Does Your Project Have a Brand?
by Karen A. Brown, Richard Ettenson, and Nancy Lea Hyer
Have you ever noticed that some projects benefit from high-profile status that draws participation and support while others seem to languish somewhere in the back row? If you have observed this phenomenon, you aren’t alone. Our interviews and observations over a 10-year period have uncovered a huge gap in the “common body of knowledge” associated with the project management profession. Too many project leaders get so caught up in the usual tools and metrics that they fail to consider their roles as marketers within their organizations.
We believe the missing link for project leaders is branding. Consider a commonly accepted definition of a brand: a unique value proposition that creates preference and loyalty among key audiences. This translates to project environments as follows: key stakeholders in your organization will be influenced to support your project if they believe in the value your project is likely to deliver. Their impressions of your project are critical to your success as project leader.
In an article published in Sloan Management Review (Summer, 2011) we describe the factors that influence key stakeholders and offer a five-phase process… Read the rest
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