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Baron Sauvage

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Thinking

Posted on:December 10, 2020Brand Strategy

Thinking about brands as systems

It’s difficult to find brands with clearly aligned positioning, strategy and architecture, which is why there are so few truly great brands.

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Posted on:June 4, 2021June 4, 2021Leadership Work Culture

Predicting the rise of the Chief Creative Officer

The example of the FTSE100 shows that we have fallen into a pattern of behaviour that contradicts our stated purpose: not simply to make money but to create value. At some point, someone somewhere will establish a better pattern of behaviour. Perhaps a Chief Creative Officer will be at the heart of the change.

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Posted on:February 26, 2021Brand Strategy

Fuck storytelling: great brands make a statement

This is what really great brands do: they have a point to make and then find the most effective ways to make that point.

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Posted on:January 15, 2021Leadership Work Culture

Divided we stand: the hallmark of a resilient company

Resilience is about more than failure avoidance. It’s about creative dissent.

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Posted on:January 15, 2021Leadership Work Culture

Kindness matters in business: why the nice guys finish first

Making the case for intelligent kindness in business.

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Posted on:December 12, 2020Innovation Sustainability

Is the sharing economy a caring economy?

There’s a very real risk that the economic rewards offered by the “sharing economy” will crowd out the emotional and social benefits of sharing.

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Posted on:December 11, 2020March 1, 2021Brand Experience Brand Strategy Work Culture

Brand positioning: avoiding the average

In theory, brand positioning can be an immensely useful tool for creating growth. But in practice, it is often a complete waste of time, money and effort.

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Posted on:December 10, 2020Brand Strategy Work Culture

Designing brands around a purpose

Intentions matter because they initiate outcomes.

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Posted on:December 10, 2020Brand Strategy Work Culture

The importance of unmeasurables

Not everything that can be counted counts. And not everything that counts can be counted.

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Posted on:December 10, 2020Brand Experience Brand Strategy Innovation

Brands and the Economy of Mistrust

In the economy of mistrust, businesses create profit by outsourcing the policing of behaviour to their online communities: they establish spaces in which people are encouraged to act as judge, jury and executioner.

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Posted on:December 10, 2020Leadership Work Culture

Would you prefer your company to work like a symphony orchestra or an improvisational jazz band?

Think about it: how many organisations have you worked in that actually operate like a symphony orchestra?

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Posted on:December 10, 2020Brand Strategy Leadership Work Culture

Why culture doesn’t eat strategy for breakfast

If strategy is about substance, then culture is about style – and style matters every bit as much as substance.

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Posted on:December 10, 2020Brand Experience Brand Strategy

What makes a brand great?

Great brands don’t just deliver on expectations; they play with those expectations. They inspire us to see more of life’s infinite possibilities.

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Posted on:December 10, 2020Leadership Work Culture

The secret to lasting leadership

Spend less time at work.

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Posted on:December 10, 2020December 10, 2020Brand Experience Brand Strategy Innovation Leadership Sustainability

The future of brands is… Circular?

What do milk floats and glossy leggings have in common?

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Posted on:December 10, 2020December 10, 2020Brand Strategy Innovation Leadership

Authenticity: it’s not what it used to be

The past is something you learn from, but not something your brand needs to be wedded to.

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Posted on:December 10, 2020December 10, 2020Innovation Sustainability Work Culture

Uber: is it just me?

Is Uber’s brand really worth billions?

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Posted on:December 10, 2020December 10, 2020Leadership

The power of a pre-mortem

Like many things in life, strategy is rarely perfect the first time round.

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Posted on:December 10, 2020Brand Experience

Building brand engagement in a post-trust world

Brands have established a new model for growth: fostering an economy of mistrust.

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Posted on:December 10, 2020Brand Experience Innovation

No more disruption please, we’re British.

The most consistently profitable innovators are not relentlessly disruptive: they are capable of introducing radical new ideas to the world, but they hone and perfect the delivery of those ideas through years of incremental improvement to improve efficiency and profitability.

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Posted on:December 10, 2020December 10, 2020Brand Experience Sustainability

New luxury: a triumph of excess over experience?

The truth is that the modern concept of luxury remains stubbornly wedded to excess, despite all the optimistic column inches devoted to new luxury’s more balanced, less materialistic, more experiential, less conspicuous, more ethical stance.

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Posted on:December 10, 2020Brand Strategy Work Culture

Ten reasons for brand strategists to love Milton Glaser, too

Milton Glaser had the ability to penetrate through the layers of bullshit that often come with a job that balances the commercial with the creative. He thought seriously and deeply about this balance. Here are ten things I’ve taken away.

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Posted on:December 8, 2020Brand Experience Leadership Work Culture

How Ocado embraces what makes their brand weird.

Best practice can’t happen unless we’re prepared to step away from the comfort of the usual once in a while. That’s why so many of the retail world’s most notable innovators have embraced weirdness.

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Posted on:December 8, 2020Brand Experience Brand Strategy

Challenger banks: not radical enough?

We’re learning to love contactless and mobile forms of payment, but we’re a long way from digital banking nirvana.

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Posted on:December 8, 2020Sustainability

Extinction Rebellion: when Nudge comes to Shove

Extinction Rebellion offers a much-needed reminder that dramatic systematic change is needed if we want to avoid screwing up the planet for future generations.

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Posted on:December 8, 2020Leadership Work Culture

Entrepreneurs and the art of ‘enough’

It’s easy to revile entrepreneurs. They have money, power and an address list that mere mortals can only dream of. But without them where would we be?

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Posted on:December 8, 2020Brand Experience Brand Strategy Work Culture

Why commercial brands should look to not-for-profits for inspiration

A compelling charity brand is spontaneous, collaborative and delivered with charm and a warm imperfection that reminds us what it means to be human.

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Posted on:December 8, 2020Brand Experience Sustainability Work Culture

Does business class travel have a future?

Business class travel – whether by air or by train – is one of the most weirdly wasteful and anachronistic aspects of modern working life.

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Posted on:December 8, 2020Leadership Work Culture

Don’t be distracted by your competitors

It’s possible to be fiercely competitive without this becoming toxic.

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Posted on:December 8, 2020Brand Experience Brand Strategy Work Culture

Brands and emotional dishonesty

This form of positivity is toxic precisely because it robs us of our right to call something out as damaging, or depressing, or shameful.

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