Back in my days, it was the good old times of the Rolodex, typewriters and Cyndi Lauper. Now we have Blackberries, Ipods, pads, etcetera and Lady Gaga. We have come a long way. The only constant since then is Madonna.

Back in 1984, her chart-topping single was titled, “Like a Virgin.” Her most recent chart-topping single was titled, “Give it To Me.” In business, we call it kaizen – continuous improvement.

Understanding this tectonic shift in power is crucial towards navigating brand sthrough a changing landscape. Learning how to use the platforms and tools will cause our brand to resonate and expand within interested networks, faster and louder than before.

1. Give consumers a reason for positive talk

Consistent refreshing of the product experience harness positive talk. Apple has generated interest and excitement about the iPhone before its launch and during. It then ingeniously maintained interest and excitement through its apps store as a constantly evolving and user-generated content maintains positive word of mouth.

1. Always aim to outperform

To turn consumers into an effective marketing vehicle, companies need to outperform consistently to have intrinsic word-of-mouth potential. In its essence, kaizen is geared not by machines but by people. As Walt Disney has built an everlasting empire based on its imagineers, anyone’s real job is to be Vision-eers, or Vision engineers.

1. You just need to be 15 minutes ahead

Woody Allen’s routine (as recounted by Rosabeth Moss Kanter) about the first landing of UFOs on Earth. In the business world, these aliens are known as “advanced competitors.” Allen remarked that most worries about planetary takeovers involve aliens that are light years ahead of us in technology, bringing devices we can’t understand or communicate with, which enables them to control everything. Not to worry, Allen said. If we can’t understand or communicate with their systems, we’ll just ignore them, doing our work the way we always do until they leave in frustration. Instead, he argued, the advanced civilization that we should really worry about is one that is just 15 minutes ahead. That way they’d always be first in line for the movies, they’d never miss a meeting with the boss… and they’d always be first in every race. Let’s have the 15 minute advantage.

1. Do not be afraid of dissenters, embrace them

In this new landscape of branding, there will be turkey shoots and open war. Do not fear, but use criticism and irrevocable truths about the brand constructively. By all means take ideas from forums and chat rooms to reinforce your SWOT. We used to pay millions for customer survey. In fact, it’s out there every day. Internally, encourage candid debates. Do this before any of your product launches, not after when there is no opportunity to create a difference.

1. We are all responsible for our brand

As leaders, it is our job to make progress transparent to our people. Empower them to help you build ideas. Acknowledge your authority as an expert, but get your people to set and embrace the vision. Even if you decide to go with a less popular but more visionary direction, at least you will know in advance how tough it will be and how you can deal with it.

As Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, puts it. “There was no single defining action, no grand program, no one killer innovation, no solitary lucky break, no miracle moment. Rather, the process resembled relentlessly pushing a giant heavy flywheel in one direction, turn upon turn, building momentum until a point of breakthrough, and beyond.”

And one last from, Madonna, whatever you do, “Never forget to dream.”

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