The Forgotten Half of Brand Management

Source: TIME magazine

No one takes organizational alignment as seriously as the Army.

When the going gets tough and lives are at stake, you want to be sure that everyone's focused on the same objective, pushing as hard as you are, and that your buddy's got your back.

Achieving this state of operational nirvana doesn't come easy.

Earning the right to become an officer in the Singapore Armed Forces cost me 9 months of intense physical and mental effort in a previous life.  Even basic military training today takes up to 4 months of (arguably inhuman) drills designed to deconstruct individualism and resistance to authority, then reconstruct thinking soldiers to form a cohesive unit that acts as One.

Now the commercial world is not so cut and dried. You may not get your head blown apart by a 'frenemy' in the jungle out there.  But the consequences of a lack of internal alignment can be just as crippling: Low morale, fuzzy roles and responsibilities, squabbling factions, measly pockets of excellence, lackadaisical purpose, petering productivity, poor time-to-market.

Which is why I'm amazed when companies on a rebranding run think the heavy lifting is done when their corporate vision, mission and core values are articulated and the brand strategy is defined. That's all well and good; but in fact, it's only half the job done.

You need to activate the whole shebang. Induct employees in the game plan.  Cascade all that good stuff down the ranks 'til it seeps into the frontline troops -- your brand ambassadors at the coalface, who are consciously or unconsciously building or breaking your brand at each and every customer touchpoint.

Organizational alignment doesn't just happen on its own. It needs the visible endorsement of senior management, and their demonstrated commitment of funding and resourcing appropriate programs to give employees a clear line of sight between their on-the-job actions and the resultant impact on company performance.

That's the only way we'll bring down the damning statistic that says 4 out of 5 workers are not engaged in doing the things that drive business results.

What causes this misalignment?  Cumulative missteps, large and small, that include:
- senior executive behaviours that don't match the message;
- complicated and lengthy approval processes that prevent timely
  distribution of  information;
- employees who don't get to hear things before the outside world
  does -- resulting in a loss of faith; and conversely,
- too much communication, such that more important messages are
  lost in the clutter.

But is it really worth the effort to pursue organizational alignment?  It's too idealistic, I hear you say.  It takes too much effort.  So what if a few people are off doing their own thing?

Well, consider this:  A recent Towers Watson study found that companies with highly effective internal communication practices have a 47% higher shareholder return than companies without such disciplines in place.  An informed, equipped and inspired workforce can truly achieve great things.
 
As for a team that's not? Well, like the recruits struggling to lift their log in the photo above, you ain't gonna get anywhere fast.

Two Brand Campaigns Square Off

Now this could really get interesting.

On the back of the launch of a much-debated brand campaign for Singapore (check out http://www.yoursingapore.com/) comes yesterday's announcement that Australia Tourism will soon launch a campaign that is the diametrical opposite of the local effort.

While Singapore's campaign offers tourists the chance to assemble and enjoy a customised itinerary during their Singapore sojourn -- in essence, making their holiday exactly the way they like it -- the Australian campaign invites locals to share photos of their favourite Australian holiday moments to create a new tourism campaign from the ground up. Their site (http://www.nothinglikeaustralia.com/) goes live on April 15th, with nine prizes (of dream holidays, no less) offered to get the creative juices flowing.

One campaign totally ignores the role local residents can play; the other is entirely dependent on their efforts for success. One campaign hands tourists the lead ("whatever you like, we'll deliver"); while the other leads tourists by the hand ("g'day, let us show you around").

A dispassionate observer will note the differences in the material that residents of both countries have to work with. Throw in cultural nuances, and you have all the ingredients of a fascinating case study in country branding and marketing.

I can't say with certainty which campaign will be more successful (though if you've read my previous post, you can probably guess which one I prefer).

In the meantime, have your say -- and watch this space.

Singapore Launches A Brand Campaign. Again.

Is Your Singapore any good?

I have to wonder as I scan our new brand campaign, unveiled last week by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).

The multi-million dollar marketing campaign built around the phrase "Your Singapore" includes an interactive website (http://www.yoursingapore.com/) where travellers can customise their Singapore sojourns, book their flights and hotels, and soon, have itineraries sent to their mobile phones.

(Pardon my quibble, but if the website is laser-trained on tourists, shouldn't they be able to type http://www.mysingapore.com into their Web browsers?)

Explaining the rationale for the new campaign, just six years after the previous campaign "Uniquely Singapore" was introduced, STB's assistant chief executive of marketing Ken Low said, "A brand's lifespan is six to seven years." Ouch.

One can think of a good number of brand campaigns that have been in play for decades and are still going strong. Perhaps the difference was they were based on a purposeful positioning, and their campaigns had legs. While not particularly enamoured with the "Uniquely" campaign, I have to take issue with Mr Low's remark. Change the previous campaign if you wish, STB ... but don't offer an incendiary statement by way of rationalization.

One other aspect gives me cause for concern. The best country branding campaigns speak not only to the target audience (tourists), but also to the country hosts (Singaporeans). Campaigns such as "Incredible India" not only appeal to foreign visitors, but also instill patriotism and pride in the homeland hosts who are subliminally encouraged to be brand ambassadors. The latest Australia Tourism print ads, too, while not spouting a tagline, effortlessly entice visitors and make Aussies proud. (To view the whole series of luscious ads, click on http://www.tourism.australia.com/content/Destination%20Campaign/Transformation/Partner%20briefing.pdf)

This is a hallmark of good advertising: it portrays what we feel in our hearts the product can grow to become. Good advertising is often slightly ahead of the product -- not in a way that assails credibility, but in a sensitive way that inspires belief in the product's benefits and imparts a greater sense of purpose to those who deliver its brand promise.

By not giving a nod to Singaporean residents, this campaign is missing a golden opportunity to enlist advocates for its cause. And by pandering to the empowered consumer -- even though it does employ all the right social media marketing principles -- the campaign has abdicated our positioning throne, and given away our birthright. If Singapore is what a visitor wants it to be, then what is it, really?

But let's be fair: "Just do it" probably sounded like somebody's naggy whine when it was first unveiled to Nike execs in Beaverton in 1981. It took a few years of inspired advertising before the campaign tagline hit its stride.

Singaporeans might be so lucky to have such a winner on our hands. But I have to say, I'm not holding my breath.