First, it was the Benghazi news, which The White House and Democrats have been saying is partisan politics at its finest. Then, the news about the IRS targeting conservative groups, and finally the news about the AP having its phone lines being tapped by the Department of Justice as well. Over the last week, the news for Obama and The White House has gone from bad to worse.

President Obama’s black eyes have led to his brand taking a beating as well; he and the Democrats can’t blame it all on the Republicans. America voted in President Obama because the country had had enough of the Bush Administration and they wanted change; Obama was the outsider who was coming into Washington and going to bring about that change, transparency and lead the country in a positive direction.

President Obama getting bad press doesn’t just look bad, but it erodes his brand, the confidence and trust in him, and The White House and the government as a whole. The loss of brand in this case could lead to a loss of power and a loss of confidence in his ability to lead the country.

Just like Nixon and Bush II before, Obama has to be careful just like the rest of us in the business world to make sure we keep our customers and/or contingencies confidence and faith in serving them. If we as leaders start to lose that confidence we have to make sure we reconnect with our customers. This usually takes getting out in front of the situation and communicating the error of our ways, either our own or the people that report to us. And telling them it won’t happen again. A heartfelt apology usually goes a long way.

It will be interesting to see how President Obama handles these current challenges and what moves he is going to take to keep the faith of the American people, Congress and the Senate and restore his brand. Usually it comes down to proactively handling the situation and maintaining that connected relationship. If you get out in front of the situation in a proactive manner, take a humble approach and restore faith with your customers/contingency, you can restore your brand image. President Obama could benefit greatly from taking this approach to the challenges he currently faces.

During a week of high drama and great sadness this was the tip of the cap to the people of Boston. They’ve been put through hell and back.

All of America has been watching and praying for the people that were killed or injured, including the families affected by this senseless tragedy. A town that was rocked this past week has responded. The people of Boston have come together, supported one another and lived in fear until the second terrorist was captured. As the news spread about how they found and caught the younger terrorist, the citizens of Watertown lined the streets and cheered the police as they left.

They have been a shining example of what it means to be Champions of America’s Brand and what the people of this great country stand for. As a symbol of this nation’s undying strength, the attendees of the Boston Bruins game last Wednesday sang a highly spirited rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner. That night, the people of Boston couldn’t have made me more proud to be an American.

Check out the video of the people of Boston singing our national anthem:

This week JCP fired embroiled CEO Ron Johnson. This isn’t a shock at all, it had to happen. It had to happen because Ron Johnson, who they hired to run the company’s brand and be the brand champion, didn’t get the brand, the legacy, or the brand’s customers. He didn’t have a strategy to retain JCP’s customers during his planned brand transformation process.

Mr. Johnson came from Target and Apple. I understand what he was trying to accomplish. But in a brand transformation you have to first know how to communicate what the hell you’re trying to accomplish, be clear and concise about what that is, and give your employees and customers some time to digest it, understand it and relate to it. Not only did he not clearly communicate just what he was trying to accomplish, he wanted to make this huge brand transformation overnight. No way was it going to happen. You have to be real about where a brand is first and foremost, good and bad. If you want to change the brand, you have to make plans to hold onto your current customers along with that transformation and what it’s going to take to bring them along slowly, so yours sales don’t hit the proverbial crapper.

Mr. Johnson not only had a failed strategy, he also failed in being able to communicate what that strategy was, and he spent a fortune advertising a deeply flawed strategy and brand position that no one understood. Their sales and stock have taken a pounding, forcing the company to look for a billion dollars in capital to try and stay afloat. Mr. Johnson was horrible for JCP and their discount legacy. His transformation plan was a disaster and the results show.

I know it’s early in the year, but Mr. Johnson has the inside track to being 2013’s top brand chump!

As we begin 2013, let’s look at the 6 Steps to Brand Success in the new year.

1) Know What You’re Trying to Accomplish for the Year
Make sure you have a well thought out brand and marketing goals for you and the rest of the company. This is the year that you can strive towards achieving specific things you want to get accomplished.

2) Be the Best in Your Space
You have to know how you and your company stack up to the competition. You have to be able to identify how and why you are the best company, product, and/or service in your space. You have to be able to effectively communicate what those differentiators are that separate you from the competition.

3) Have a Brand Promise People Can Understand & Believe In
Make sure you have a message that differentiates you from the competition, that is clear, concise and your target markets can put their arms around and believe in.

4) Look & Be the Best
Once you have your message clear and concise on how and why you are better, it’s time to package it into the best brand possible. Your brand has to look and be the best in your space. It has to look professional, while also being clean and tight so that it appeals to your target market.

5) Execute, Touch Your Targets & Produce Real Results
You have a tight message of how you are better, now you have to get that message out to your target customers. You have to touch them regularly and stay in front of them. When the time is right you are their #1 choice to do business with, whether it be a product, service or other.

6) Continue to Evolve Your Brand & Stay Ahead of the Competition
Just because you have gone through a branding process, doesn’t mean you’re done. In fact most times, once a company raises the bar in their space it usually will have followers that try and keep up. You have to continue to evolve and stay ahead of your competition and be the best brand possible.

Resolve to do these things and you will achieve Brand Success in 2013!

As we take a look back at the year of 2012 it’s time to take a look at some of the biggest branding blunders of the year.