Tag Archives: Strategy

Hundreds of delegates have benefited from brand training, from UK branding workshop experts Brand Strategy Guru

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(PRWEB UK) 7 September 2012

UK brand consultancy firm Brand Strategy Guru has re-launched its programme of in-house brand training workshops in creative-thinking seminars. The workshops, personally presented by the firm’s founder, the consultant and author Simon Middleton, have been attended by hundreds of delegates from corporates, SMEs and non-profit organisations.

“My in-house branding workshops, and those in creative-thinking, have been really popular, so I have decided to offer them again,” explained Simon Middleton.

“There is a range of workshops, from one and two hour sessions through to full day and two-day in-depth training. They work very well with any number of delegates and regardless of the type of organisation,” Middleton added.

The Build A Brand In 30 Days workshop, based on Middleton’s popular book of the same name, is an inspiring and accessible introduction to branding, designed for anyone who wants to use brand effectively. Available in both half-day and full-day formats, the programme gives a thorough grounding in branding, with content that can be put into effect immediately in any organisation.

The Creative Thinking Laboratory is a stimulating and practical half-day workshop designed to promote creative-thinking, innovation and skilled problem-solving for all teams, departments and organisations.

Other short in-house courses available include:


The Brand Builder: aimed at larger corporate teams.
The Purposer: which takes leaders of an organisation or business to the heart of what their business is trying to achieve.
The Creative Power Hour: an exciting short-workshop which stimulates everybody to think more creatively.

Previous clients of Simon Middleton’s workshops have included some of the best known brands in the UK, including Aviva, British Airways, Comic Relief, Oxfam and Pret A Manger, and many others.

Further information:

Brand Strategy Guru, based in the UK, is a small team of highly experienced brand strategy advisers, marketing planners, and brand storytellers.

The consultancy provides strategic brand advice, end to end brand solutions, market research and marketing planning, as well as training.

Founder and CEO Simon Middleton is one of the best known independent brand strategists and brand experts in the UK. He is the author of three successful brand and marketing books, and appears regularly in the media (Newsnight, BBC Breakfast, The Politics Show, Sky News and many others) commenting on brand issues.

Further details can be found at http://www.brandstrategyguru.com or by emailing info(at)brandstrategyguru(dot)com







Ashland Names Shanaa to Lead Technology and Growth Strategy for Ashland Specialty Ingredients

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Wilmington, Del. (PRWEB) August 07, 2012

Dr. May Shanaa has been named group vice president, Technology and Growth Strategy, for Ashland Specialty Ingredients, a commercial unit of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH). The announcement was made by John E. Panichella, senior vice president, Ashland Inc. and president, Ashland Specialty Ingredients, to whom she will report.

Shanaa will be responsible for leading Ashland Specialty Ingredients global research and development (R&D) and applications capabilities, with direct operational responsibility for the units global research and technical centers. In addition, Shanaa will be responsible for business development, including leading the strategic growth plan for the business.

With Mays leadership and distinguished qualifications, I am confident we will be able to drive our application expertise even closer to the customer and continue our focus on solving their unique formulation challenges, said Panichella. We look forward to the perspective and experience May brings to this role as she leads the aggressive growth strategy for our new product innovations.

Shanaa most recently served as global vice president, Skin Care and Portfolio Management at Johnson & Johnson, where she also held the role of vice president, R&D, global beauty care. In this role, Shanaa was involved in more than 200 product launches per year targeting the skin, hair and deodorant markets. Prior to Johnson & Johnson, Shanaa spent more than 18 years at Unilever in skin care, laundry and home care in the UK, U.S. and Italy, where she was vice president of R&D home care. In 2002, she received Brandweeks Marketer of the Year award for the successful launch of Dove* Nutrium* Bar & Body Wash. Shanaa earned her masters degree in analytical science and her doctorate in chemistry from the University of Hull in the U.K.

Ashland Specialty Ingredients offers industry-leading products, technologies and resources for solving formulation and product performance challenges in key markets including personal care, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, coatings and energy. Using natural, synthetic and semi-synthetic polymers derived from plant and seed extract, cellulose ethers and vinyl pyrrolidones, Ashland Specialty Ingredients offers comprehensive and innovative solutions for today’s demanding consumer and industrial applications.

In more than 100 countries, the people of Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH) provide the specialty chemicals, technologies and insights to help customers create new and improved products for today and sustainable solutions for tomorrow. Our chemistry is at work every day in a wide variety of markets and applications, including architectural coatings, automotive, construction, energy, food and beverage, personal care, pharmaceutical, tissue and towel, and water treatment. Visit ashland.com to see the innovations we offer through our four commercial units Ashland Specialty Ingredients, Ashland Water Technologies, Ashland Performance Materials and Ashland Consumer Markets.


Trademark owned by a third party




More Strategic Planning Press Releases

Accelerate launched – major internal communication training initiative to improve comms practitioner strategy skills

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(PRWEB UK) 5 July 2012

The Institute of Internal Communication (IoIC) and communication training specialist Gatehouse Academy have joined forces to launch Accelerate a fast-track masterclass that puts communicators on the path to success when tackling strategic internal communication.

As internal communicators move on in their career, what makes them stand out from the crowd is their ability to translate organisational objectives into meaningful communication strategy and implement this smoothly, taking senior managers and colleagues with them.

The Accelerate masterclass has been designed to help practitioners achieve just that, providing a thorough grounding in the fundamentals of strategic internal communication within a short time frame two blocks of two days.

Subjects covered include: the fundamentals of planning; hardwiring communication to organisational objectives; choosing and using the right channels; driving engagement through leaders; becoming a trusted advisor; leading organisations through transition; managing projects effectively; creativity for communicators; and research and evaluation.

This internal communication course is fast-paced, interactive and pragmatic with a focus on equipping delegates to deliver practical solutions while also covering the vital theory. It includes techniques and insights to fine-tune those vital people skills.

Going forward, the programme offers ongoing benefits and networking opportunities for course alumni.

In addition to the training expertise of the two organisations, Accelerate is able to draw on the detailed competency framework developed by the Institute in its capacity as the professional body for IC practitioners and Gatehouses extensive experience as a leading full-service agency of advising major clients in the UK and overseas.

Institute chief executive Steve Doswell said: Internal communication has a higher status than ever before but, for the function and individual practitioners to reach their full potential, they must make a genuine contribution to achieving organisational objectives and add real value whatever the challenges. Accelerate provides key knowledge and confidence required to make this happen.

We are delighted to be working with Gatehouse on this programme which is fully integrated with our other training and development offerings and further contributes to the Institutes objective of providing learning solutions for a spectrum of career stages and circumstances.

Gatehouse director Lee Smith commented: This is an exciting collaboration focused on providing delegates with practical tools and techniques, alongside robust theory, that they can use from day one back in the workplace.

Considerable emphasis is placed on people skills as the ability to persuade, influence and ultimately become a trusted advisor is something that really makes a successful communicator stand out.

The first Accelerate course will run in central London in October.

In addition to being available as an open course, the programme can also be offered on an exclusive basis for in-house teams.

Further information is available at http://www.gatehousegroup.co.uk/accelerate or email sue(at)ioic.org(dot)uk

The Institute of Internal Communication is the only UK professional body solely dedicated to supporting internal communication practitioners throughout their career, and promoting best practice in the function, through training and development, events, awards, networking and the development of knowledge and research.

http://www.ioic.org.uk

Gatehouse Academy is the dedicated training arm of fast-growing communication consultancy Gatehouse. Launched in 2009, it provides training, coaching and professional development support for professional communicators, line managers and aspiring leaders across a wide range of sectors, including central government, financial and professional services, FMCG and oil and gas.

http://www.gatehousegroup.co.uk







Related Strategic Planning Press Releases

Drupal Website Design and Development Firm, Project6 Design, Launches New Website For Litigation Graphics and Trial Strategy Firm

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Berkeley, CA (PRWEB) June 27, 2012

San Francisco Bay Area branding and website design & development firm, Project6 Design, proudly announces the launch of a new website for Cogent Legal. The new website features a compelling home page design with an easy-to-use navigation. Additionally, the site boasts a customized portfolio review section that provides sample images and videos of their litigation graphics and trial strategy work, as well as compelling news items and testimonials. The site also includes a client login area for Cogents clients to login and view secure documents related to trials. Project6 built the new website with the Drupal content management system (CMS), which allows Cogent Legal to easily add new content to keep the site both relevant and engaging.

Even though Im an attorney and our clients are other attorneys and law firms, I didnt want Cogent Legals site to look like a law firm site, said Morgan C. Smith, Esq., president and founder of Cogent Legal. I wanted it to look more like an architecture firms site, with clean, modern lines and a visually engaging, easy-to-navigate portfolio of images. Searching for a web design and branding firm that could understand and implement this vision, I went outside the circle of design and marketing firms that have built sites for many law firms to find a design firm whose portfolio conveyed the look and feel I wanted to emulate: Project6 Design in Berkeley. They guided us through a process that dovetailed with my firms strategic planning insofar as it forced me to really think about and better understand the client base and their needs, as well as refine the firms goals.

Our team was just the right size for Cogent. Small enough to have excellent customer service and attention to detail, yet large enough to have the experience and expertise that really fit with their vision, said Esten Sesto, Founder and President of Project6 Design. Its really fulfilling when we can help a business in their efforts to grow and evolve. Cogents new website will serve as a marketing vehicle as well as a communication tool thats customized for their unique needs. Cogent Legal was a great partner in this project and we are really proud of the new website we have created for them.

About Cogent Legal

Cogent Legal designs persuasive, engaging, accurate and legally admissible demonstrative graphics for litigation. Cogent Legal also provides strategic case consulting and trial support. They help attorneys prepare and present their cases for maximum results with minimum stress. Morgan C. Smith, is a longtime litigator who successfully tried complex, high-value cases. His in-depth understanding of litigation, combined with the firm’s talented design team, enable Cogent Legal to offer clients unparalleled and invaluable collaboration. For more information, visit http://www.cogentlegal.com

About Project6 Design, Inc.

Project6 Design, established in 2001, is an award-winning San Francisco Bay Area (Berkeley, CA) based graphic design firm that specializes in strategic brand, print, and web design and development services. Project6 Design is unique because of its strong emphasis on design and usability while still having the ability to implement web projects in-house (leveraging several years of expertise in the Drupal CMS). From non-profit to Fortune 500, clients include the University of California – San Francisco, eBay, CA Technologies, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Gap, United Way, Serena Software, and Old Navy. For more information, call (510) 540-8005, email info[at]project6[dot]com, or visit http://www.project6.com.

Contact:

For Project6 Design, Inc.

Esten Sesto, Founder & President

(510) 540-8005 ext. 100

esten[at]project6[dot]com







strategicplanningMD Announces New Name, Corporate Strategy, and Release of Version 4.0 Strategic Planning Software

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Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) June 18, 2012

strategicplanningMD announced today a new direction for the two-year-old firm, changing its name to AchieveIt to better describe the companys mission: to help organizations execute smarter, faster, and better. The name change is timed with the release of its version 4.0 cloud-based strategic planning software suite, which includes three robust applications and a comprehensive resource library.

The new name is a recognition of the size, strength, and diversity of our client base and the fundamental reason our clients and prospects turn to us for help in the first place, said Scott Regan, founder and chief execution officer. Our clients are looking to turn organizational vision and goals into real, meaningful, and tangible results. They want to improve strategy formulation and execution management, create a culture of accountability, and, ultimately, achieve their strategic and operational objectives Whatever It is, our singular purpose is to help our clients AchieveIt.

As part of the rebranding initiative, the company has adopted a new tagline that corresponds with its mission statement: Execute Smarter. Faster. Better.

The genesis of strategicplanningMD was a healthcare strategic planning consulting practice that identified the need to automate basic planning functions, tools, and methods using Internet-based applications. Formed in March 2010, the company introduced its first application in July of that year. By June 2012, the company was serving nearly 100 clients in six industries: healthcare, higher education, financial services, professional services, government, and engineering.

Seeing the opportunity to serve a market much broader than healthcare, the company felt a name change was in order, as strategicplanningMDs name connoted a healthcare planning function. In order to reposition itself for growth beyond healthcare and with a focus not only on planning, but also on execution the name AchieveIt was selected.

We are attracting attention from companies with 40,000 employees and from companies with less than 40 employees, said John Tolmie, president and chief growth officer. Our smallest client is a financial services company with 14 employees, and they have the same strategy development and execution management challenges as our largest client, Baylor Health Care system, which has nearly 20,000 employees. The fact is, in todays competitive climate, no company can afford to misfire, and our technology provides a powerful arsenal for achieving corporate objectives.

In conjunction with the name change, AchieveIt announced the release of Version 4.0, which includes the following applications, all rebranded under the new corporate direction:


ExecuteIt: The companys flagship strategy development and execution management application, with additional tools to accelerate accountability and execution, including plan scoring, automatic dashboard trend lines, and integration into the firms other cloud-based applications.
AnalyzeIt: Map data at an address level and conduct on-the-fly analysis with point-and-click technology.
ImproveIt: Now, every aspect of a companys quality and performance improvement program can be managed in the cloud, with complete visibility and transparency.
ShareIt: Unites users with online discussion boards, plus provides file sharing within companies and access to strategy development and execution management resources, as well as best-practice strategy bundles that can be directly imported into plans.

About AchieveIt

Serving nearly 100 clients in 25 states and six industries, AchieveIt is a business intelligence company that enables organizations to execute smarter, faster, and better. Through its suite of cloud-based applications and related support services, AchieveIt helps organizations transform vision and high-priority goals into meaningful, significant, and tangible results. With a focus on enhanced management accountability and timely execution, the company provides unique tools to develop, monitor, and execute a variety of plans. A national thought-leader on strategy development and execution management, the company offers free webinars and white papers on its website at achieveit.com.