A blog by any other name

What could you call this but a “blog.” The word itself is so newly coined that trying to replace blog with another term – like jottings or journal—becomes an exercise in confusion. A blog by any other name would still be a web log.

It’s like that in branding, too. Sometimes people develop new names simply for the sake of change. New taglines, too. Yet there are times when I’m a fan of the “if it ain’t broke” philosophy.

A few years ago, I was contracted by a client to develop a new tagline. After conducting my research, looking at competitors, talking to people within the organization, I came to a surprising conclusion. They didn’t need a new tagline. They needed to do a better job of living the tag they had already.

The client was training and executive development firm, MICA Management, and their tag was Results you can see. Yet, the results, and there were plenty to brag about, were nowhere to be seen in their communications.

But living up to their existing tagline meant more than simply needing to talk about it. It meant formalizing procedures to benchmark and collect measurable results for all assignments – so they would always have something new to talk about. It meant thinking about their business in those terms.

Now, I can’t claim to have developed Results you can see. However, it’s gratifying that many years later it is still a part of MICA’s strategy.

And that’s why this blog is simply a blog, one I hope to grow in the days and months ahead. I welcome your thoughts.