Brenda Bence

CHICAGO – Brand Development Associates International (BDA) has been ranked #23 in the Independent Consultants/Trainers/Coaches category of Leadership Excellence’s annual ranking of the top 500 leadership development programs in the world. The Leadership 500 is a ranking of the best individuals, teams, and organizations in leadership development practices and employee motivation-productivity today.  BDA’s 2012 ranking is up six places from last year’s ranking of #29.

This year’s Leadership 500 was published in the October 2012 Edition of Leadership Excellence magazine, a publication founded by business greats Ken Shelton, Stephen R. Covey, Ken Blanchard, and Charles Garfield. The issue was sent to almost 200,000 of the world’s “movers, shakers, and decision makers.”

“We are thrilled to move up in the rankings this year,” said Brenda Bence, BDA’s Founder and President. “To be recognized by a publication that is as well-respected as Leadership Excellence and alongside so many other accomplished companies and leadership thought leaders, means a great deal to us.”

To determine the Leadership 500 rankings, Leadership Excellence evaluated organizations based on seven criteria: vision/mission, involvement and participation, measurement and accountability, design-content-curriculum, presenters-presentations-delivery, take-home value, and outreach.

Brenda Bence founded BDA in 2002 after more than 20 years of building mega brands for Fortune 100 companies Procter & Gamble and Bristol-Myers  Squibb. During that time, Bence – who holds an MBA from Harvard Business School – was a senior executive responsible for billion-dollar businesses across four continents and almost 50 countries.

Today, only ten years after its founding, BDA does business across 30 countries and maintains offices in both the U.S. and Asia. The company provides training, coaching, and speaking services to clients located on six continents, including such companies as, Credit Suisse, Danone International, Deutsche Bank, KFC, Kraft, Lilly, Mattel, Microsoft, Sheraton Hotels, Standard Chartered Bank, RBS, UBS, and the U.S. Department of State.

Brenda Bence is a Certified Executive Coach, as well as a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP). She is the author of five marketing and branding books, which have collectively won a total of 21 international book awards.

Brenda Bence is available for television, radio, and press interviews to talk about leadership, coaching, and personal / corporate branding. Visit www.BrendaBence.com or www.BDA-Intl.com, contact +1-312-242-1830, or email Interviews@BrendaBence.com for availability.

Are you going to be in Singapore on November 8?

If so, Brenda Bence will be presenting a one-hour keynote that evening for the PrimeTime organization.

As you may know, Brenda doesn’t do many “public” type of events (she works almost exclusively with corporate clients), but she made an exception for PrimeTime because it’s such a terrific group!

For more information about the evening, check out: http://tinyurl.com/catj933

We hope to see you there!

CHICAGO – June 2012: Author Brenda Bence’s latest book, Smarter Branding Without Breaking the Bank: Five Proven Marketing Strategies You Can Use Right Now to Build Your Business at Little or No Cost has won a total of seven book awards since its publication in September 2011, including top prizes from the 2012 Axiom Business Book Awards, International Book Awards, and National Indie Excellent Awards.

“We are delighted by the response to this book.” Bence said. “Smarter Branding, which is based on one of my highest-demand workshops conducted around the world, is focused on helping businesses with limited budgets successfully promote and grow their brands without the kind of deep pockets enjoyed by big brands.”

The awards won by Smarter Branding during its first eight months after publication include:

· Gold Winner, Advertising/Marketing/PR/Event Planning – Axiom Business Book Awards 2012
· Winner, Business-Marketing & Advertising Category – International Book Awards 2012
· Winner, Sales & Marketing Category – National Indie Excellence Awards 2012
· Award-Winning Finalist, Business Category – Next Generation Indie Book Awards 2012
· Award-Winning Finalist, Entrepreneurship & Small Business Category – International Book Awards 2012
· Award-Winning Finalist, Marketing and Advertising Category – National Best Book Awards 2011
· Award-Winning Finalist, Entrepreneurship Category – National Best Book Awards 2011

Bence spent the bulk of her corporate career in branding and marketing, building powerhouse brands across 50 countries and four continents for deep-pocketed consumer giants such as Procter & Gamble and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Once she decided to leave the corporate world and start her own company, she had to begin from the ground up – with almost empty pockets. Using her big-brand marketing experience, Bence developed inventive, low-cost marketing methods that built her company and name into a brand that now serves clients in 30 countries with offices in both the U.S. and Asia.

For years, Bence has passed along her experience across the globe through her Smarter Branding workshops, but when people continuously asked her to capture the information on paper, Smarter Branding, the book, was born. “I wanted more business owners to realize that they already have assets they can use to build strong brands at low-cost or even no-cost that can grow their business and quickly increase their bottom line,” Bence said.

Smarter Branding Without Breaking the Bank is Bence’s fifth book. The three books in her How YOU™ are like Shampoo personal branding book series have sold thousands of copies around the world and have won a total of 13 international book awards.

About the Author:

Brenda S. Bence is an internationally-recognized branding expert, dynamic speaker and trainer, and certified executive coach. Ms. Bence holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and in 2002, after a long career in big-brand marketing, she founded her own company, Brand Development Associates International. She now travels the world speaking, training, and coaching individuals and corporations to greater success through creative yet practical brand development. Brenda is available for television, radio, and press interviews to talk about her book and/or topics related to corporate and personal branding. Visit www.BrendaBence.com, contact +1-312-242-1830, or email Daniel@BrendaBence.com for availability.

Big news!  My new online course, Smarter Branding Without Breaking the Bank, is now “live” on Udemy.com. And, for the next 48 hours, it’s on sale for 50% OFF!

The course contains 20 videos (5 hours), an e-book, and a fill-in-the blank workbook. If you are a solo-preneur or the owner of an SME, I will teach you how to grow a powerful brand simply and effectively at low cost — or no cost at all. This course is based on the live workshop that I have taught all around the world that has helped grow businesses to heights they never anticipated.

Paste http://www.udemy.com/smarter-branding/?couponCode=CLP_K7H7TLEYWG44E3 into your browser, and benefit from this very unique deal! Remember: This offer is only valid for the next 48 hours.

Click Here For Printable Version

CHICAGO – March 2012. Author Brenda Bence’s latest book, Smarter Branding Without Breaking the Bank: Five Proven Marketing Strategies You Can Use Right Now to Build Your Business at Little or No Cost is a Gold Medal Winner in the Advertising/Marketing/PR/Event Planning category of the 2012 Axiom Business Book Awards.

“This award means a lot to me because we competed with books released by some of the country’s best publishers; plus, I have a lot of respect for the Axiom Awards,” Bence said. “I based this book on one of my workshops that has been in high demand around the world,” she continued, “and my goal behind Smarter Branding is to help small-to-medium enterprises and solo-preneurs learn how they can successfully promote and grow their brands without a ‘big-brand’ budget.”

Bence spent almost all of her corporate career in branding and marketing, building powerhouse brands across 50 countries and four continents for mega-budgeted consumer giants such as Procter & Gamble and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Once she decided to leave the corporate world and start her own company, she began from the ground up with an almost nonexistent budget. Using skills from her branding background, she developed inventive, low-cost marketing methods that built her company and name into a brand that now serves clients in 30 countries with offices in both the U.S. and Asia.

For years, Brenda has passed along her experience across the globe through her Smarter Branding workshops, but when people continuously asked her to capture the information on paper, the Smarter Branding book was born. “I wanted more business owners to realize that they already have assets they can use to build their brands at low-cost or even no-cost that can grow their business and quickly increase their bottom line,” Bence said.

Smarter Branding Without Breaking the Bank is Bence’s fifth book. The Axiom Award is the book’s third since it was released in September of 2011. The three books in her How YOU™ are like Shampoo personal branding book series have won a total of 13 national book awards.

The Axiom Business Book Awards are the largest and most respected critical guidepost for business books in today’s publishing world. These prestigious awards, which are presented by Jenkins Group, Inc, are presented in 21 business categories and serve as the premier list to help readers discover new and innovative works. The winners and finalists this year include books published by Harvard Business Review Press, McGraw-Hill, John Wiley & Sons, Yale University Press, Princeton University Press, Entrepreneur Press, AMACOM, and many independent publishers.

About the Author:
Brenda S. Bence is an internationally-recognized branding expert, powerful speaker and trainer, and certified executive coach. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and spent years developing mega brands across the world for Procter & Gamble and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Brenda is now President of her own company, Brand Development Associates International, and she spends her time traveling the world speaking, training, and coaching individuals and corporations to greater success through creative yet practical brand development.

Brenda is available for television, radio, and press interviews to talk about her book and/or topics related to corporate and personal branding. Visit www.BrendaBence.com, contact +1-312-242-1830, or email Daniel@BrendaBence.com for availability.

Click Here For Printable Version

Here at Brand Development Associates International, we just found out that I’m on the nomination list for Top Brand Gurus of 2012.  In 2011, I was voted in at #7 on the list, and since 40% of the ranking is based on votes, we would sure appreciate your support!

If you can take a minute to visit http://www.brandgurus.net, click on the drop-down box, and choose my name for submission, that would be great.

The deadline is March 6 – thank you in advance for your support!

Brenda

P.S. Of course, if you could pass this on to anyone else you know who can vote, that would be terrific.

Click Here For Printable Version

Brand Development Associates International (BDA) has been ranked #29 in the Independent Consultants/Trainers/Coaches category of Leadership Excellence’s annual ranking of the Top 500 Leadership Development Programs in the world. The Leadership 500 is a ranking of the best individuals, teams, and organizations in leadership development practices and employee motivation-productivity today.

This year’s Leadership 500 was published in the October 2011 Special Edition of Leadership Excellence magazine, a publication founded by business greats Ken Shelton, Stephen R. Covey, Ken Blanchard, and Charles Garfield. The issue was sent to more than 187,000 of the world’s “movers, shakers, and decision makers.”

“This is a tremendous honor for our company,” said Brenda Bence, BDA’s Founder and President. “We are thrilled to be recognized by such a prestigious publication as Leadership Excellence and to be recognized along with so many other accomplished companies.”

To determine the Leadership 500 rankings, Leadership Excellence evaluated organizations based on seven criteria: vision/mission, involvement and participation, measurement and accountability, design-content-curriculum, presenters-presentations-delivery, take-home value, and outreach.

Brenda Bence founded BDA in 2002 after 20 years of building mega brands for Fortune 100 companies Procter & Gamble and Bristol-Myers Squibb. During that time, Bence – who holds an MBA from Harvard Business School – was a senior executive responsible for billion-dollar businesses across four continents and almost 50 countries.

Today, less than ten years after its founding, BDA does business across 25 countries and maintains offices in both the U.S. and Asia. The company provides training, coaching, and speaking services to clients located on six continents, including such companies as Citibank, Credit Suisse, Danone International, Deutsche Bank, KFC, Kraft, Lilly, Mattel, Microsoft, Sheraton Hotels, Standard Chartered Bank, Pizza Hut, and the U.S. Department of State.

Click Here For Printable Version

Click Here For Printable Version

Author Brenda Bence’s latest book, Smarter Branding Without Breaking the Bank: Five Proven Marketing Strategies You Can Use Right Now to Build Your Business at Little or No Cost, has been named an Award-Winning Finalist in two separate categories of the USA “Best Books 2011” Awards: the Business/Marketing & Advertising category as well as the Business/Entrepreneurship & Small Business category.

“My aim with the book is to show SMEs and solo-preneurs that they have a variety of assets available to them right now that they can use to market their brand — regardless of the size of their budget,” Bence said.

After years as a mega-brander working across four continents and 50 countries for deep-pocketed consumer giants like Procter & Gamble and Bristol-Myers Squibb, Bence left the corporate world to start her own business. From scratch — and with almost empty pockets — she used inventive, low-cost methods to build her own international brand that now serves clients in 25 countries with offices in the U.S. and Asia. To help readers achieve similar success, Bence has filled the award-winning book with hundreds of low-cost or no-cost branding ideas that can immediately increase a company’s revenues.

Smarter Branding Without Breaking the Bank is Bence’s fifth book. The three books in her How YOU™ are like Shampoo personal branding series have won a total of 13 national book awards. “I am honored to be recognized again by the USA Best Books Awards,” Bence said. “Smarter Branding is based on one of my most popular workshops, so it’s gratifying to know that the book that stems from that workshop is also being well-received.”

The USA “Best Books 2011” Awards are sponsored by USABookNews.com, the premiere online magazine and review website for mainstream and independent publishing houses. Winners and finalists this year traversed the publishing landscape: Simon & Schuster, St. Martin’s Press, Random House, Penguin, Harper Collins, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, McGraw-Hill, John Wiley & Sons, and hundreds of independent houses.

Click Here For Printable Version

Click Here For Printable Version

Two of author Brenda Bence’s books have won awards in the 2011 Readers Favorite Book Awards. How YOU™ are like Shampoo for College Graduates: The Complete Personal Branding System to Define, Position, and Market Yourself and Land a Job You Love was named the Silver Winner in the Non-Fiction – Business/Finance category. How YOU™ are like Shampoo for Job Seekers: The Proven Personal Branding System to Help You Succeed in Any Interview and Secure the Job of Your Dreams was named the Bronze Winner in the Non-Fiction – Motivational category.

“These titles mark the 12th and 13th total awards for the three books in our How YOU™ are like Shampoo personal branding series,” says author Brenda Bence. “It’s incredibly gratifying to be recognized in the industry, particularly by the literary professionals who judge the Readers Favorite Book Awards.”

Bence is Founder and President of Brand Development Associates International, Ltd. a firm that specializes in helping companies and individuals around the world build successful, growth-oriented corporate and personal brands. “These two particular books are geared toward helping job seekers and college graduates learn to harness the power of personal branding to get the best possible job, despite a tough economy,” she says.

The Readers Favorite Book Awards is run by Readers Favorite, an organization and website founded to provide readers with quality books and to assist authors in gaining more recognition and exposure. The competition’s judges are professionals with extensive literary experience, and awards include Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Honorable Mention titles in each of 70+ genre categories. Each book goes through more than one level of judging, and an Awards Banquet is held in November in Miami during the Miami Book Fair International.

Click Here For Printable Version

CHICAGO – May 2011: Brenda Bence’s personal branding book, How You™ Are Like Shampoo for College Graduates: The Complete Personal Branding System to Define, Position, and Market Yourself and Land a Job You Love, has won the top award in the Career Category of the 2011 Next Generation Indie Book Awards®.

The Next Generation Indie Book Awards® was established to recognize and honor the most exceptional independently published books in 60 different categories. In cooperation with Marilyn Allen of Allen O’Shea Literary Agency, the Awards are presented by Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group (IBPPG), an organization that promotes professional standards in independent book publishing. Members of IBPPG include small and university presses, self-published authors, agents, designers, distributors, printers, and marketing professionals.

“This book carries such an important message,” says Bence, “so I couldn’t be happier that it has been recognized by the Next Generation awards. Especially today, College Graduates need effective ways to cut through the pool of other candidates to become the ‘brand of choice’ for potential employers.”

In her 25-year career as an international branding expert, Bence has helped to build some of the world’s most recognizable brands, including Pantene, Head & Shoulders, and Vidal Sassoon. She combined her passion for brands and her extensive experience in coaching to create How You™ Are Like Shampoo for College Graduates. It is the first practical, step-by-step personal branding system geared specifically to the job search process for those coming right out of college. Full of key strategies for creating a powerful job-seeking brand before, during, and after interviews, it also contains Bence’s College Graduate Personal Brand Busters®, which help grads avoid the most common mistakes seen by HR professionals and recruiters.