CORPORATE BRANDING AND CORPORATE ASSOCIATIONS

It is generally agreed that a strong brand can be a valuable asset, yielding sales and profits over what would be achieved by a similar, generic product, and that marketing plays an important role in creating that value through its influence on consumer behavior. However, to the outsider branding and the practice of marketing can seem complex, obscure, and sometimes faddish. In part, that is because, unlike the physical sciences, some of the basic principles have yet to be fully understood and agreed.

SUFFERING FROM A LACK OF CONSISTENCY 

Today, there is still debate in both professional and academic circles as to how marketing really works, and, unlike science or the law, the language of marketing is often ill-defined and open to interpretation. As a result, practitioners are free to create their own paradigm of how marketing works and what marketing activities will be most effective. To better manage the marketing process, many large companies have implemented their own marketing frameworks, practices, and protocols. However, while these frameworks may share many commonalities, they often differ in terms of execution and terminology, which makes it even harder to the outsider to figure out what marketers are talking about.

 TO BE CONTINUED...

LIFE THROWS US LEMONS AND SOMETIMES IT’S HARD TO MAKE LEMONADE OUT OF THEM

Born in 1999 out of wedlock due to the rape incident her mother encountered, Amina had a tumultuous time growing up.  Her background caused her severe depression and drained her of every iota of self-confidence.  Her smallish nature made her an easy target for bullies and she couldn’t live a ‘normal’ life like other kids.  The poor state of her ageing mother who constantly fall sick has kept her wondering why life seems to be working against her at every given time.

However, Amina at some point came to discover her purpose in the world.  She chose to no longer see herself as invisible and undervalued but rather as a unique being. Though she is struggling to make ends meet while juggling freelance gigs and caring for her ageing mother, she resolved that she would make the most of what she had – her passion for photography.  Life had given her a full basket of the surest lemons but she determined that she was going to make the sweetest lemonade out of it.

She understood that God has given her a gift and it is her job to use it.  Then she realized that every remarkable journey starts with a spark of inspiration.  Her resolve to follow her passion led her to an unexpected encounter with a renowned artist who signed her up as his official photographer.  This indeed reignited her passion and inspired her to take control of her own narrative.

Amina’s journey has been an incredible adventure of self-discovery, growth, and artistic fulfillment.  This is a reminder that pursuing one’s passion could lead to a fulfilling and meaningful life.  Through perseverance continuous learning, and embracing the creative process, she has transformed her love for photography into a lifelong vocation that allows her to share stories, capture beauty and inspire others through the lens.

BE THANKFUL

"The things you take for granted, someone else is praying for." - Unknown

Wow! 362 days have breezed by already, yet it seemed like it was only yesterday we hugged each other gleefully, and yelled "Happy New Year," at the top of our voices to one another - how time flies. 

Are you already counting your loses, achievements or are you unable to find anything to count? I'm aware it's less than three days to the end of 2018, but I need you to know that God isn't constrained by time.

He's The Almighty God, His tenure isn't about to end with the year, no way. He's waiting to accomplish His purpose for your life. The past eleven months of 2018, might not have been your best so far, but who says the remaining days can't make up for your past loses - just be thankful.

MAKE UP YOUR MIND!

"Drugs are merely the most obvious form of addiction in our society. Drug addiction is one of the things that undermine traditional values."- Christopher Lasch.

  

People abuse substances such as alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs for varied and complicated reasons, but it is clear that our society pays a significant cost. “Drug addiction destroys lives, tears apart families and harms society” the source of this quote is unknown but the message it carries is confirmed in our hospitals and emergency departments both

through direct damage to health by substance abuse and its link to physical trauma.

Families are also thrown apart because one or some members of the family got into drug addiction. Abused substances produce some form of

intoxication that alters judgment, perception, attention, or physical control.

DON’T WAIT 20 YEARS!

“When purpose is not known abuse is inevitable." - Myles Munroe

The truth is that when one lacks a definite purpose, objectives or the parameters that define success and achievement, one tends to be in a rat race going in circles; or simply using someone else’s standards to determine their own outcome.

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish, and asked how long it took him to catch them. “Not very long," answered the Mexican. "Well, then, why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?" asked the American. The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family. The American asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?" "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, play the guitar, and sing a few songs. I have a full life."

DEEDS OF LOVE

“Trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit.” – Molière

There are times when we may feel that despite all our labors, we’re barely making a difference, we’re hardly seeing the fruits we wish to make.

It’s never easy. Such times require great patience on our part, a certain tenacity, and a tremendous dose of hope to keep our spirits up, to keep going on.

And we go on not because we’ve already seen our dreams coming true, not even because we feel victory is near. We go on because just like the apostles, Jesus tells us to keep on trying, to look to Him in trust instead of looking towards our many fears.

We cast our nets to catch not what we see, but what God sees. For God sees every fruit that comes out of our labors, and every good thing that happens from each little deed that is done in love.

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered him, “Master, we worked all night, and took nothing; but at your word I will let down the net.” When they had done this, they caught a great multitude of fish, and their net was breaking. – Luke 5, WEBBE

Building an Enduring Friendship

Building an Enduring Friendship

You can be a True Friend!

The friendship that can cease has never been real." - Saint Jerome

These days a lot of young people walk away from friendships and when you ask them why they tell you "some people are just meant to pass through your life". Much as I may agree with this in part. I'm also of the opinion that friends shouldn't get so far apart that they cannot say a word of greeting when they bump into each other. Friendship is enduring, it's lasting, it's not something that you should totally cut off except the person has become a bad influence to you or others around you, otherwise, when you shut the door to a friendship please always keep a window open for you don't know when you might need to use that window. That "some people are just meant to pass through" message does not mean that you should go out there and make enemies. It simply means you should cut down on your level of intimacy; it is not a license to start off world war III! Never forget this "The friendship that can cease has never been real." - Saint Jerome

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HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR MEMORY AS A PUBLIC SPEAKER

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The Love We Give

The love we give in this life is the only thing that can truly belong to us for eternity. – Jocelyn Soriano

There are times when we start to ask ourselves, “What is the worth of my life? What do I possess now to prove that something has happened and that my life has not been in vain?”
We then look towards our achievements or our status in life, and we start to compare it with what other people have. More often than not however, this kind of thinking just makes us feel worse. It makes us feel that if we don’t have a lot to show, we have not lived well. We feel empty as though nothing good has ever happened in our lives.
But if we start to see things through the lens of eternity, we may start to wonder deeper. What are the things that really matter anyway?

"I" Is For Influence: Your Friends Influence You

JULY SPECIAL

"The first time you say something, it's heard. The second time, it's recognized, and the third time it's learned" - John C. Maxwell

Influence is the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something, or the effect itself. Someone said once that, "your life will be a sum total of the books you read and the friends you keep."

In any relationship you experience either of the following:

(a) CORRUPTION: "Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners, and  "...a companion of fools shall be destroyed."  Or,

(b)  PROMOTION: "He that walks with wise men shall be wise."

If you do not desire the influence someone will bring into your life, then do not make them your friend because, like it or not, FRIENDSHIP IS INFLUENCE. Have you noticed how an individual enters a new neighborhood and after sometime he begins to speak with their accent? That is called "Influence". As long as you fraternize with people, you must gradually begin to dress like them, talk like them, behave like them, and think like them.

As a young boy I grew up in a  poor neighborhood in Nsukka. Violence, crime and drugs were a very common sight. It was therefore only natural for people to very early in life find themselves lost in alcohol and smoking even when they know it was a very dangerous path to follow in life, but it was  reality. I particularly wondered then why people loved smoking even when they could still attest to the fact that that stuff was so bitter in the mouth. But because they needed to belong and all their friends smoked so who are they to change the rules? 

How would I flow with my guys if I didn't do what they did? It took a lot from me to resist it.

R- RESPECT. FRIENDSHIP IS RESPECT

The story is told of a father of five who came home with a toy; he summoned his children and asked which one should be given the present. "Who is the most obedient, never talks back to mom and does everything he or she is told to do?" He inquired. There was silence, and then a chorus of voices: "You can play with it daddy!"

Respect is a fast disappearing culture in this century even amongst families. And  it is worse amongst friends . It was  Charles de Gaulle who said, “There can be no prestige without mystery, for familiarity breeds contempt.”

One of the top 3 destroyers of friendships anywhere in the world is the Lack of Respect arising from over-familiarity.  Jason Zebehazy wrote, " Distance makes the heart grow fonder, and familiarity breeds contempt. According to this my soulmate should be in Thailand.” 

R Is For Reliability

"A doubtful friend is worse than a certain enemy. Let a man be one thing or the other, and we then know how to meet him." - Aesop.

In the real world, there is no such thing as a self-sufficient, super-capable superman, who tied his own boot strap and succeeded by his own personal efforts. We all need someone to succeed. We all need someone to lend us his shoulder for us to climb to our next level. It is called affirmation. No great man could succeed without it. It always takes the affirmation of another great man.

 When was the last time a friend got a job, passed an exam, secured a favour, got a break through or survived a difficult time in life because of you. As Arnold H. Glasow puts it, "A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down" Can you keep the secrets of a friend especially after you ceased being friends? Unfortunately in life "The shifts of fortune test the reliability of friends." It was Ralph Waldo Emerson who said "When friendships are real, they are not glass threads or frost work, but the solidest things we can know."

A Friend Knows All, And Loves You Still

Using F.R.I.E.N.D.S.H.I.P as an acronym in the next couple of days let me share with you on the Laws of friendship.

F= FOCUS: FOCUS ON WHAT YOU CAN GIVE TO THE FRIENDSHIP, NOT ON WHAT THE FRIENDSHIP CAN GIVE TO YOU. The first law of love is GIVE, not TAKE.

As humans we are all naturally selfish. We all need someone to love us, care for us, encourage us and fight for us. And quite honestly there is nothing wrong with desiring all these, except that, imagine that both you and your friend came into the relationship to TAKE all these and more from the other. Naturally, you will soon be tearing at each other's throat demanding for your own portion of love, care etc. But imagine that you both came to GIVE all that and more. Soon there will be abundance of love, care etc. and because both of you are trying to out give the other, the relationship is constantly enriched and overflowing in love, care etc. The truth, however, is that like life itself, (where to live, you must GIVE OUT carbon dioxide and TAKE IN oxygen) so in friendship we must both give and RECEIVE (not DEMAND) whilst we FOCUS on our  primary responsibility on what we BRING  to the table. To enter a relationship with the goal to TAKE is the almighty formula for disappointments, heart breaks and self pity. You are hanging your joy on a man like you and the arms of flesh will fail you.

Cultivating Friendships:

Be A Good Friend!

Friendship is a powerful aspect of the human existence.  No man is poor who has friends, and no man is rich who does not have friends.  But, of course the meaning of friendship may differ from person to person and culture to culture.  In recent times, people are moving towards social isolation. People now work from their homes; most people shop online; others have their goods delivered at their doors. We now bank online and get enough entertainment on cable. We no longer create opportunities to cultivate social skills; people now live in loneliness and emptiness. But the truth is we are created for friendships. As the popular sage goes, "No man is an island".

A man came home to find his house in disarray, he proceeded to the bedroom to find his wife frantically pulling drawers and throwing things all over the room. "What's going on honey?" he asked "I can't find it," she replied. "Can't find what?" the confused husband asked but the woman didn't reply. She kept on throwing things around. The man walked over to her and gripped her shoulders. "Look at me. Look at me." The woman burst into tears. "Calm down. Take a deep breath, breathe". The woman stopped sobbing and looked into her husband's eyes. "What are you looking for?" he asks calmly. "I can't send holiday greetings to our friends," she said amidst sobs. "Why not? Don't you do that every year?" the husband asked. "No, not that," the wife said in frustration. "I can't find the card list" "the card list?" the still confused husband asks "I don't know who our friends are without it. Do you?" The man looked away thoughtfully and took a beep breath, "well then, send to only our parents, at least we remember who they are." 

Humility in Love

It is never those who boast that draws our hearts. It is never those who are proud.

But we are drawn to those who never think too highly of themselves. Those who can always seem to think of something good in others around them.

It is not lack of confidence. It isn’t low self-esteem.

But it is in a soul that doesn’t even need to lift oneself up or to gain the regard of others. It is in that kind of confidence that doesn’t even need to think of oneself too often or too much.

Instead of focusing on themselves, they are intent on finding the good in others, too. They are keen to see their beauty.

They are those who are not afraid to praise other men, those who are not afraid to admit that someone can be better in this or that skill, or in this or that virtue.

Love occupies their hearts so much that there isn’t room for that kind of fear. What’s present is much room for thanksgiving and appreciation, and much room indeed for trust in God from whom all good things come from.

Here is your harvest. To believe oneself imperfect and others perfect – this is true happiness. Should earthly creatures think you devoid of holiness, they rob you of nothing, and you are none the poorer: it is they who lose. For is there anything more sweet than the inward joy of thinking well of our neighbor? – St. Therese of Lisieux

Love Creates

Evil can never truly create something good. All it can accomplish is to destroy what is valuable. It tends to corrupt what is pure. It goes forth to darkness and to its own destruction.

To be able to create something good and beautiful is always a power that comes from love.  When we love, we overflow in joy and in every sort of goodness. This goodness overflows and extends beyond ourselves. It seeks to express itself, to communicate its affection, and to render all things capable of receiving the same light it has found.

For by him all things were created, in the heavens and on the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and for him. – Colossians 1:16, WEB

Happy Endings

“It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end… because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing… this shadow. Even darkness must pass.” – J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers

We need to believe in happy endings once again. We need to believe that light can overcome darkness and that good will always triumph over evil in the end.

It is not wishful thinking. It is hope. And in times of despair and trouble, hope needs to be rekindled in our hearts.

We have learned much of the valuable things when we were children. We only need to remember once again, to see the world again with eyes that know how to dream and hearts that know how to fight to make such dreams come true.

The world we grew up to may be complicated, but the most important things remain simple, and heaven is always within the grasp of a little child.

Things are not perfect yet but they will be. Times are troublesome, but all such troubles shall end.

In God, we never hope in vain.

I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with people, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away from them every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more. The first things have passed away.” – Revelations 21:3-4, WEB

Our Little Sacrifices

“For, in regard to that little of your will which you now willingly forsake, you shall forever have your will in Heaven. For there you shall find all that you will, all that you can desire. There you shall enjoy the possession of every good without fear of losing it… 

There no one shall resist you, no one shall complain of you, none shall obstruct you, nothing shall stand in your way: but every good that you desire shall be present at the same time, and shall replenish all your affections, and fully satiate them.” – The Imitation of Christ

Sometimes, you have to let go of the little things so you can gain what’s truly important. You have to learn to overlook many of your neighbors’ little faults as you want them to overlook yours.

We are not perfect yet and even with the best of intentions, we may not please everyone.

Let us learn to be more patient then as we try to see others in their best light.

The little sacrifices we make can add up to a big difference in our relationships. It is like oil that reduces a lot of friction in our daily life. It is like a little seed that will eventually grow into a sturdy tree where we can seek shelter beneath the fiercest storms.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Matthew 16:24, WEB

WAIT AND BELIEVE!

Wonderful things can happen at the least expected time. Blessed are those who wait.

Blessed are those who wait upon the Lord, whose expectations come from Him. They shall not be put to shame, neither shall they be disappointed.

For they have put their trust in Him who alone can be trusted. And they have set their eyes on Him who alone can satisfy.

Despise not the time for waiting. We may not see it with our eyes, but beautiful things happen even while we wait.

“O taste, and see that the Lord is sweet: blessed is the man that hopeth in him.” – Psalm 34:8

THE LORD IS NEAR

The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit. – Psalm 34:18, WEB

Just when you think God is so far away, believe, because He is ever near. He is there with you – closer than you could ever think.

For He watches over you and He knows your sorrow, He shares your every hurt. Right where it hurts the most, He is there. Right where it is darkest, He walks with you and gives you strength.

You may not know how you can still heal from all the pain, but hold on! Though you may not know, trust there is One who can make you whole again.

You may not see how life could be bright again, but take heart! There is One who can lift you up from your deepest falls.

He knows what it’s like to be broken, what it’s like to be crushed from within. Had He not been deserted by His closest friends and betrayed by those whom He trusted? Had He not been accused unjustly and scorned by those whom He healed?

We have a friend who is closer to us than we think. He understands our tears more than anyone ever could, and if we could only trust Him, He will do everything to wipe them all away.

Child, speak no more of your misery; it is already forgotten. Listen, My child, to what I desire to tell you. Come close to My wounds and draw from the Fountain of Life whatever your heart desires. -Diary of Divine Mercy