What do Manchester United, and Apple have in common when it comes to HR and Marketing?
When talking about Manchester United’s new rich competitors from across town (Manchester City in case you wondered) and anyone else who covets the business position(Chelsea et al) of Manchester United.
Alex Ferguson has been know to say “They can copy us, but they can´t be us” That’s because the greatness and uniqueness of the business are intimately entwined and the uniqueness does not flourish in a system that can be copied, it flourishes because of the brand and the culture.
What about this from an ex Apple employee when interviewed about his working situation.
“If I was still at Apple, I would not be responding to this question, nor would I feel wronged for not being able to…. The general idea is this: You are part of something much bigger than you. The ideas you talk about in the hall, the neat tricks you figured out in CSS, the unibody machining technique, that’s part of your job, something you are paid to do for Apple’s success, not something you need to blog about to satisfy your ego.” (http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/07/07/former_employees_shed_light_on_apples_internal_corporate_culture.html)
Interesting how committed to the cause he was. Not only was he engaged in “the way we do things around here” it came with a level of belief in the brand.
Do you want to know how to steal market share and grow shareholder value? Simple. Be as single minded about your brand as brands like Manchester United, and Apple are, cut no corners. Everything you do as a business should be shaped by your brand and cemented by your culture and belief. The others may try to be you, but they can’t really pull it off.