“EVERY BRAND SHOULD BE DOING THE TWIST“
– Raul Leal, CEO of Virgin Hotels
If you want your brand to stand out from the crowd
YOU NEED TO TWIST
We’ve helped hundreds of businesses
build brands TWIST away from competition
and deliver real, breakthrough results.
We can help you too.
The birth of the TWIST
A story from Julie Cottineau
My passion for twisting began a fateful day on an ordinary business trip during the winter of 2002. I was working as the executive director of consumer branding at Interbrand, a global branding agency. On a business trip to a client in Nebraska, I ran into the typical hiccups of flight travel from the New York metropolitan area: traffic, long lines at security, and countless departure gates leading to a maze of different airlines. Anticipating a less than fun-filled flight with mediocre airline food, a bland atmosphere, and the inevitable hurry up and wait pace of airline travel, I already felt defeated as I rushed toward my gate.
As I looked out the window to the tarmac, I was suddenly stopped by the image of a 747 airplane with McDonald’s golden arches on the tail fin. Finally, here was something new and different! I envisioned what this McDonald’s airline would be like. I imagined it would be good value with a flexible menu of ticket options and upgrades. It might allow me to “supersize” my experience to a seat with more legroom or special menu offerings. The interior of the plane would surely be brighter, more welcoming, and have attendants with a friendly service oriented attitude. This McDonald’s airline experience was dramatically more appealing to me than the plane I was about to board two gates down.
As it turns out, this airline was imaginary as it was the reflection of McDonald’s yellow neon arches at the food court perfectly positioned onto a plane parked behind the window. While this McDonald’s airline wasn’t real, it led me to the very real practice of TWISTing brands in different categories to come up with new ideas. This “a-ha” moment became the inspiration for all of the work I was to do from that point forward in my corporate positions as well as my teaching positions, and then when I founded my own branding consultancy and branding school for entrepreneurs and small businesses. It is the reason I named my company BrandTwist.
And I’ve been TWISTing ever since!
~ Julie
Find your TWIST
5 KEY SIGNS YOUR BRAND IS TWISTing
Learn first-hand the power of the TWIST:
T= Transcend the ordinary to offer fresh experiences
W= Walk the talk, align personal and professional brands
I = Inspire at every turn, make the most of limited budgets
S= Solve problems, use brand uniqueness to drive growth
T= Touch hearts not hands, create experiences that engage
The TWIST book
In her best-selling book, Twist: How Fresh Perspectives Build Breakthrough Brands (Panoma Press, May 2016), brand guru Julie Cottineau illustrates why your brand, not your budget, is your strongest secret weapon. She also argues that too many companies focus too keenly on direct competitors, which results in “me too marketing” — messaging that all look and sound alike.
Julie builds upon decades of research and experience as former Vice President of Brand at Richard Branson’s Virgin Management and the creator of Brand School Online offers practical advice on how individuals, executives, and companies can step out of the status quo and see their stories with a fresh, new perspective and build their personal and professional brand twist. This isn’t your typical, stodgy business book. Twist is actionable, relevant, and accessible. It draws on popular culture, science, human behavior, and basic curiosity to encourage unconventional and creative techniques to bring fresh perspectives and breakthrough results. It makes branding accessible and fun, unlocks creative potential, and offers a clear action plan for better branding. Hear what readers are raving about and order your copy today.