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.

The Most Popular Christmas Dish in Japan

I've just returned from a family vacation in Japan. One of the intriguing things I noticed on my last day in Tokyo, was a long line forming outside -- of all places -- a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet.  That night, my curiosity was further piqued by an incongruous TV commercial that caught my eye, touting KFC -- of all things -- as a signature Christmas meal.

Curious, I poked around the Internet today, and discovered an amazing story: that KFC has found significant success in Japan by communicating the simple, single-minded message for over 20 year-end seasons that a KFC meal makes Christmas.

Consider these stats: Same-day sales in the week leading up to Christmas are about 500% more than average daily takings. And KFC stores apparently start taking Christmas orders in October. In a land that offers the world's best sashimi, teppanyaki and sukiyaki, I'm amazed that anyone would prefer a bucket of trans fat-laden fried chicken ... 11 secret herbs and spices notwithstanding.

As a student of strong brands, I can only conclude that when you take the long view, when the art of brand management is applied with discipline and consistency, anything is possible.

And on that note of optimism and hope, I wish my sole follower (and all other anonymous readers) a merry Christmas and finger lickin' good year.

The Risks of Clock-Watching

Source: www.tonystone.com

You've gotta hand it to the Aussies.  They've honed work-life balance to a fine art.

A recent study by The Australian Institute has unearthed a shocking statistic: every year, Australian workers are 'donating' more than A$70 billion (no typo here) to their employers in terms of unpaid overtime.

"That's a very generous gift," observes Dr Richard Dennis, executive director of the think-tank, "and our employers have taken, gotten into the habit of accepting it."  He goes on to say that slashing overtime would create some 400,000 extra jobs in Australia -- and improve the health of workers.

According to the study, some 80% of Australians who work overtime want shorter working hours.  Since full-time workers want to work a lot less and part-time and casual workers want to work a lot more, the study explores the idea of capping the working week at 35 hours, and recommends sweeping changes that would better match the preferences of employees and employers alike.

Which is all well and good for hourly-rated workers.  If you're flipping burgers or are a brick-layer or vehicle mechanic, you deserve an honest day's wage for an honest day's work.

But what if intellectual capital is your stock-in-trade?  What if you're a legal intern, an advertising copywriter, or industrial designer?  What if your job can't be easily confined to an 8-hour window?

Are only 20% of the jobs in Australia of this variety?  What does this stat say of the chances of companies retaining a competitive advantage?

Fact is, organizations live and die on the strength of the talent coursing through their corridors. What then can organizations do to ensure their employees are engaged, energized and equipped to succeed?  A few pointers come to mind:

1. In an age where roles and management structures are loosely defined, jobs are dispersed and alliances keep shifting, brands are emerging as the most significant spiritual, emotional and cultural glue that an organization has remaining to stabilize, focus and inspire an educated workforce.

2. Recognise that different skills are needed to lead and motivate a geographically dispersed, remote workforce than those required for close-quarter management. The more dispersed your team, the more directive you should be.

3. Organizations are traditionally good at doling out responsibility -- but chronically deficient at taking it away. Don't just focus on what your people should start doing; dig deeper to define what they should stop doing as well.

4. Find out what turns the crank of your employees.  It might be an inspiring credo like "Do no evil"; free perks like day-care and laundry services, and the best employee cafeteria on the planet; or the permission to spend 20% of your working hours on pet projects which may not yet have proven commercial viability (all of which, by the way, describe the cocoon of the Google employee).  Or, as Google as effectively admitted by giving employees across the board a 10% salary increase, it might come down to pure cash.

The bottom line is this: When you're really into something, you don't notice the (passing of) time. It behooves employees to find some purpose in their profession. And it behooves employers to give them a reason to do so.

The Quagmire of Low Price

A tech giant has just made a huge U-turn.

About a week ago, Dell announced plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a new global advertising campaign.  What makes this new push radical -- for Dell -- is its stated intention to move away from price-focused, transactional advertising to a strategy that is more focused on the brand.

I wonder if it's too late.

Dell became the #1 PC company in the world on the back of its 'direct' model: a revolutionary, 'just-in-time' manufacturing process that dramatically lowered inventory costs, cut out the middle man, and served up huge profits in an industry infamous for its razor-thin margins. The pace of obsolescence in the PC industry is unforgiving -- so inventory management is critical. While other players typically struggled with weeks of supply (WoS), Dell counted its inventory in terms of hours. (At its brutal best, it even boasted 'negative' inventory -- it collected your money before it started to configure your purchase; and stretched out rebate payments.) For the longest time, no one could touch its supply chain efficiency.

Then the competition wised up. HP and other contenders got their act together and reduced their WoS -- but they also offered consumers the choice of buying from the retail channel, the sensory experience of physically interacting with the product (and bonding with the brand) before buying it.

Dell's competitive advantage was no longer so.  The only other residual impression it had registered, was low price.

Source: www.tonystone.com

But price is not a strategy.  It is the quicksand of a brand -- drop your price, and you will almost never be able to claw your way back to a firmer footing.  It is indefensible (sooner or later, someone is going to drop prices lower than you can afford to), and the only connotation that keeps it company is the wrong one -- poor quality.

Dell has finally wised up, too.  But it has a mountain to climb.

Paul-Henri Ferrand, its Chief Marketing Officer, has acknowledged that they "need to invigorate the brand".  It's about time.  But when he says that "there's a real space for us to become the most-loved PC company in the industry", my skeptic antenna starts twitching.

The campaign theme says, "You can tell it's a Dell."  With due respect to its creators, I believe it's the worst possible thing Dell can tell.  If all you've got is a much-eroded competitive advantage, and the double-whammy impression of low price / poor quality, don't wave a red flag in front of a bull. Remember the concept of 'credibility snap'. You need to work your butt off to prove you're a different company, then let your audience ascribe to you that compliment. In other words, don't say it. Just earn it.

I hope Mr Ferrand has deep pockets.  He's going to need them.

Audi: Giving Virtual Advertising A Whole New Spin

Source: www.fastcompany.com

Talk about seismic shift.

This past weekend, car-maker Audi raised the game to a whole new level, with a trail-blazing article in Fast Company which touts their latest planned campaign.

"Planned" is the operative word -- because the campaign hasn't really run just yet.  But -- in a move resonant with today's bare-all social media generation -- Audi has apparently allowed its agency, a creative shop called the Access Agency, to publicly share the creative rationale behind this admittedly compelling concept: “It is a display of four life-size Audi cars, suspended inside the silver rings of a massive Audi symbol attached to an iconic bridge structure or in front of landmark spaces — the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge, Tower Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge. The rings rotate around, light up at night, and move up and down the bridge. Against the backdrop of spectacular urban architecture, the Audi installation reflects Audi’s continuous challenging of the status quo, its capacity to innovate, and its ability to avoid the bland and the ordinary.”

The agency goes on to say that real brand value will delivered by the process of getting the iconoclastic idea built: the “manufacturing and transportation of the gigantic rings, the installation of the rings, the hoisting of the vehicles, the first test of the lights, the rehearsals of the launch.”

Source: www.fastcompany.com

Is the idea compelling?  Pitted against much of the dreck that's out there, I'd definitely say, Yes!  But is it 100% original?  I know, from a previous life spent in Canada, that the Engineering students of the University of British Columbia (UBC) had an annual tradition of hijacking a lecturer's car and installing/suspending said vehicle in all manner of incredible positions (including one memorable year in the early 1990s when I lived there, when they suspended a tutor's car from the Lion's Gate Bridge -- all in the name of demonstrating engineering prowess). Adidas' "Vertical Football" human billboard and Esprit's vertical catwalk show down the exterior wall of an Esprit building are two other well-known examples of the human installation idea and its product installation cousin.

But here's where I think the real genius of this Audi campaign lies: (Did you pick up on it?) Here is an advertising campaign that hasn't yet run, but which has garnered the kind of publicity one should only hope to achieve if a campaign was actually out there.  No actual executions in sight -- yet a few well-timed 'leaks', the offer of an 'exclusive', a well-written rationale, and voila!  Thanks to the wonders of PhotoShop, a launch campaign is yours without having to actually produce an ad. Gives virtual advertising a whole new spin, don't you think?

Source: www.fastcompany.com



Source: www.fastcompany.com

 Access Agency seems to be milking this approach for all it's worth.  Its big idea for the Nike swoosh apparently hasn't seen the light of day -- yet it might as well have done, considering the buzz it's generated and downloads it has inspired.  They've latched on to the insight that people pass on and share stuff they think will awe or entertain their friends -- casting themselves as purveyors of cool in the process.  It's easy to see how this can make sense for a shrewd client and sharp agency -- you get a lot of bang for little buck.

If this trend catches on, I daresay ad agencies will rediscover the lost art of writing a creative rationale.  And as for media agencies?  Be afraid.  Be very afraid.