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Stay Ahead of the PelotonWednesday 30th July 2008 On Sunday, Carlos Sastre of Spain claimed that he rode like two men to clinch his first win in the Tour de France from eight starts. His achievement makes for a strong marketing analogy for these challenging times. The climb up Alpe d'Huez is 13.8 km at an average gradient of 7.9% with 21 hairpin bends (les 21 virages) - the toughest stage of the gruelling 3,500km race. Sastre deliberately selected that time and stage to make his move ahead of the main group of riders – the “Peloton”. "I suffered a lot on the way to the summit, but I take great pleasure in capturing the jersey," Sastre said through a translator. "A pure climber has to take advantage of his opportunities, and this was mine." His decision as to when and where he would move ahead defined him as a true champion. This is not the time to keep your head down and just do enough to make it through the credit crunch. Now is the time to focus on how you are going to thrive, not just survive. It’s time to Create Your Own Space and be as far ahead of your own “Peloton” as you can be when the economy rallies. Norse NamingTuesday 29th July 2008 Íslandsbanki (not to be confused with Landsbanki) has changed its brand name to Glitnir, at the same time adopting a new logo and appearance. Bjarni Ármannsson, CEO, says this transformation called for a new brand name for the company. "We now work in the international financial market, and this means certain changes had to be made."
He continues: "Brands must reflect the environment in which they operate, and in our case we need a name that can be used all over the world...It has positive connotations for Icelanders, contains an historical reference, is both Icelandic and Nordic, is easy to pronounce in all the main languages involved and also contains no unusual letters or accents."
“The new name derives from Norse mythology: Glitnir was the home of Forseti, son of the divine pair Baldur and Nanna. At Glitnir, all quarrels were settled and those who came there were pardoned for their misdeeds.” The new brand offers depth of meaning to the markets in which it operates and travels easily across borders. Glitnir is tied into a compelling story from Norse folklore that evokes justice and fairness, qualities that really do stand out as a clear brand promise. Standard Bank - Yes, Isn't It?Monday 28th July 2008 Brand strategies need to focus more on customer benefits. When we re-branded Credit-IQ as “Vision Critical”, we did so because the fundamental benefit is that the company gives its asset based lending clients complete visibility of mission-critical customer financial data. With Litmus Advisory, we wanted to emphasise the scientific nature of the due diligence process that leads directly to the fulfilment of their core essence, “Delivering Certainty”.
The brand names are both evocative and grounded in the very things that are special about the approach and ethos of the business. They map to the core essence of their respective businesses.
OK then - who branded Standard Bank? Hands up! No takers? That aside, who changed their poor but customer-focused “Simpler, Better, Faster.” brand pillars to the internally-facing, “Inspired, Motivated, Involved”? Let’s listen to what they have to say: “Our new pay-off line - Inspired. Motivated. Involved. - encapsulates the essence of what we are and what we would like to be for our customers, our people and our stakeholders. We are striving to make a real difference.” Well, you have to applaud the sentiment but the delivery, from brand name to brand pillars, is anything but concerned with making a real difference. They continue: “We have carried out extensive research to develop a greater understanding of attitudes, beliefs and expectations of Standard Bank and the way in which these could best be met. Based on this research, it became apparent that a revised brand promise and pay-off line needed to be developed to align with the group vision and values. The intrinsic value of the brand has also been maximised by aligning a core set of brand characteristics and principles to assist in providing a consistent brand experience.” Again, I can’t fault the brand logic. The plain truth of the matter is that, sadly Standard Bank has missed the point. It may seem on the face of it to be a perfectly acceptable text-book rationale of what every bank needs to do, but where is the central customer-focused brand driving action that it relates to – what and where is the core essence? They have skipped the hard part of branding and the result is a "Me, Me, Me" exercise in committee-based self-adulation which has ended up being "me-too meaningless". I would have preferred to have seen either an announcement of a brave, bold new evocative brand name to replace the lacklustre Standard Bank tag or alternatively the strapline of “Standard Bank – Anything But” – with brand pillars aligned around the genuine ways in which its delivery to customers is distinctive from other banks. Coco Chanel summed it up perfectly – Ask yourself the question from your customer’s point of view: “Why should I care about you?” Maybe my comments seem harsh - it's probably because I care. The Quest for Internal LifeFriday 25th July 2008 Living the brand has everything to do with authenticity, clarity and differentiation. The core essence of your brand must be rooted in, reflect and strengthen the culture of your organisation before it can ever become a reality to your customers. To engage with your clients, you first need to engage with your internal stakeholders – your employees. Here are six steps you can take now in your brand’s quest for internal life:
Five ValuesThursday 24th July 2008 The following five values represent what The Bank of America believe in as individuals and as a team, and how they aspire to interact with their customers, their shareholders, their communities and one another. I really like the first of these particularly:
Doing the Right Thing
We have the responsibility to do the right thing for our customers, shareholders, communities and one another.
Trusting and Teamwork
We succeed together, taking collective responsibility for our customers’ satisfaction.
Inclusive Meritocracy
We care about one another, value one another’s differences, focus on results and strive to help all associates reach their full potential.
Winning
We have a passion for achieving results and winning – for our customers, our shareholders, our communities and one another.
Leadership
We will be decisive leaders at every level, communicating our vision and taking action to help build a better future.
Inspired to create your own core values? Do the right thing!
Sample SWOTWednesday 23rd July 2008 Here's a sample of a completely fictitious SWOT Analysis on a financial business, which I hope will inspire you to create / update your own:
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
SWOT Up on StrategyTuesday 22nd July 2008 This week I was asked how a SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) could be made to be more relevant as a basis for action, rather than the dry theoretical academic exercise it has become in many corporates. A SWOT Analysis is a method for assessing an organisation’s resources and capabilities in the context of the competitive environment in which it operates. A simple rule applies - Strengths and Weaknesses are Internal and Opportunities and Threats are External. Here's a tip - a good way to prioritise your SWOT Analysis is to put yourself in the client’s shoes to identify the areas of greatest importance to them.
The analysis identifies:
What the business does well
How it could improve Whether it is taking full advantage of the opportunities (particularly those that match with strengths) Whether there are any changes in the environment which require a corresponding change in business strategy That doesn't sound too dry to me at least. In fact it can be turned into an incisive way of communicating competitive advantage. A great way of starting to produce your Strategic Action Plan is to place S / W as headers at the top of a four box matrix with O / T to the left. Then apply the following rules: S-O Capitalise / Crush!
S-T Monitor / Anticipate W-O Improve / Change W-T Eliminate / Reduce Vision – The Real Banking CrisisMonday 21st July 2008 Credit crunch aside, a lack of differentiation is the most critical issue for the retail banking sector right now. A closer inspection of the various vision statements of the major UK retail banks is revealing. Almost without exception, banks show an undifferentiated, uninspiring approach to defining themselves and why they matter to people – so much so that you could describe it as “the bland leading the bland”. Be Different Be Specific Be Bold Be Memorable It fulfills all of the criteria of being Different, Specific, Bold and Memorable. When I read that vision, expressed as a strapline, I find myself filling in the blanks – making the bank’s offering personal in a way that makes an emotional connection. There is a sense of its strong global presence and perspective. The bank belongs to the world and by implication, the people of the world. They are local and, therefore, closer, implying that they care for their customers and (re-enforced by advertising) that they are an integrated organisation that can help businesses expand internationally. It tells me that they not only know where they are, they know where they are going as a business and a brand and that fills me with confidence.
Be distinctive. Encourage us to draw pictures in our minds so that we may have co-ownership of your vision.
Genius ServiceFriday 18th July 2008 We all know them. Just say the magic word,"Apple", and off they go. Any excuse to preach the virtues of the infinitely superior Mac over the PC. True fanatics, they love Macs and all things Apple. And they are probably Apple's most effective sales force. I’m one of those fans (you may have noticed) – even when things go wrong.
Yesterday, something did go very wrong. I must have gone through the KeyNote Triangle, somewhere near Clapham Junction. I was unable to launch this amazing software on my Mac Air – just before I was due to make an important presentation. Truly 'Up the Junction', I did the only thing that anyone would do under the circumstances and took the tube to Oxford Circus and ran like the wind to the excellent Apple Store Genius Bar. Trained at Apple headquarters, Geniuses have extensive knowledge of Apple products and are able to answer any technical questions and troubleshoot issues.
The Genius in question, Ambrose, couldn't have done more to help and fixed the issue within minutes at no cost. He was a genuine brand ambassador for Apple. The level of service I received made me think about what the financial services marketer can learn from the customer experience at the Apple Store:
For experiences like these, Apple will rightly be rewarded by:
Apple comes across as the company that cares, that will do the right thing by customers. It’s an example of the brand promise delivered – which in turn enabled us to deliver our presentation.
Ron Johnson, the Senior Vice President for Retail at Apple, has often referred to the Genius Bar as the "heart and soul of our stores". To me, that sums up what customer engagement is all about and today, it is more important than ever. Apple knows it. Ambrose knows it. Banks could learn a great deal from it.
Are You Sitting Comfortably?Thursday 17th July 2008 This is the age of the brand-bite, the era of the authentic brand story. In these days of similar companies with me-too messages, authentic brand stories are our strongest differentiator.
Imagine if the editor of the Financial Times was to tell you that he is going to interview you this afternoon and that it will appear as the lead story. What would that story look like? Are you sitting comfortably? Use the process to tell your story anecdotally with a clear beginning, middle and end:
1. Beginning – What made you start / join the business? What was the vision? Who were the founders? 2. Middle – Who are the characters / heroes? What is the plot? What are your values and beliefs? What are your customers’ stories? Is there a twist to the tale – has your focus changed? 3. End – What is the outcome expressed in customers’ / stakeholders’ terms? What is the defining moment of the story? What is your vision for the future? What is the impact or outcome of your actions?
The result is your authentic brand story that you can tell with passion and belief because you were there. Now, listen carefully as your story becomes my story, becomes our story. For this is how all of the great corporate legends are made. Marketers as StorytellersWednesday 16th July 2008 Since early cave dwellers left their graffiti in Lascaux, we have relied on storytelling to define whom we are. Stories help people learn, absorb, remember and share information and ideas. They have the power to motivate, persuade and inspire, leading to direct collective action.
Compelling stories have far-reaching emotional impact and form a powerful currency in human relationships as they are told and re-told. It makes no sense whatsoever to me that the original and most powerful form of communication and learning – storytelling – does not have a greater place in the world of business finance today.
The Cluetrain Manifesto, a set of 95 theses drawn up as a call to action for every business, states: “Stories are much more compelling than information. Stories differ from information in that they have a start and a finish; they talk about events, not conditions; they imply a deep relationship among the events; stories are about particular humans; and stories are told in a human voice. As markets once again become conversations, marketers need to excel at telling compelling stories.”
In an age where social networking is bringing individuals and communities together and where we need to engage increasingly at an emotional level, financial marketers need to re-learn the art of storytelling.
Once Upon A BrandTuesday 15th July 2008 “Nothing else worked. Charts left listeners bemused. Prose remained unread. Dialogue was just too laborious and slow.” Stephen Denning was working as a director at World Bank when he discovered that every time he tried to talk to the board about investing in knowledge management armed with bullet points and spreadsheets, their eyes glazed over.
"Let me tell you something that happened two weeks ago.” Denning discovered his moment of truth as he told the simple story of how one doctor in a village in Zambia could treat malaria by going online to find answers. In that defining moment, his story persuaded senior board members to invest time and money in knowledge sharing, resulting in the World Bank becoming a global leader in this area. His corporate story changed the face of the business he worked in and saved countless lives. What could your brand story do?
The Key to a Balanced BrandMonday 14th July 2008 The 4 Rs from The Customer’s Viewpoint
To what extent do your customers agree or disagree with the statements below?
Strongly Agree (10 Points) Agree (5 Points) Disagree (0 Points) Our Brand is:
1. Relevant - The company has a set of value propositions that match my needs, wants and expectations. 2. Remarkable - I understand what makes their brand stand out from the crowd and I’m happy to talk about it with others. 3. Reputational - I’m very proud of my association with the brand and it makes me feel good about my decision to use them.
4. Real - I care about the brand a great deal, have a real sense of loyalty and belonging and would definitely miss the relationship with the brand if it no longer existed. Why not compare your Customers' viewpoints with your own by mapping these on a radar chart to look for potential gaps in perceptions and expectations.
The 4 R’s ScorecardFriday 11th July 2008 The 4 Rs from The Brand Owner's Viewpoint
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statements below?
Strongly Agree (10 Points) Agree (5 Points) Disagree (0 Points) Our Brand is:
1. Relevant - Matches our customers’ needs, wants and expectations
2. Remarkable - Makes our customers take notice of us and tell other people about us 3. Reputational - Makes our customers feel good, giving them a sense of esteem 4. Real - Matters to our customers creating an emotional bond with our brand and our business Plot your scores from the Create Your Own Space™ Brand Audit against the 4Rs Scorecard on a radar chart for a visual representation of your brand's position. Completed the Audit? How did you get on?Thursday 10th July 2008 See how your brand scores in the Create Your Own Space™ Brand Audit: B 150 – 195 C 100 - 145 D 50 - 95 E 0 - 45 Engagement AuditWednesday 09th July 2008 To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statements below?
Strongly Agree (10 Points)
Agree (5 Points) Disagree (0 Points) 1. Our clients recognise that our brand promise is unique and understand how it is distinct from our competitors' propositions.
2. Our clients participate and interact with our brand. 3. Our customers feel an affinity and an emotional connection with our brand. 4. Our clients are happy to give written testimonials about us. 5. Our customers are strong influencers and actively recommend our brand, products and services to others by word of mouth. Communications AuditTuesday 08th July 2008 To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statements below?
Strongly Agree (10 Points) Agree (5 Points) Disagree (0 Points) 1. Our key messages and designs are distinctive, memorable and break through the marketplace clutter.
2. We have developed a brand positioning statement that all customer-facing employees understand and can communicate (A shared, realisable vision as to how the brand will act on its insight, articulated in the form of a practical 'elevator pitch', including the following elements: target audience, core essence, brand pillars and value proposition). 3. We have a series of compelling anecdotal brand stories that fire the imaginations of our customers. 4. We have a list of proof points (facts, figures, testimonials, editorial endorsements) at our fingertips that endorse our key differentiators and demonstrate our competitive advantage. 5. Our employees use a consistent brand vocabulary and tone of voice in all our day-to-day conversations (that our customers can relate to and that maps directly to the core brand essence). Architecture AuditMonday 07th July 2008 To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statements below?
Strongly Agree (10 Points) Agree (5 Points) Disagree (0 Points) 1. We have engineered / re-engineered our Unique Value Proposition around our core brand essence.
2. Our brand name and corporate identity is evocative and maps to the core brand essence in a way that resonates with our target audience. 3. We protect our brand and have a stewardship strategy in respect of domain name ownership, company registration and trademarking of our organisation's name, logo and strapline. 4. We have up to date brand guidelines that are applied and followed by both internal and external users consistently, without change or compromise. (these govern the use of the company name, logo, icon, strap line, colours and its applications across various media). 5. A clearly defined brand strata exists within the organisation; how the corporate brand and sub-brands relate to and support each other; and how the sub-brands reflect or reinforce the core purpose of the corporate brand to which they belong. Positioning AuditFriday 04th July 2008 To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statements below?
Strongly Agree (10 Points)
Agree (5 Points) Disagree (0 Points) 1. Our brand has a distinctive Core Essence and creates competitive space (The brand's promise distilled in the simplest, most single-minded terms - the phrase we most want to own in a client's mind).
2. This Core Essence is based on an analysis of customer needs, organisational strengths (core competencies), competitive weaknesses and market gaps. 3. Our brand positioning is disruptive, creating the potential to displace the entire market.
4. We have defined Brand Pillars (The guiding insights and qualities that support the essence of the brand).
5. A clear Brand Personality has been developed (The brand's recognisable personality traits expressed in terms of admirable human characteristics).
Strategy AuditThursday 03rd July 2008 To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statements below?
Strongly Agree (10 Points) Agree (5 Points) Disagree (0 Points) 1. We have identified the brand's Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT).
2. Our company is committed to a shared, long-term Brand Vision.
3. We have a deep understanding of our customers’ / introducer channels' values, attitudes, needs, desires, hopes, aspirations, fears and concerns.
4. We have developed a marketing plan with measurable objectives linked to my our business plan.
5. We have mapped how we differ from our competitors and understand why our customers buy from us.
Create Your Own Space™ Brand AuditWednesday 02nd July 2008 Take our quick and easy Create Your Own Space™ Brand Audit to see how you score in the five critical areas that are integral to the SPACE Model™ – Strategy, Positioning, Architecture, Communications and Engagement.
Over the next few days, you will see five sets of five questions relating to the above SPACE headings. (Please note that I have blogged ahead of myself, so you can follow the thread rather than waiting for each days posts).
For each question, simply select the option that best describes your views: Strongly Agree (10 Points) Agree (5 Points) Disagree (0 Points) Once you've completed the Create Your Own Space™ Brand Audit, add your points together and then we’ll show you exactly how you’ve scored.
Customer Engagement – Voyage into Deep SpaceTuesday 01st July 2008 Last year, Forrester Research published a report called "Marketing's New Key Metric: Engagement". Brian Haven, a research analyst at Forrester Research, interviewed a variety of leading brands such as Nike and Procter & Gamble to identify the basic elements of customer engagement.
The report says: "Engagement goes beyond reach and frequency to measure people's real feelings about brands. It starts with their own brand relationship and continues as they extend that relationship to other customers. As a customer's participation with a brand deepens from site use and purchases (involvement and interaction) to affinity and championing (intimacy and influence), measuring and acting on engagement becomes more critical to understanding customers' intentions. The four parts of engagement build on each other to make a holistic picture." However, what does this mean for today’s financial marketers? First, it focuses on the belief that continued customer engagement is always an ultimate brand objective. Secondly, it gives us four criteria by which our success in attaining the optimum state of customer engagement may be measured:
Involvement comprises customer participation at various brand touch points. Interaction concerns the actions taken by a customer at those brand touch points. Intimacy consists of the affection that a customer holds for a brand. Influence is the probability of a customer recommending your brand. To these criteria, I should like to add: Immersion which takes into account the depth and breadth of customer experience (which I believe is of primary importance as a practical barrier to exit) and Integrity which is concerned with the quality and authenticity of that engagement. What is clear from the above is that Differentiated Customer Engagement may be powerful enough to create Deep Space.
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