How brand can be a powerful tool in employee engagement and loyalty.
We’re in HR review talking about New Brand Tribalism and considering how a brand can be a powerful tool in employee engagement and loyalty.
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The one about the Marketing publication editor and Wikipedia
A while back we met with an editor of a marketing trade publication, in talking about various things we made a statement linked to brand tribalism and his reponse was “I’m going to check that out, If it’s not on Wikipedia it’s not true and it doesn’t exist”.
Interesting thought “not on wikipedia……..doesn’t exist?” what did we do for knowledge before Wikipedia?, it’s just an encyclopedia at the end of the day. I remember as a kid referring to the annual publications like Encyclopedia Britannica or World Book for pearls of wisdom that was before technology changed things. Wikipedia has tranformed how we share knowledge and you just need to look at the statement of that magazine editor to realise how much.
My full cabinet of World Book encyclopedias are small and outdated compared to the collaborative depth and up dated nature of wikipedia’s knowledge. It’s an example of the instant, consensus-driven nature of information which fuels much of the 21st Century.
The knowledge retained and guarded by one person is no longer the power, Knowledge is Energy. Knowledge Shared – is Energy Shared™
Interestingly as much as we hear lots of people talking about brand tribes, and brand tribalism no one had actually defined it on Wikipedia until
we spent a few hours, a couple of debates and more than one re-edit to get it accepted by the reviewers. So Brand Tribalism is now on Wikipedia here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand_Tribalism
Breakthrough Innovation and the status quo
The leaders say: “Let’s be more innovative.”
The staff says: “Bravo. When do we start?”
The mid-level managers say: “Wait a minute, let’s think about that. What about… and …? Have you REALLY thought it through? Does this mean I have to change?” (Claude Legrand)
Much Rhetoric about change and innovation in the world of big business. There is no doubt most companies today are big believers in the idea of innovation in some shape or form. You only have to look at corporate visions, mission statements and corporate strategies to realise how important it has become. It’s near the top of almost every CEO’s agenda.
So despite technological advances and the vast resources on offer why does Innovation appear to be so difficult and so slow for so many of the biggest corporates?
A legacy of a bygone era perhaps? Many corporate cultures are risk averse and despite the chat aren’t really open to leading the way or breaking the mould. In pursuit of incremental improvement busy stressed out managers focus on doing and simply don’t believe they can make changes unless they have some assurance that a new comfort will result- Hardly the route to breakthrough innovation.
Seth Godin has a very nice list called ” Top ways to defend the status quo”.
One item on the list is “”It’s never been done before”… how many times have you heard that?
Corporate Culture and the Apple Juggernaut
Culture is widely regarded as fundamental to an organisations ability to generate and sustain improvement. It is the ultimate form of ‘capacity to perform’.
Thinking about capacity and performance, what is it that has helped drive the Apple Juggernaut?
It hasn’t always been cool, people forget that Apple struggled through the late 80’s and 90s and came perilously close to oblivion. It’s a remarkable story of change. A company that has built its strength on being brand and culture obsessed, the bottom line benefits have followed.
All of the evidence available about high performing brands like Apple indicates that the power of a premium brand to excite and achieve loyalty and preference with customers demands the engagement of culture internally to drive the ambition and values of the brand externally. Highly successful brands know how to create powerful and compelling brand cultures which breed loyalty, performance, differentiation and sustainability. Culture brings people together and allows them to jointly cope with challenges of business andlife.
Apple has built a strong corporate culture, one that drives out those who do not “fit in” or believe. There’s been much news around in recent days about the departure of former senior vice president of Devices Hardware, Mark Papermaster, many journalists and commentators have suggested it’s because he didn’t fit into the unique Apple culture. The question is, Will Papermaster’s departure leave a stronger and more unified group? Or is this along with the hoo ha around the Iphone 4 a crack in the armoury, A signal of cultural dissent, a sign that perhaps the Apple culture may not be fit for purpose moving forward?
The Apple culture is not for everyone that bit is clear, nor is it always about being the nicest cuddliest place to work. Apple does a good job at polarising people they have also been good at successfully engaging people inside on what matters to the business.
Check this out from Justin Maxwell: Ex Apple Employee:
“It wasn’t just the rules, it was the job itself, the measures that Apple takes to protect its creative and intellectual environment is unparalleled in the valley, and it’s been a disappointing experience since leaving there.”
“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.”
Whilst strong culture binds people, it can also bind people so tight they cannot know, or see what they are doing. And how would they without exposure to other ideas? Apple have been accused by many of arrogance is this a sign of a culture that may be a bit out of touch?
Every organisation has a distinct culture the question is whether that culture is fit for the purpose of the business or not? Apple are ahead of many organisations in that they can point to a strong culture that breeds real tribal like engagement.
Not the notions of super-annuated marital bliss that many in the employee and customer engagement fields espouse and justify through satisfaction and survey scores, but engagement where people are actually willingly participating in the brand and the things that are deemed important to the businesses performance.
Like everything else in business and in life your culture must evolve too,people feed off change and respond to the ideas and imagination of others in those times of change. Are you building the right culture to drive your brand forward?
It driven the Apple juggernaut thus far, but is every aspect of Apple’s culture fit for purpose? Only time will tell.
The Market, The Analyst and The CEO
“The Idea that business is just a numbers affair has always struck me as preposterous. For one thing I’ve never been particularly good at numbers, but I think I’ve done a reasonable job with feelings. And I’m convinced that it is the feelings- and feelings alone- that account for the success of the Virgin brand in all of its myriad forms.”
Richard Branson- Virgin Group
Here are NBT we have been beating the drum for an evolution in the management practices of the past since the beginning. The traditional models of management just don’t work too well for creating adaptive, innovative and engaged organisations. The management practices that are firmly grounded in the Industrial Era focus on the content of the business, not on the message or the effects – of that content on people. People are the key to successfully performing today and into the future.
A well placed and connected contact of ours, recently asked us to firstly forget the rhetoric of big business, then they questioned us ”what do you think CEO’s are most concerned about really?” We said the changing business environment, business models and things to that effect. Our contact said yes true…in part but in reality the main thing keeping CEO’s up at night is analysts. They bend over backwards to ensure that they are kept sweet, Leading analysts can get through to the CEO in super quick time and CEO’s these days spend alot of time selling their numbers or why the numbers will eventually stack up. As our friend suggested many CEO’s appear dominated by the power of the analysts, apparently that’s what’s keeping many CEO’s awake at night.
An interesting insight for us and it’s interesting that so many businesses still focus all strategy purely on the numbers, even when a situation can arise where better than forecast profits doesn’t even guarantee upwards share movement, actually, if a few influential analysts believe that the balance sheet doesn’t signal the future then strong profits could even be a catalyst for a slight drop in shares. The market is based on emotion and feeling- despite it seeming completely rational it’s actually very human in nature.
The 21st Century Business Landscape. An open note to CEO’s and C-Level Execs
Dear Mr/Mrs CEO and fellow corporate execs,
Despite constantly talking of changing realities, the need for innovation and extreme pressure to perform, why do you continue to cling to the notion that you can compete in tomorrow’s business environment by relying on yesterday’s business ways?
Didn’t Einstein once say something about Insanity being when you do the same thing over and over again and expect different results?
From High Society to Big Society-Check us out we’re in the marketing press again.
We’ve made another appearance in the press- check it out, share it with you friends and colleagues and please do comment or share your opinion if you do have one.
People make the world of business go round!
Those who argue that money, profits and the economy are the most important things in business need to remember the most fundamental principle of business: No humans = No business
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.
South Africa’s World Cup, Ubuntu and Lessons in 21st Business Management
So the first World Cup in Africa is over, South Africa did it, a triumph of belief!
I couldn’t help but think how wonderful it was that within a short space of time, South Africa has moved from being pariahs of the world to being World Cup hosts, a fantastic story of change and something to be proud of for all the people of the “Rainbow Nation”.
Another thing the people of Southern Africa should be proud of and something the world of business might like to emulate is the notion of Ubuntu.
Ubuntu is an all encompassing philosophy for the ‘rainbow people’, whilst they were filming human interest stories from communities it’s something I wish the world’s journalists could have brought to the attention of the masses.
Most Nguni languages in Southern Africa will say:“umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu [a person is a person through other persons, or I am because we are]”.
South Africa didn’t have the best players at the World Cup and they weren’t even necessarily thinking they could win the whole World Cup but boy did they try. When you saw the Bafana Bafana players singing en-masse before the match it was more than just for entertainment-it was about togetherness, pride in the nation and belief in the cause.
Ubuntu is a community spirit which stands in sharp contrast to the individualistic greed and chaos that has fuelled the global economic crisis. It’s the community spirit which countless governments are preaching to us as being the way we’ll get out of the economic travails we’ve experienced, it’s about being engaged.
In our age of the “Wicked Problems”- we need a theory of global management consistent with our common human nature. Central to human nature is Identity and The need to belong. The place to begin in developing such a theory is the philosophy of New Brand Tribalism-it’s a shameless plug but something I believe in. Your global management teams should regard the firm as a community, not a collection of individuals and siloed functions.
“If we were the most beautiful, the most intelligent, the most wealthy, the most powerful person – and then found all of a sudden that we were alone on the planet, it wouldn’t amount to a hill of beans”(Bill Clinton)
Communities are bound together by belief and brand’s have an opportunity evoke that belief. It’s time big business understood that the purpose of management in the 21st Century is promoting the common good of the brand and keeping the community in mind.
“Organizations infused with humanness, a pervasive spirit of caring and community, harmony and hospitality, respect and responsiveness will enjoy more sustainable competitive advantage” (Managliso, 2001).
What great stories of community have you got to share with us, we’d love to hear them.
Oh and well done to Spain for becoming the new World Champions.
Watch the Great Man himself Nelson Mandela talk about Ubuntu: What is the meaning of Ubuntu? – The Ubuntu experience explained by Nelson Mandela