brand coaching

A Return to Instinctive Branding

Brands are not just cool logos or snappy tag lines—they drive every goal, inform every decision and shape every message.

Our earliest entrepreneurs understood this. Though they might have shrugged their shoulders upon hearing the term "brand," they certainly knew how to build one. They practiced instinctive brand behavior because they had little choice. They were the leaders of their fledgling enterprises, but also the ones on the ground floor shaking customers’ hands and explaining what it was their product or service offered that the competition didn’t. They embodied their brand fully; they reinforced it every chance they had; they delivered it everywhere they could.

In today’s world of hyper-communication—the average urbanite is bombarded with about 3,500 corporate messages per day—enduring brands are the ones that display those same early qualities: unwavering consistency and clear differentiation. These brands are embraced because they instill confidence and trust in customers who need to make dozens of lightning-quick decisions every day.

That confidence and trust must be built from the inside and initiated from the top. Every employee needs to be able to talk about the brand in the same language—language that must be echoed, and reinforced, by the CEO at every opportunity. It isn’t easy for today’s CEOs to live the brand; they’re pulled in more directions than those first entrepreneurs might ever have imagined. But it is the instinctive behavior of those early movers and shakers that today’s CEOs must adopt if they want their brands to earn a spot in the minds and hearts of consumers.

Many professional managers today, having learned about brand only in terms of marketing, do not grasp the critical role they play in embedding the brand within the organizational culture and therefore maximizing its power. They are detached from the very brands they ought to be nurturing simply because they don’t really know what a brand is.

"We Want Ted"

Why have so many CEOS hollered these words? And why are they so glad they did? Because Ted Matthews has successfully challenged them to get to know their own brand—what it means; what it stands for; what it promises to deliver—and to transmit that understanding first throughout the company and then to the rest of the world.

Canada’s foremost brand coach, Ted brings a unique style, trademark passion and unprecedented knowledge and insight to each of his engagements. With over three decades of expertise, he pushes clients to understand both the significance of brand and the value waiting to be unlocked within their own brands. Ted’s unbiased, no-nonsense approach helps time-starved leaders internalize the skills that enable them to become the true CBOs—Chief Brand Officers—of their organizations.

Ted’s mission to challenge and support business leaders to maximize the potential within their brands has spurred some of the most successful brand evolutions, or transformations, in North America. Backed by a network of talented professionals who reflect his keen vision and uncompromising approach, Ted has been an integral force behind the brand-building efforts of companies like Benjamin Moore, Aliant, Advocis, Oxford Properties, Warrillow & Co., Upper Canada Forest Products and Veritas Public Relations. Helping lay the groundwork for future branding excellence, Ted also lends his time to coaching young entrepreneurs and speaking at business schools or professional associations as often as his schedule allows.

Ted won’t sugar-coat, speak in ambiguities or beat around the bush. What he will do is force you to stare your brand in the face and decide what it’s all about. He’ll help you pinpoint its essential distinction, enabling you to attract talented people who strategically—and consistently—communicate your brand’s value to customers. He’ll help you act on instinct.

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