I thought a great deal about this question over the past few weeks as I have followed the developments with Google doing business in China. At first it appeared that the search and media giant was going to succumb to the censorship laws in China and dilute their brand in other parts of the world. But recent stances against censorship in China appears to be enhancing Google's brand.
I have never been to China and I have never done business in China, although the attraction is there on both fronts. Like many, a few years ago I thought it would be great to go to China and help open China to the rest of the world, while at the same time increasing my wealth. After the alarm went off and I woke up, reality set in and I have pondered whether or not China is the right fit for my brand. I hope in the future the answer is yes.
Like doing business locally, regionally, nationally and internationally, your organization must determine whether or not your clients and your client's clients align with your brand strategy. Only then will you be successful in recruiting and retaining brand champions. The same holds true for your clients and their clients.
According to a group of health pros, parents and business partners, the answer is a resounding yes! These people believe Ron Mac has too much influence over kids and they want McDonald's to retire the organization's most recognized brand champion.
I guess the coalition thinks that if Ron goes away then kids will not be so keen on going to the Golden Arches to eat what the group considers to be bad food. They probably have a point and I am sure their intentions are good, but good luck!
Joe Camel went away because of the pressure that parents and others made on Camel in a similar situation. With Joe going bye-bye did that make it no longer cool to smoke cigarettes? I think the pressure put on the U.S. government to nail the tobacco industry did the trick.
Ron is an easy target, but I think going to Congress to testify about the need for health standards might be more influential. What do you think? Should Ron get the brand boot?
Two years ago when I was visiting one of my favorite American cities, Chicago, I discovered what is now one of my favorite brands, American Girl. No, not because I have dolls or even like dolls, but because I am hard pressed to think of too many brands that have been as successful as American Girl in its ability to recruit and retain brand champions. Tons of moms and girls are addicted to this brand.
I recall the day when I was walking down Michigan Avenue in Chicago headed to one of my go-to lunch spots in the Windy City. I was surrounded by women and girls making a bee-line to some place. Where I did not know, and was hoping beyond hope that they were not headed to my lunch spot. No, they were in lock-step fashion going to their favorite lunch hour spot, American Girl.
Being one of the only males in the pack, I hesitated to go in, but because of my brand consultant instincts I had a hunch that I was about to learn more about a brand that gets-it. The place was jammed with smiling, giddy, screaming girls (and moms). Since then I have come to gain a huge amount of respect for a brand that sells 18 inch dolls for $95+. The company understands that toys are also about education, and American Girl delivers that, similar to what LEGO does. As an education branding consultant, I value that approach.
American Girl just opened its first store in my town so I would be remiss if I did not recognize them as the Brand Champion of the Day!
Yesterday morning I had my Saturday fix of a morning bagel and a read of the Denver Business Journal. I try to stay in touch with the local business scene and enjoy reading the stories in the weekly publication. More often than not my eyes are drawn to the advertisements in the Journal. Not because as the ads are designed to do, draw my interest and respond. I am attracted to the ads because they are simply awful.
Just like other forms of advertising, organizations think that if they spend money on cute/cleaver/stupid ads, people will line up at the door or at the mouse. A creative want to be internal employee or an external marketing semi-professional who knows nothing or cares nothing about the organization's brand essence comes up with what they think is a catchy headline followed by copy that has nothing to do with core values and mission.
the result? Wasted money and a diluted brand. here are a few examples from local businesses advertising to other businesses. Headline: Separate Yourself From the Competition. Photo: a red paper clip in a sea of silver paper clips. Wow, that is a ground-breaking concept. Headline: Stronger Together. Photo: Coffee and Donuts. Makes me want to get right after it. Headline: Your Vision Your Elbow Grease. Photo: Man in front of wine bottles. Hmmm... Headline: Innovation. Photo: CEO sitting on a rock in the snow. No clue.
I could go on and on, but you already know that social media is a much more effective way to communicate the essence of your brand, rather than silly ads in a newspaper. You already know that social media is a more effective way to recruit and retain brand champions. If not, make sure you have a brand strategy first, and deliver your message based on what your organization stands for.
Ok, ok I know, I have featured Starbucks before. Well guess what? I am featuring them again. The brand announced this week its first dividend. A year ago people were writing off the international coffee giant as just another brand who got too big for its britches. Starbucks downsized a bit and got back to its core values and what made the brand successful in the beginning. It found its voice again.
I am notorious for quoting Chairman, Howard Schultz. "Managing a brand is a lifetime of work." Because he and the brand think that way they were able to weather the economic storm and come out strong on the other side. If more brands embrace the concept of brand building being a lifetime process, they would too. Hello, that is the way to recruit and retain brand champions!
Despite economic challenges most brands still think the way to build a sustainable brand is to go with the quick-fix solution. Wrong! When we build our brands based on mission, core values and stakeholder engagement, and understand that managing our brands is indeed a forever process, our brands are much more likely to be sustainable.
Starbucks, you are once again the Brand Champion of the Day!
You know my favorite airline and probably my favorite brand is Southwest Airlines. As a result, I fly SWA whenever I can in the United States. When I realized that SWA does not fly between my city and Memphis where I spent the past few days as part of a national education brand project, I was a bit nervous about my other flying options, Delta and United.
Delta and United used to be airlines that I spent a lot of time flying and had a fondness for, not so much now. You can imagine my trepidation when I realized that after flying SWA many, many times the past few years when I realized that I had to fly another option. Because of my time schedule I decided on United. After my experience the past few days I am wondering what the name United stands for, and why that name remains. Let me give you a few examples.
When standing in line at O'Hare to catch a connecting flight, my colleague and I witnessed a customer service agent ream out a customer who recently broke her back and was not able to walk down the stairs to the shuttle. A pilot then reamed out the customer service agent for the way she treated the customer. All of this was happening right in front of people who paid more than they would on other airlines, and who were robbed by paying the bag fees that another airline does not charge.I do not think I will ever see something remotely close to this at a SWA gate.
A few airlines like Southwest, Virgin and JetBlue understand how to recruit and retain brand champions. Airlines like United, Delta and American used to. Those days are over. Flying the big giants these days feels like a 1960s nostalgia tour or an outdated horror flick. Although the brand experience was very bizarre and probably aligns with the reputation that United has (not so good), I do have to give props (no pun intended) to the pilot who safely landed the plane Tuesday night right after the wing on our plane was hit by lightning and in the middle of one of the worst blizzards I have seen in a while.
I look forward to my Southwest Airlines flying experience soon and hopefully many, many more!
Does your organization engage your stakeholders in the brand development process? If not, how does your organization expect your stakeholders can live your brand strategy? Simple answer, they can't. Only when your organization provides opportunities for your internal and external constituents to give a voice to the process will your stakeholders be able to live your brand.
In addition to giving your stakeholders a forum to share their opinions about your brand, you need to develop a communications plan so that stakeholders can go through the process of being aware of your brand building process, understand how it is relevant to them, ensure that they embrace the strategy and then live the brand. Without a system to do so, stakeholders will opt out or think that this is just another initiative that has little or no connection to them.
How do you engage your stakeholders in your organization's brand development process? Do you have champions for your brand?
Well I must say that I never thought I would be recognizing Holiday Inn as the Brand Champion of the Day. A year or so ago I posted a few comments about the new visual identity and plans for remodeling their hotels. Now it is official, the hotel chain has re-branded itself in a very positive manner. I don't know about you, but my last experience at a Holiday Inn was many, many years ago, and I would have been hard pressed to think about many strong brand attributes to discuss back then.
Until today, I associated Holiday Inn with an old, worn-out brand. My experience today in Memphis is nothing short of amazement, and wow was I wrong. First of all, Holiday Inn is one of the few hotel brands that still has shuttle service to and from the airport. The shuttle service also includes taking guests to near-by restaurants, malls, drug stores and anywhere else one would like to go. The rooms are magnificent. I am writing from my desk in the living room/kitchen of my suite (which is less expensive than most small hotel rooms). I feel like a true business traveler today, instead of just another tourist.
For bringing this brand strategist to his senses, and hopefully others, Holiday Inn is the Brand Champion of the Day. You will have more and more champions of your brand. Bravo to the kind folks in Memphis, nicely done my friends!
For the past several years we have all be affected in some way by the global financial crisis. Most have also been following or have been further affected by the Toyota automotive crisis. It seems like there is a new crisis every day. Recently I have had my eye on a couple of situations related to past clients. Although there have been challenges, they have relayed to me their relief that their organization has a brand strategy. Without one, the gravity of the situations would most likely be increased.
Although most brand initiatives garner support when those within the organization understand the need for business development and becoming more competitive. These are valid reasons for an organization to proceed with the process of aligning their internal culture and external reputation. Crisis management is another important reason. Without a sound brand strategy, crises can determine the culture and reputation of the organization.
Sustainable brands are based on mission, core values and stakeholder engagement. The process of developing one is what we call branding. Our brand is our name and the associations that people make when they hear or see our name. It is what our organization stands for. Effective organizations get that. Those that don't, or those who think branding is a cool ad campaign can have their reputations forever be determined by a crisis. Do not let that happen to you and your organization. You want brand champions, not brand chumps.
The title above comes from a paper that I recently had published on brandchannel.com. Based upon the response, I thought I would go ahead and post it on the blog too. I have heard from people in Australia, Canada, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States agreeing with my assessment that it is time for more institutions of higher learning to embrace brand development as a significant part of the business school and communications school curriculum.
Of course I actually advocate that marketing programs evolve into brand management programs. After all isn't that what the marketing professional is expected to increasingly be responsible for? When this happens they turn to university or to professional associations to help them understand how to do so. To date very few resources exist. Develop brand programs and you will have champions coming out of the cracks. The alternative is to be a Mad Man.
If you are so inclined, click on the brandchannel.com link above, take a gander and let me know what you think.
