Archive for April, 2010

Is Your Company Identity Killing You?

Central to the business of naming and branding is the core issue of identity. And never has this issue been more relevant than in the past several months. Most of the time we give our identity both corporately and personally very little thought. We offer a product or service people buy it and we move on.

But what happens when people quit buying? What happens when the products goods and services we are tethered to begin to falter? What happens to our sense of self worth and value when our claim to fame begins to fade away?

For some it means a slow death. For others it’s more immediate.

Ben Stein shared recently on CBS Sunday Morning that a friend of his committed suicide over the loss of value in his stock portfolio. Another had a stroke. That’s how deeply the sense of identity gets tied to externals. For most people the consequences are less immediate but still significant . . . loss of sleep anxiety high blood pressure depression. All of this angst because we are identified with something a thought an idea a notion a concept an identity. And companies are simply extensions of people. They suffer the same killer stress as people when they lose their sense of “self.” Here are some examples . . .

* Suddenly the “number one” news channel is not number one and bleeding viewers to the internet and other media outlets.

* The number one volume luxury home builder becomes an oxymoron.

* The hot shot financial planner who’s never had a losing year loses 30 percent of his client’s money.

When these things happen they expose the underpinnings the very foundation of our identity. As they say in some recovery meetings “the pain killer becomes the pain maker.” The very things we use to boost our image now degrades and threatens it.

What to do?

The first step back to sanity is the realization that you are none of these things you thought you were. They were and always will be simply concepts. They have as much weight as you give them. And you are the one giving them the weight . . . no one else. So what if you are not number one? So one if you were wrong imperfect underperformed misjudged took the “wrong” path etc. Maybe your value never was in any of these concepts. Maybe it’s time to reevaluate your standard of measure. Perhaps it’s not so much about what you do as it is about how you do it. Why? One simple reason.

You can control your intentions but you can’t control outcomes.

That’s why companies and people who associate themselves with attributes do better than companies that identity themselves by their products. Apple has all but died on several occasions only to reemerge as a dominant force in a new category. That’s because they are rooted in innovation and innovation doesn’t go out of demand. They didn’t stubbornly hold on to the idea that they were a computer company and ram their heads against the wall. Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing 3M makes millions on PostIt Notes and Scotchguard. WalMart doesn’t focus on their products they focus on their pricing. Innovation ingenuity affordability . . . these are more enduring and timeless qualities.

So let’s revisit our three corporate examples companies in the throws of despair.

* The number one news channel could realize their real value was in connecting people with local information and find new ways to do just that. WTSP in Tampa Florida did just that and went from a TV news channel to 10Connects a multimedia company

* The number one volume luxury home builder could forget about the volume claim and focus on one or two super high end projects.

* The expert financial planner could shift the focus from past performance to highly customized service.

The above companies can always deliver on “connecting” “quality” and “customization.” In fact they can even expand those attributes into new products services and revenue.

What is your company identity based on? Is it enduring and timeless? Is it open and flexible? Is it helping you during this time or hurting you? If you don’t take the time to examine these issues you might start feeling the effects of a truly killer reputation.

About the writer:  Phillip Davis is president and founder of Tungsten Branding company naming consultants located near Asheville NC. Phil and his team have assisted over 200 regional national and international corporations with business and product branding strategies. To view his company naming portfolio visit http://www.PureTungsten.com

Sequel Advertising: A Better Strategy

‘Advertising’ is one of the most important subelements of the marketing mix which is always lined under the one of the typical 4Ps of marketing i.e. Promotion. Advertising is one tactic that is considered as the most effective among all the promotional policies for a company. Advertising is type of a masscommunicational activity in which the company markets its product directly to the consumers in such a way that it leaves an impact of the mind of the person. Companies may use all or may be selective options available for communicating with the target market. Advertising is further divided into different types and companies/manufacturers use all various types of advertising according to the products and services they are offering. The choice of choosing the appropriate advertising style is one of the significant and central factors that predict the sale of the product that a marketer wants to sell. Proper advertising tactics blended with strategic yet appealing visuals can be in favor of the company.

Today the options of adversting have been maximized by the modern technology. The traditional advertising techniques contained the advertising in the newspapers radios and lately though television commercials. Covert advertising and Celebrity branding were two other tactics that are still being massively used by the big international brands due to the fact that these prestigious brands need to highlight their products with the best bling available on the planet. Mainly these two advertising strategies are most costly but in the end the marketer actually catches up with a large fraction of the target market. Advertising through SMS can some times become a real headache for the people but this scheme has shrunk the gap between the interested costumer and marketer. Being a vendor you never know that may be your client is just an SMS away.

Now coming to the main course Sequel advertising related in major with Television commercials and newspaper ads. This is basically a psychological technique which has been lately identified by the advertisers; indeed this enables the advertiser to influence the mind of the consumer for the vendor. Sequel advertising starts with a television commercial in the usual promotional style. People begin to respond to the commercial and salerate of the concerned product/product line begins to increase. As soon as the salerate begins to decline the company launches a second add with the similar major elements including similar scenario same models actors colors statements and taglines. The main aim of making similar ads is to leave a psychological effect on the mind of the interested people and this is what Sequel advertising is all about. This influence boosts up the brand loyal people as the company offers them better deals in the 2nd add and people who didnt respond to the first add also get curious about the new offerings. The major mental effect that this Sequel advertising tactic leave on the mind of the people is the commitment of the vendor to give them better and better services every time. In most of such advertisements the advertiser creates a scenario or may be story that is continued throughout the advertising campaign and these continual scenario imposing techniques creates a psychosomatic effect on the minds of the people that increases the rate of new consumers rapidly. Usually a vendor continues such sequel advertising scenario for a particular time season or until there is an extent of improvement in the service it has offered at the first place.

As soon as the vendor realizes that the quota of the consumers for the particular product/ service is completed or the scenario/story that has been the foremost ingredient of the sequel has now become old. A new sequel or add is launched. The new sequel can be for the same product/service or may be for a new product that the vendor considers more important than the preceding one. This technique has been used extraordinarily by telecommunication electricity producing companies mobile phone operators food and beverage manufacturers etc.

Sequel advertising comprises of usual marketing techniques but with the more of the mind capturing ideology. This is a good way of communicating and interacting with the target audience until and unless the scenario becomes a clich.

About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;http://www.giggidyadvertising.com/index.phphttp://www.webdevelopmentMassachusetts.com

Is Learning And Development Finally Coming Home?

Recent developments in America suggest that learning and development could be resurrected from the dark dusty recesses of human resources into a bright new future.

Ever since 1994 and the merger between the Institute of Training and Development and the Institute of Personnel Management to form what in 2000 became the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development there has been no argument about which area was the dominant one. Factors concerning the development of employee skills seemingly became secondary to the rising importance of Human Resource Management.

I was recently provided a glaring example of this by an acquaintance in a senior learning and development role at one of the largest organisations in the UK. With a sad but knowing look in his eye he presented me with the yearly objectives for the HR department. Not one of them related to employee development in any way. When you consider that the company employ over five hundred people in roles that are directly related to learning this is truly amazing although hardly isolated.

Most HR Directors will argue that theyve always had one eye on the learning needs of the workforce but with all due respect to diversity laws this is a twoeyed job. In the same way that sales is the only department of an organisation that generates revenue learning and development is the only area where we can expect the process of developing our workforce to be the uppermost concern.

Learning and development is increasingly noted as the most important factor of HR. Driving up the skills of the workforce and ensuring that employees have the necessary skills to perform the role and perhaps more importantly the skills to progress throughout the business is becoming a nobrainer when compared to the often bureaucratic functions of HR which serve to ensure the business is ticking over and doesnt get embroiled in any legal issues.

Another colleague of mine who owns a recruitment consultancy highlighted the importance of learning and development from the prospective employees point of view recently. Often before the subject of money is raised the first concern of the individual is What development can I expect? and so it should be. In fact when discussing the value of development there are two key viewpoints we should take into account.

The employee understands more than ever the value of their own development. Often requires a business to fill the gaps in their education and provide hands on experience in a real environment. Realises that to succeed in the business world they must gather as many skills as possible.

The employer understands the value of a continually skilled workforce. Knows that if the business is to succeed then it needs an educated and motivated team behind it. A team willing to challenge current thinking and hungry for success.

So businesses that ignore the value of learning and development do so at their peril.

This isnt a knew theory but somehow we thought we could achieve it through an HR department that in all fairness cannot possibly be expected to manage the important role it has to play in overseeing the needs of the workforce and still rise to the vast challenge that development presents.

The good news is that in America there seems to be a turning tide. Many of the large organisations there are developing the role of Chief Learning Officer CLO whose role on the board of directors has been provided at the expense of the HR Director who may well have applied for the new position of Head of HR which reports to you guessed it the CLO.

The CLO is skilled in all aspects of learning and development with a key focus on; coaching training motivation and project management which shows an obvious leaning towards the development of the workforce in order to drive the success of the business. In my mind this is the correct focus and ensures that the organisation is focused on continuous improvement rather than fighting fires.

Although the UK has yet to put in place many CLOs currently five in the FTSE 100 there is little doubt that we are likely to follow suit. After all it was the US that brought HRM to us all those years ago!

About the writer:  Andrew Wood is the Managing Director of Trainer Bubble Ltd. who design and develop training resources and course materials for download from their website. Visit them at http://www.trainerbubble.com to access a wealth of resources including a large section of free material.