding Lessons: Madmen Principles to Build School Identity

It’s no longer the sixties, but “admen madmen” are once again flexing their Madison Avenue muscle in 21st century schools, and not just on a popular TV show.

Whether we like it or not, teachers, students, parents and community members are all subject to the influences of BRANDING in modern society, and making use of these subtle but powerful forces can positively impact school culture. Contrary to what educators once imagined, good business and good education can and should mix. What works in business can make for better education, and skillful use of the Madmen principles to create or strengthen a school wide identity can make all the stakeholders in your school more willing participants in a common cause.

Branding is not new in business, but it has now, in the current vernacular, “gone viral." And why? BRANDING is “the implied promise of quality”… And quality is what school customers naturally seek. A quality education, after all, is what promises access to the American Dream, and more so today, than ever before.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: Can a “Madman” Principal or Central Office Leader bring new energy, language and thinking to a district culture through using BRANDING principles?


If you want to be a Madman Principal ask yourself...

Do I care how my school/district is perceived by parents, school board, teachers, students, businesses and community at large?
Do I want new ways to communicate core messages, especially for budgeting and referendums?
Do I want to create a story, put a personal face on my school community and bring it credibly to life?
Do I want to go beyond the selling of my school through its website, logo or mascot?
Do I want to be strategic about “marketing” my school’s brand in social media and through face to face engagement?
Do I want to think more creatively about the Madmen world of BRANDING: Brand Awareness, Brand Platforms, Brand Management, Brand Loyalty, Brand Engagement and Brand Leveraging?

If you answered “yes” to one or more of these questions, a two-hour Branding Think Tank is the first step toward your initiation as a “ Madman Principal”. Learn from an educator who has faced the Madness in New York City!

• If you have a brand and want to build curriculum connections in new ways…

• If you want to connect your existing brand messaging to standards and existing schoolwide programs such as character development…

• If you need to build a new brand or strengthen your school’s perceived identity across the community…

• If you welcome discussions with other leaders about bringing stakeholders together around the promise of quality in schools…

Then take the first step. Become a MADMAN PRICIPAL…and enroll in this session.


You’d be CRAZY not to.



Participants are expected to bring examples of their school brand artifacts: website, promotions, sponsorships, awards, publications, logos, etc.


A school educator and businesswoman, the seminar leader is a professional educator and intuitive marketing force. No, not Don Draper, Trish Rubin MA/MGA, a career educator who has worked as a basic skills teacher, reading specialist, literacy coordinator, college adjunct professor, curriculum coordinator, colleague teacher/coach, assistant principal, acting assistant superintendent, developer demonstrator for a nationally funded literacy program in 38 states, author of state literacy standards, cognitive coaching trainer, professional development coordinator, and USA TODAY Education’s national literacy consultant. Ms Rubin’s company, The Edventures Group Intl., is a business development consultancy that works across a wide range of issues with clients from education, business, and professional service. Her clients include schools, law firms, medical providers, retailers, entrepreneurs and small businesses. She is currently the brand manager of a 68 store chain of retail beauty stores, bath junkie. Her private client list includes solopreneurs and people in transition in business. Her book, Trish Rubin’s New York Minute for Networking is a business self-help book for creating connections. She is a professionally accredited speaker who has spoken on Wall Street and at the United Nations, Trish presents regularly to groups on the topic of building social networking skills for business. Her social graph includes linkedin, Twitter and Facebook.

Quality Time 2009

Branding Lessons: MADmen Strategy for Developing a School Brand

A few posts back, I spoke of the TIME factor to develop a brand. Two to Three months seems to be the window in business and for schools

After that, live with the brand. Try it out internally before you even think about moving to Marketing the brand to the community.


As I write my book, "MADmen Principles to Inform School Principals", I'm using some respected frameworks from the PR/Marketing MADmen industry to help shape your powerful message: the value of bringing branding to your school. The book will be a quick read and user friendly. It's a desktop book guide for planning meetings and discussions around the topic of branding a public school. It can serve as a roadmap for introducing a branding concept to build identity for achievement in a school. Remember, if you go this route, you will be leading a new effort , linked to "New Thought" about connecting to "clients". It's a movement that can streamline language, attitude, and action related to genuinely LIVING a school identity/brand for student achievement'

School Branding is informed by the MADmen framework, but even in its definition, School Branding is different from Iconic Branding of COKE and COACH.

"School branding is the collective impressions that a community/clients holds about the school organization's service and product built through ongoing relationships."

Questions for MADmen Principals to explore and act upon are familiar on Madison Avenue, but not as recognized on Main Street...


What is Branding?
What is School Branding?
How to Define the School Brand?
How to Determine the Objectives of Use?
How to Define the Target Audience?
What are Barriers to School Branding?
How to Create a School Brand Packaging?

With these topics in hand, be ready to be A MADman, Mr./Ms Principal

Branding Lessons: Meet A MADman Principal

Someone give me a seatbelt because the ride in public education is getting pretty interesting. I've blogged about marketing, branding, looking to Madison Avenue for Main Street school vision, and even the interesting topic of teachers selling intellectual property online in the form of lesson plans. Pretty jazzy stuff.

Last night before hitting the networking trail to attend a Tribecca book launch, I ate dinner in front of the CBS news and nearly lost my plate. I now need a seatbelt for TV viewing apparently.

Why?

Well, as a Jersey girl I can say with pride, New Jersey education has some gems, and I was fortunate see one on TV, a medium that I often miss, and a medium that seems to rarely give the content I am needing.(Aside from AMC's MADmen, of course!) Last night was different. TV delivered. So, I've got a great network of school leaders in New Jersey. These are well respected heavy hitting thought leaders. All of a sudden, I'm looking at the future on my TV screen. And it's Mr Eric Sheninger, Principal of New Milford (and that's NJ, not CT.)

Mr. Sheninger is a MADman Principal; that's what I think. He may be among the first of a special breed that I know is out there in the ranks of educational management. One of the early adopters of being a MADman principal. He's rising to a level of recognition through his savvy and risk taking course of using social media as a meaningful part of high school curriculum. I'll bet the kids love it...he is so on the pulse. Bravo, Eric!

And in 8 months he has built a network of educators on Twitter who are building a brand...a relationship based upon who they are and the value they share educationally with each other. Of course, I started to follow him immediately from my own "TrishBIH" Twitter address. He has kids in seats in the hamlet of New Milford NJ communicating in 140 characters with other students, wth experts, with organizations, to grab valuable content related to their studies with the stroke of a few keys. Ok...I really need a seatbelt! I've got to see this in action. This is what education in the 21st century needs to be about the user...about the relationships we build.

So my work is about building that message for thought leaders...we all can't be on the CBS news, but we all can develop a brand that reaches our "customers" in a blink. A message that isn't captured by a website or a mission statement. I've been on the New Milford High School website and it does have a "warm quality" that other school sites may miss--and a great picture of the principal...but the potential New Milford school brand that I saw last night in the CBS report is bigger than what the website offers.I'm hoping every taxpayer in New Milford is smiling because of that segment.

I saw a brand promise in that spot that would make me move to New Milford if I had school aged kids, and if I didn't have them, I'd think that a school with that kind of vision could only increase my investment in a home in New Milford. Not only school achievement, but Branding and Economics 101 was what I saw in the report...and guess what I was talking about at the Tribecca cocktail party...it wasn't the appetizers!

Branding Lessons: A MADman Principal Tests the Water!

I feel confident in my message about branding as I work on my book in NYC. I've scheduled meetings with business people and educators as I craft a useful small book for educational leaders who want to align the thinking about culture to standards and achievement in their school community. The conversations will soon be podcasts and the deepening of the topic of educationally branding a public school community can be enhanced and spread.

Many of my business colleagues like this approach of MADmen Principles for School Principals. They have definite views about how students are being prepared for a work-life future that is rapidly changing, and as the employers of people, people whose jobs will change on average 10 times before they are in their mid thirties, these business leaders want to be part of the conversation. And it isn't good guys vs. bad guys/"adguys".

SO how does a Principal become MAD..a MADman Principal? By testing the water...it's an interesting image since the visual branding of MADMAN for this season featured Don Draper who was sitting in his office with the water rising around him.

If this type of direction suits you. Think of the following as a testing of the water.

1. Do some beginning reading and research into what branding is...
2. Do an informal brand audit by looking at mission statement, logo, website...
3. Start an informal conversation in existing meetings about how a BRAND might help solve a problem at hand...
4. Learn the language of MADmen in branding through research and wikipedia...
5. Start to talk using the brand language as you start the walk...
6. Gather people who like the attitude and brainstorm about the school BRAND
7. Discuss BRAND PROMISE and what your group can deliver with a true organizational personality

If you have momentum, it's time to call me. It takes about two to three months to launch a brand campaign ...and the water may be rising in your district!

Brand of the Moment: Rigoletto Pizza

Ok...I'm using my blog to educate people about Brands and marketing. That goes in many content directions: Thoughtful Content, Interesting People, and Great Branded Places...so the Brand of the Moment captures the Great Branded Places of NY or wherever I roam.

Todays's brand of the Moment is in my neighborhood. 208 Columbus Ave@ 69/70 streets. It's Rigotetto Pizza. The brand promise...THIN crust. Best imported Cheese, Best Quality ingredients. Best Price. This brand delivers on its promise to the point that it has now expanded, doubled its size. It's one of the great NY pizza destinations. I am watching calories and carbs...their whole wheat fresh tomato, no cheese pizza makes dieting EASY!!!! I'm jonesin' one this moment!!

It's about the Educational Brand Too

Have a quick look at the landscape that you lead schools in....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8

Branding Lessons: Tick Tick Boom!

So what are some of the questions that have bubbled up so far as you think of a BRANDING Campaign in a school setting. I'll bet one goes to TIME.

Private schools and universities have already taken up the MADman approach to developing a REPUTATION. Building a BRAND that is credible is an ROI that hooks to revenue. Public schools may see that as an offshoot of their campaign, but the primary purpose to invest TIME in such an effort is to align the internal organization with the clients it serves in a more personable and customer oriented approach. This bring positive return on investment-- Student achievement being the biggest. The goal of making everything about the kids and their success makes the question of time easy to answer. Who doesn't have time to spend for student achievement in a public school? Time Principles are important for MADmen Principals as they craft a beginning campaign to enhance student achievement through Branding.

1. Take Time to DEFINE what Branding is with the organization.
2. Take Time to deliberately mine what BRAND the school may already be living and restructure it or build it up.
3. Take Time to think about expectations of all involved with the BRAND.
4. Take Time to find the driving reason why the brand needs to be built to fill a need.
5. Take Time to find what makes the school community distinctive and unique.


The journey to developing a brand takes two to three months of meetings, of interviewing, of discussions around the existing artifacts of a potential BRAND campaign. MADMEN need to review mission sttaements, logos, taglines, websites, etc.

The path of spending time, the tick, tick, of intention to build a reputation results in a RETURN on INVESTMENT ...BOOM!

Brand Lessons: Marketing Mayhem...It's Happening Already in your Schhols

Yesterday's Metro Section of the NY Times featured a story about public teacher entrepreneurs selling their lesson plans online. Some use the money to support a classroom purchase, much like a bake sale would...others admit that the money is going to mortgage payments and vacations.

It's a challenge to districts because...who owns the plans? Are they made during school time on employee time? At home time? Are they about content that is standards based and the realm of public education? Who monitors the quality of these plans? Lots of issues to resolve here. But I think it goes in the beyond the direction of Branding in schools to Marketing...sales...so isn't it interesting that teachers are sellng their intellectual property...or the school's everyday...online. It's MARKETING folks,pure and simple. And it's in your school.

So my response is to say, that's the new world of education. As my Branding thesis suggests and the song from the Tony award winning show CURTAINS says," It's a Business!" And MADmen principals know that schools are turning into business and turning a profit even without their knowledge.

Again, I want to define that the brand of a district, is its reputation. Is the brand supported by teachers who sell lesson plans online so they can take a trip in the summer? Is it supported as a bold entrepreneurial step?...something that is part of the school bradnd IF all proceeds go back to the kids' classrooms...a brand buzz around "WE make KIDS our BUSINESS "would fit!

Historically schools and businesses haven't shared common ground;at least not so overtly...YET now with the internet, social media and 24/7 access, times have changed. The MADman principal who grasps the need for BRANDING and even MARKETING in a district is on the right track to developing and yes...selling a credible reputation to a niche market..the community.

Why Branding LESSONS? Why MADMAN? A new World...

I'm enjoying writing book two, and it feels like a great FIT for me.

The topic is branding as many of you know, and I'm combining my two professional journeys, one in education and one in business to create a book for educators that contributes a text for school leaders that opens up conversations about school culture in a new way. I'm using the MADmen world frame of BRANDING because the powerful social media movement exists as branding online: facebook, myspace, twitter, all create BRANDING opportunities for users. We live in a world of BRANDING. Personal Branding starts even in utero as the cartoon suggests! Ever hear today's parents tortured decision making about names for babies in this new world? They are BRANDING! SHould she be called APPLE or AMY? Get the difference?

Rather than lament this as we as educators can do to when we see monumental change sweeping into our classrooms, let's welcome branding as a powerful tool that can be used to create positive shared language and positive shared attitudes about WHO WE ARE as educators in any school district...and WHY we should be trusted to deliver excellence in service that leads to achievement.

School agendas are thick and heavy with standards and compliances. A fresh direction with a new conversation on branding can help those discussions. Hard issues can be tackled better among people who have a common belief in a brand and in building relationships within the organization; relationships among teachers, staff and managers advance the brand.

The Branding conversation should move out to the public-- the customers; parents, businesses, community members and seniors in order to show the PROMISE of the school brand daily, and HOW is offers each group value. Every yearly budget vote can be empowered to a positive ROI if the Brand of the school is understood, and once the brand has been operationalized, moved into every facet of the community through all sorts of channels, social media, print, word of mouth, positive attitude follows.

It is a brave new world for schools who brand...not at truly a mad mad world!

Brand of the MOMENT: Black Dress Traveler

Wanda Mann is the Queen of elegance! She,and her Black Dress Traveller Brand, are the BRAND OF THE MOMENT . Wanda's beautiful event at Jazz at Lincoln Center couldn't have been better. I wouldn't have been anywhere, but there in NYC tonight! A fantastic private cocktail hour , bath junkie, free makeovers...and FRONT ROW Center seats for Wynton Marcelis and his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra...and are these men attractive as well as talented!!! The amazing big band and jazz music of Marianne Williamson was so special. I wanted to jump from my seat in the front row to the stage and dance! Billy Jean King provided the story of each composition...I'm heading for I tunes!!!

Brand Lessons: What a Brand Promises..The APPLE Store on 67th

Yesterday's last posting was about the APPLE store that will open tomorrow in my neighborhood. APPLE is a prefect example of how a BRAND PROMISE delivers. Apple expects to open 50-70 stores even in this downturn. What have they done to take such an aggressive route? They have defined the benefit they offer to the customer, the consumer develops a relationship based upon expectation, and then Apple delivers again and again. Apple users are evangelical about the brand. I was one of the many who stood in front of the blazing cube of light last evening on 67th and Broadway. As I did, I was reminded of those classic movies in black and white, where people gathered around a TV set in a store front electronics store trying to get a look at something cool on the fuzzy screen.

On Broadway we gathered in front of the towering curtain wall of glass, but what we were seeing wasn't fuzzy. It was simple elegant product arranged on white, stark , modern tables-- hundreds of MAC computers waiting to be played with, and waiting to benefit people's lives, waiting to fuel the economy, waiting to deliver on the brand promise of a hip, cool, user friendly, safe product, and always supportive face to face and online service.

As a MADMAN principal seeking to create or regenerate a brand, spend time thinking of Brand Promise. It's what we do implicitly everyday as leaders. Brand promise is about benefits and expectations and delivering results. All of this is tied to the pressure of school reform and student achievement. Making the Brand Promise part of discussions about a school culture of achievement may spark your ongoing internal effort with teachers, new and seasoned, support staff and fellow administrators.

Let's approach this as building TRUST EQUITY in the organization. If every player in this Branding Push knew exactly what the brand stood for and could articulate it and build trust daily with students, parents, the community and their colleagues, how would that Trust Equity factor improve...maybe as quickly as APPLE's has.

The bumps in administrator's roads often come when trust is broken with the customer/client. As The Chief Operating Officer, you can't be the only one responsible for achievement, for a culture of continuous learning,and a culture of respect.

Breaches of this trust happen every day in the ranks when your people don't know what the brand is or worse, care. They may have created their own brand promise with attitudes and practices that don't fit with the district's vision. Then the phone rings and rings and rings, and it's not good news.. Keeping the brand promise through action and attitude is key to building the trust that keeps the branding effort genuine and on track.

When a new hire walks into a faculty room, would you want them to be hit with the..." We don't do it THAT way", intimidating
message. That comes from operating in a vacuum, Having a strong brand promise assures that from the newest hire to the nearly pensioned, people know what they are charged to deliver, to promise...and they "over-deliver" that benefit every day. They can even be measured on it.

Trust is built through building on a brand's promise. And an exciting brand attracts the best. People flock to work at APPLE. And I haven't had a single instance where any of these employees has not delivered, and I'll bet nobody tells an APLLE new hire, we don't do it THAT way here.

Apple Store Upper West Side Opens Saturday!

Ok, The Brand of the Moment is a giant... Apple !!!


The Upper West Side Apple store opens on November 14th!!! My neighborhood just got even more amazing. Alice Tully's incredible space on 66th and now the Apple store...the neighborhood is full of light from these two amazing shimmering palaces of bright light. Apple wants to open 50-70 new retail stores this year...I LOVE it...if it's 24 hours I may never sleep!!!

Brand Lessons: MADmen Principals Brand a Better School Culture from the Inside Out

If you've been listening, you are getting the sense of why BRANDING, a MADmen Principle from MAD MADison Avenue, should be part of every administrator's vision for sustaining or restoring a school culture. Branding is about building relationships, knowing what you stand for, and agreement to deliver on that promise.

Doesn't sound too crazy to me. Doesn't sound like "adspeak". It sounds genuine and it sounds necessary for leaders to act upon.

Still I talk with people who think BRANDING is MARKETING, and the feel uncomfortable with that sales concept. I tell them not to worry, educators are great at marketing...selling education to the masses, standards and testing...it's all about marketing

So briefly, and if you are trying to get your head around using this branding model as part of your professional toolbox, schools need a branding model today to invigorate culture quickly. Spending time brainstorming about branding, facilitating thinking and finally clarifying a school brand is time well spent. The language and attitude that shifts positively in the process of understanding and building a brand is an end in itself. And if that's all that happens on the inside of a school organization, fine. People will recognize themselves as part of something and that impacts behavior positively from new hires to "lifers". Now when you want to Sell your built BRAND to the community...that's marketing!

BRANDING is....
an audit about what you stand for

BRANDING is ...
defining the total experience of your customer, consumer, client with your service

BRANDING is...
an action item that goes to what you promise to deliver, and people's expectations

BRANDING is...
a visual image of positive signals and your effort to make them pervasive


MARKETING is something else. When you bring your brand to the audience to sell, to the bigger stage...you are marketing. Another worthwhile endeavor. But one step at a time folks!

Branded Love...Rumi

Well..For the Brand of the Moment...what I found on he wall of MAMA Mexico...a brand of love and devotion for the ancients..and at home on the Upper West side...Rumi.

BRANDING LESSONS: The " IGNORATION NATION" and BUILDING A BRAND

As a former middle school teacher, I am keenly aware of the "Turn Off "factor. The challenge of keeping a 13 year old's attention...a room full of 13 year olds, in fact, has been a training ground to me as a presenter, a consultant, a writer. Add in three experiences with my own kids going through their teens, and I will set myself up, a la Lucy in Peanuts with My sign: The Doctor is in! That's why this post is here.
It's not just 13 year olds who ignore; the new age of media has shortened our attention.

So who's my niche market in my "doctor's office/blog "? The Ignoration Nation, that means anyone who feels bombarded my the" too much information age", and has tried to sift, to select, to discipline themselves in receiving information, but still comes up feeling bewildered by the proliferation of stuff to know, see, and process.

As the visual suggests, you may feel you just have had enough and are in information free fall or flight!

Well, just being a blogger smacks of contributing to the internet rabbit hole that any Alice or Alan can fall into on any day of the week, so I will point to the idea of being relevant . No this isn't a Goodle Adsence driven site.There is good content for branding here. As consumers of information we must manage the knowledge, the content, that is available. It presents a time drain, and we are time poor in the 21st Century .On the other hand, creating the best content is another challenge. How do we as brand developers get our brand message across to those who are part of the IGNORATION NATION, and could benefit from our service?

As you work toward Understanding Branding and Building a Better Brand for your Organization, here's a few touchpoints:

KNOW WHY YOU ARE BRANDING---It should be based on your need to build relationships. Don't become part of an internet "Echo Chamber" by putting out stuff that is only relevant to you or the people with whom you are working . Branding is about touching people. Marketing research says it takes, on average, 8 touchpoints to deliver brand loyalty.


CREATE A SIMPLE MESSAGE THAT HOLDS POWER---The KISS principle here. And think of the superficial trappings like LOGOS and COLORS and TAGLINES as visuals that can get people's attention. I've included the powerful MADMEN image in this posting. It's a version of he original shadow figure. Powerful visual.

CREATE VEHICLES THAT SUPPORT THE BRAND--- A short relevant newsletter, not endless text, can continue to bring the brand home to clients or customers. The direct email that gives value, a link to good information, a partner offering a discount or service. Make sure any content you use is the result of educated research, make the information irresitible in your branding campaign and your brand with ring with credibility.

As you begin to bring your winning, connected brand to your market, understand the challenges that you face. Knowing how your market gets its information and sifts this information will inform your developing brand. The IGNORATION NATION won't stand a chance against a brand that hits the mark and delivers its brand promise over and over. Just ask GOGGLE, COKE, NIKE. Last time I checked ...most people weren't ignoring them.

BRAND OF THE MOMENT: Rockys Restaurant NOLITA!

The first time I went to Rocky's over a year ago, I sat next to the window facing Spring Street and was struck by the special feel of the restaurant..."This Moment is More Precious than you Think.", I remember thinking. It was the beautiful Nolita light that streams through the window during the lunch hour that led me to that thought.

And then I ordered lunch...and it was the BEST of Little Italy. How precious is that?

And a year later, I have had countless precious moments at Emma's restaurant..a true tiny gem of high quality, fresh, authentic Italian food. From freshly made soup, crisp salads, to entrees as varied as deliciously sinful pumpkin ravioli to fantastic salmon. From martinis of every exotic type, to desserts that make waiting for the end of dinner irresistible ...Rockys rules!

I've recommended strangers on the streets of Little Italy, customers in bath junkie, friends, business colleagues and family to Rockys at 45 Spring Street. It is my FAVORITE Italian in NOLITA...and even in NYC. I'm happy to tell the world because it's a brand that says...authentiic, reliable and classic. Head to Spring an Mulberry. If you are lucky you will dine next to an interesting vistor from anywhere in the USA, Europe or Asia...and if you are really lucky, Emma will make you an Espresso Martini to die for!

As a brand, Rocky's stands tall over the choices in Little Italy. Homey, comfortable, welcoming....that's the Rocky's brand...Enjoy! And tell Emma Trish sent you.

Trish's Most Recent Interview on Radio!

Jim Blaisingame interviews Trish Rubin about Strategic Partnering in business!

http://zaicast.smallbusinessadvocate.com:8000/media/jbsba/2009/11/20091104-B.mp3

Sliced Bread Marketing...Ted Conference with Seth Godin

Thanks to the fantastic Mike Blumquest, my former USA TODAY colleague!!!! Marketing never felt sooooo good. People who Spread ideas...WIN in business, in schools.

Check it out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBIVlM435Zg

Seth Godin: Sliced bread and other marketing delights
Source: www.youtube.com

Branding Lessons: A Logo Does Not a Brand Make

Looking at the shadowy figure in this post should create an emotional tug for anyone who is a fan of the series MADMEN. It's the logo without the words MADMEN and yet, you are "getting it". You get the message about sexy cool, competition, biz, and all that the show creates each Sunday night when it's on AMC. If I add text, and it says MADMEN, then others who are not as familiar can join the get it club in a New York MINUTE> That's what a logo does. It creates instant recognition of what a product or service is all about. I work with a national retail chain called bath junkie. It's not as well known as MADMEN, but it has its market that it meets online and in print through its brand. I've placed their brand logo in this post. It's colors are the same as MADMAN logo...but the feel of the brand is different. It suggests playfulness and beauty. Not what the shadow figure suggests.

So why should schools care about this?

Most educational entities have a logo, a mascot, a website, a newsletter. THESE ARE NOT THE BRAND. They are all necessary and important to the brand expression, but it's incorrect to assume that you can check off branding as a school leader because you have a classy website. It's a mistake to not value it as part of you responsibility to lead. The associations your customers make from the brand and what the logo stands for...and how it connects to their personal beliefs are what you mine when you take on a MADMEN Principal Personna....and as you do you are beginning to brand yourself as a leader in new ways. How cool is that?

SO let's not debate, allow me to educate.

Every forward thinking school leader needs to develop a school brand beyond the "superficial signals" to the community by going deeper into understanding the BRAND PROMISE, and working to consistently build new channels to share with the entire school community . The result, the ROI return on Investment ,will create a culture of energy, pride, responsiveness and yes,customer service, around that promise. Having the right language and a consistent attitude around the brand will smooth the way in building all sorts of relationships within the school community.

Branding isn't a logo or a tagline. Leaders need to go further to build a responsive brand in schools. You'd be crazy not to.

Bar and Books...Winning Brand of the MOMENT

My BRAND of the MOMENT Winner for today....because as De Le Vega says" This moment is more precious than you think," is...
Bar and Books, and the brand speaks of the ultimate civil spot in the city...a place for grown ups!! I have heard of this wonderful warm inviting spot...actually, they have three locations in NYC. I strolled by Beekman on Saturday night and was taken immediately by its style, elegance and yet..."un-- intimidating " feel...intelligent without being stuffy.


And check out their website for details of a far away location to dream of visiting...the website is so coooollll. Anyone who puts Sergio Mendes and Brazil 66 rendition of Mas que Nada on a site has my VOTE!!!!! www.barandbooks.com

I'm gather a group to go after Thanksgiving...I am writing my second book on Branding and need a LAUNCH...a pre pub launch!! Who wants to join?

Personal Branding: Body Image

In my thinking as I write my second book about branding, I'm interested in the elements of personal branding.Body image seems to be a major part. The positive buzz of feeling good..of living life in a healthy and attractive package is an instant connection to confidence for the most part.

This UK article from Fit map strikes a chord for me on the topic of being Healthy, Comfortable in your skin, with a beautiful result.
http://www.thefitmap.co.uk/weight/diets/start/body-image.htm

Monday Madness "Go to "Song

Check out my book, Trish Rubin's New York MINUTE for Networking for more connected Monday Morning Tips, like the Go To Song!!!

Monday Monday

OK New York...it's MONDAY...and yes, the Giants lost again last night...But we did have a PARADE here on Friday...and think of the poor Philly fans...spanked by the Yanks and paddled last night on National TV by the COWBOYS...aaarrrggghhh! Philly is a much worse place to wake up today than NYC.

So start your MAD MAD Monday off with a few tips....

Monday mornings are a bear. Going to bed early on Sunday night doesn't always help because most people will remain awake until their usual bedtime. I watched MAdmen, the NFL game...and was depressed enough to crash!!!

Hop out of bed the moment you wake up on Monday morning.It helps to set an alarm all the way across the room for Mondays!

End your shower with a jolt of cold water to tear yourself out of your grogginess...and great for the hair, ladies...helps the shine!
Use a bath junkie walnut scrub fragranced with SNOWSTORM to help with the wake up call.


Get out in the sunlight. Walk instead of subway when you can... Bright light tells your body that it is indeed the morning and helps reset your internal clock.


Drink coffee or another caffeine beverage. Although it's not healthy to drink caffeine to the point of addiction, caffeine, when used in moderation, can give your Monday mornings . Do not stop at Spring Lounge in Nolita for an Irish Coffee...that doesn't count.

Use the Power of Music...charge the Ipod...create a Mad Monday Morning Mix!!! A New York MINUTE BAthroom Boogie will get you goin!

Branding Lessons: Mining the Emotional Trigger to Define School Identity

Say Disney. Say NIke. Say Tiffany. Say Godiva. Now sit back and feel the magic. One of those brands or more than one has immediaely created an emotion in you.

Say Enron. Say Bernie Madoff.Say Bear Sterns .See the difference?

So If you are still wondering why you should care about understanding branding as a school leader, repeat the above exercise. See if the result doesn't lead you into valuing the power of branding and learning more about MADmen principles. See if you can think of brands, business or personal brands, that carry split second emotional response. They hold brand triggers. research says it takes about 9 seconds to know whether we want to engage with someone in face to face situations. Knowing if we want to engage with a brand though logo recognition is even quicker.

Say Paris Hilton. See what I mean?

If a school organization becomes more attuned to the market that it serves, it can use that awareness to create the school brand as an emotional trigger that promotes brand loyalty. Your chosen brand therefore, must not be taken on lightly. It must be a genuine match to the organization. It must be more than the logo. It must go immediately to a promise. The development of the brand should be intentionally mined over at least three months, so that when the process of BUILDING the brand is begun, the implied promise that the brand suggests will be easier to demonstrate, especially around key decision making times in a school calendar.

Branding is an implied promise. Getting the buy in from the community of teachers, students parents and administrators as they brand in developed is key. Going beyond the commercialization of schools, the emotional connection each of the groups has to the brand can make the promise easier to deliver. In schools, even more than in business, I think a key to finding a trigger is to mine the question, "Why do I like being here?" As a student, as an employee, as a homeowner...the question gets to emotional connection that can be the foundation of early talks on building the school brand.

MADMEN Closer

It was a particularly wrenching closer. The sight of the Sterling Cooper phoenix in the luxury hotel room where their new madmen world is being born as Drapper's world is in meltdown...I'm not sure I can watch this one again...even for research purposes.

Outliers.... Success Stories from Malcom Gladwell

What is an ''outlier''? According to Malcom Gladwell, it's a superachiever, He focuses on Bill Gates, The Beatles, and other super successes. What makes them different?It's not just mere talent,.Gladwell makes interesting and compelling reasons for success....I loved the 10,000 hour rule myself! His investigation of birthdates and legacy and opportunity goes from simplest to complex...why are Asians good at math? He offers a persuasive reasoning...

His writing is storylike yet with teeth of fact and data. It's a great read from the author of Blink and the Tipping Point...I couldn't put it down!

In a City of 26,000 Places to eat...Vesailles!!!

As Danny Meyer, restauranteur star says...26,000 place to eat in NYC...!

But if you want new, elegant catering for One or 100, check out Pierre Lion's new effort Versailles1983. He adds a touch of affordable class to your dining experience! And they deliver throughout most of Manhattan.

I'm writing book two, so I'm at home more..I need a Pierre plan!!!

http://stores.versaillesdelivery.com/-strse-template/hoursanddeliveryoptions/Page.bok

Danny Meyer, Dr. Bob and Trish

That's right, 26,000 restaurants...and I'm with the boss at Tabla!

Versailles1983 is Paris in Soho

In a city with 26,000 options for eating according to Danny Meyer, restauranteur to NYC's most educated palates, we now have a wonderful new choice. Pierre Lion's Versailles1983 catering company....if you want to feel pampered without spending LOTS of money in the process, check this newcomer out:http://stores.versaillesdelivery.com/-strse-template/hoursanddeliveryoptions/Page.bok

And he delivers throughout most of Manhattan!!! Welcome to NYC Pierre!

Branding Lessons: Build School Culture and Identity with Branding

You're an educator and you are starting to think about branding. Of course, you can't help but do this. When I am asked in business settings about my ability to work within the business community, since my perspective is informed by education, I simply smile and say..."I've been in the business sales all my life. I've sold "education" to a diverse marketplace: students, teachers, parents, administrators, school board members and the community."
So today, with my sales perspective, I'm traveling the country speaking to educators about the common ground of educators and business people. The ground of selling and living a BRAND for ROI in education.
Let's capture one Branding definition to work with. Branding is a total experience for the user that is based on relationship. It's more than a logo or a tagline.
If we lead with that principle, then as educators, we should feel a good fit. Education is about building relationships. Educators work hard to do honor that, and have their own tools that make this harmony of relationship building happen everyday in schools. SO with that in mind, can a school culture be created through strategic understanding and a champaign to advance a brand? Can this result in brand loyalty among students, teachers, parents, administrators, board members and the community?
To define what education is today is as challenging as defining what a brand is. There are many ways people try to define both, and branding is in essence solid and changing at the same time. That is true for education as well.
The way to make connections right off the bat is through CULTURE. Branding tenets that are from Madison Avenue's hallowed halls are perfect tools to develop language and attitude for building CULTURE across the diverse market for education. The beginning of the work lies in the understanding that branding is based in an implied promise. In schools, the promise is achievement. Savvy principals today can be Madmen...or women leaders by applying Madison Avenue tools to include branding, some marketing and a dash of social media to create culture that feeds a loyalty to the organization. Madman Principles? They work. And you'd be crazy not to try.

About the Author
Ms. Rubin is the president of the Edventures group, a NYC based consultancy that helps individuals and organizations grow though marketing, branding and networking services.

Branding Lessons: Build School Culture and Identity with Branding

You're an educator and you are starting to think about branding. Of course, you can't help but do this. When I am asked in business settings about my ability to work within the business community, since my perspective is informed by education, I simply smile and say..."I've been in the business sales all my life. I've sold "education" to a diverse marketplace: students, teachers, parents, administrators, school board members and the community."
So today, with my sales perspective, I'm traveling the country speaking to educators about the common ground of educators and business people. The ground of selling and living a BRAND for ROI in education.
Let's capture one Branding definition to work with. Branding is a total experience for the user that is based on relationship. It's more than a logo or a tagline.
If we lead with that principle, then as educators, we should feel a good fit. Education is about building relationships. Educators work hard to do honor that, and have their own tools that make this harmony of relationship building happen everyday in schools. SO with that in mind, can a school culture be created through strategic understanding and a champaign to advance a brand? Can this result in brand loyalty among students, teachers, parents, administrators, board members and the community?
To define what education is today is as challenging as defining what a brand is. There are many ways people try to define both, and branding is in essence solid and changing at the same time. That is true for education as well.
The way to make connections right off the bat is through CULTURE. Branding tenets that are from Madison Avenue's hallowed halls are perfect tools to develop language and attitude for building CULTURE across the diverse market for education. The beginning of the work lies in the understanding that branding is based in an implied promise. In schools, the promise is achievement. Savvy principals today can be Madmen...or women leaders by applying Madison Avenue tools to include branding, some marketing and a dash of social media to create culture that feeds a loyalty to the organization. Madman Principles? They work. And you'd be crazy not to try.

About the Author
Ms. Rubin is the president of the Edventures group, a NYC based consultancy that helps individuals and organizations grow though marketing, branding and networking services.

Branding Lessons: Brand Language for Districtwide Achievement

o if you are reading this, you are thinking of repositioning your personal brand before you take the lead on re-branding your school. Step One, and that's a good direction. Get comfortable with the idea that you are gong to live the Madman brand as you lead the push toward a community-wide living of achievement that your district stands for every single schoolday, not just on the budget voting day. Your personal brand overhaul will include your image and actions related to being a brand manager, and a Madman principal.
My hope for you is that you will spend time researching business topics that are devoted to brand understanding. That's your focus as you start. For you to learn your branding lessons, and for you to teach them to others, you'll need to do the work of mining what's out there in the world of Branding. Find what you can hook onto, what resonates, and like coming to a foreign country, learn the language and understand the attitudes that are present in this new world.
There is truly a language of" BRANDSPEAK", and as I develop my branding lessons, I will define the best use terms and coach you into making connections from business applications to school use. It'll be easy, believe me.
If you've read my previous articles, you know that Branding as a term is open to discussion, and that Madmen admen still quibble over the meaning. Fo my purposes, I want my readers to think RELATIONSHIP BUILDING as paramount to understanding Branding. Yes, it is a total of positive experience that people have with a service or product. Any yes, it is built on reputation and positive delivery of the service or product. Above all for me it is about relationship building. That's why branding is not a solo push, but an effort tied to marketing and networking as you go forward.
Here's some of the BRANDSPEAK terms that I promise to define for you in future pieces. Brand Promise, Brand Platform, Brand Loyalty, Brand Messaging, and Brand Engagement to name a few. All of these frameworks gather around a tenet related to communicating with your diverse niche market that exists in your school district. And here's the tenet...To be a Madman Principal ...Think NICHE MARKET.
Think customers and begin your branding lesson by finding out how your school/district is perceived by parents, school board, teachers, students, businesses and community at large. Think about the LANGUAGE, the BRANDSPEAK that you must know, and genuinely embrace so that you can talk the talk of Branding. Knowing these elements will bring an attitude to your work that helps you walk the walk as a brand manager, a Madman school principal. Now, think about how you going to launch a branding campaign that will make relationships with each of these niche markets, and remember that each market is different, yet they must exist under the same brand . It's your job to build relationships with all your customers powerfully enough to advance your school brand for positive return on your investment...ROI!

About the Author
Ms Rubin's is a NYC based consultant who helps individuals and organizations grow through branding, marketing and networking services. She is a speaker and author of Trish Rubin's New York MINUTE NETWORKING

Brand Lessons: Build School Culture and Identity with Branding

ou're an educator and you are starting to think about branding. Of course, you can't help but do this. When I am asked in business settings about my ability to work within the business community, since my perspective is informed by education, I simply smile and say..."I've been in the business sales all my life. I've sold "education" to a diverse marketplace: students, teachers, parents, administrators, school board members and the community."
So today, with my sales perspective, I'm traveling the country speaking to educators about the common ground of educators and business people. The ground of selling and living a BRAND for ROI in education.
Let's capture one Branding definition to work with. Branding is a total experience for the user that is based on relationship. It's more than a logo or a tagline.
If we lead with that principle, then as educators, we should feel a good fit. Education is about building relationships. Educators work hard to do honor that, and have their own tools that make this harmony of relationship building happen everyday in schools. SO with that in mind, can a school culture be created through strategic understanding and a champaign to advance a brand? Can this result in brand loyalty among students, teachers, parents, administrators, board members and the community?
To define what education is today is as challenging as defining what a brand is. There are many ways people try to define both, and branding is in essence solid and changing at the same time. That is true for education as well.
The way to make connections right off the bat is through CULTURE. Branding tenets that are from Madison Avenue's hallowed halls are perfect tools to develop language and attitude for building CULTURE across the diverse market for education. The beginning of the work lies in the understanding that branding is based in an implied promise. In schools, the promise is achievement. Savvy principals today can be Madmen...or women leaders by applying Madison Avenue tools to include branding, some marketing and a dash of social media to create culture that feeds a loyalty to the organization. Madman Principles? They work. And you'd be crazy not to try.

About the Author
Ms. Rubin is the president of the Edventures group, a NYC based consultancy that helps individuals and organizations grow though marketing, branding and networking services.

MADman Principles can Build School Culture

u really have to be excited about possibility to work in education. You really have to be excited about possibility to work in marketing and branding. That's not a misprint. There's not an echo. Contrary to what business and education once thought, these two systems have a lot in common. It's really exciting to think about that in today's new economy. Can Mad Men PRINCIPLES of marketing and branding inform school PRINCIPALS, the men and women who are the CEO's of school culture and Identity?
It's not the sixities anymore, but "admen madmen" are flexing their practiced Madison Avenue muscle in 21st century schools, and not just through a popular TV show. And their stylized tenets can become power tools in the hands of school leaders who want to create powerful conversations about the branding and selling of the brand to school customers: kids, teachers, administrators, school board members, parents and the community.
Whether we like it or not, teachers, students, parents and community members are all subject to the influences of BRANDING in modern society, and making use of these subtle but powerful forces can positively impact school culture. Contrary to what educators once imagined, good business and good education can and should mix. What works in business can make for better education, and skillful use of the Madmen principles can create or strengthen a school wide identity, and can make all the stakeholders in your school more willing participants in a common cause. Branding is not new in business, but it has now, in the current vernacular, "gone viral." And why? BRANDING is "the implied promise of quality"... And quality is what school customers naturally seek. A quality education, after all, is what promises access to the American Dream, and more so today, than ever before. So here's an ESSENTIAL QUESTION to ask yourself if you are an educational leader: Can a "Madman" Principal or Central Office Leader bring new energy, language and thinking to a district culture through using BRANDING principles? If you want to be a Madman Principal ask yourself... Do I care how my school/district is perceived by parents, school board, teachers, students, businesses and community at large? Do I want new ways to communicate core messages, especially for budgeting and referendums?
Understanding the need to bring BRANDING conversations to the school organization may be new thinking for public school educators. Its time has come. Universities and private schools have gotten on the branding train, knowing that BRANDING is "the sum of all user experiences with a product/service, building both reputation and future expectations of benefit" according to brand expert, Jason Miletsky. Logos and taglines only scratch the surface of developing an emotional connection to consumers.
Step One in the Conversation is the Understanding of what branding is and its value to building school identity. It's time for schools who are part of a global society of social media --and who educate students in navigating life through building educational skills...building a personal brand--to think about how Madison Ave Mad Men strategies can help schools. Mad Man Principles for Principals?...you'd be crazy not to begin the conversation.

About the Author
Consultant, Speaker and Author, Trish Rubin helps individuals and organizations grow through an intuitive mix of Networking,Branding and MArketing services.