Culture eats strategy-so says the Merck CEO
“You can have a good strategy but if you don’t have the culture and enabling systems
to implement that strategy, you will fail.”
- Dick Clark, CEO, Merck
What do you think?
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Nokia and Microsoft: What happens when a couple of big beasts get together?
Tim’s article has been featured on Utalkmarketing’s website read it here
Starbucks changes it’s logo but what has Carphone Warehouse have to do with it?
So Starbucks is changing it’s logo. I wonder if removing the name Starbucks from the merchandise is the most important part of the change journey for Starbucks? I’d be fascinated to see what business impact it makes.
If nothing else changes in the business to make it “more suitable” is this just a case of polishing a turd?
Another thought that comes to mind is this- do consumers worry about the Carphone Warehouse name, has that hampered its growth and evolution? If you wonder what i’m on about, when was the last time you saw a carphone? Carphone warehouse has managed to evolve and diversify even with a somewhat misleading name.
A Tribal Case Study.
Since launch in November 2009, NBT has been working with several major global brands to develop and deliver programmes designed to engage their people in the next evolution of their brand journey. These businesses are all in very different sectors and have their own challenges. But what they have in common is the desire to place the brand at the front of their strategy, the core of their differentiation, the heart of their culture and in their operational focus. The other thing they have in common is that they recognise that infusing all these elements within the business requires an aligned and concerted effort by several key functions / stakeholders. In each case they sought wholehearted buy-in and engagement from their leaders.
It may not seem relevant to you but the link to follow is a case study where we helped a well known brand the largest of it’s kind deal with some specific challenges. Case Example 1
Service Affiliates- Part of the NBT Tribe.
A few people have asked about the types of service affiliates who are part of the tribe, so whilst i’ve probably mentioned these company’s in past posts I thought I’d do a direct but brief feature on 3 companies who go down as the earliest adopters of the NBT philosophy. It goes without saying if you want one of these company’s to help you out of a pickle get in touch with us here and will put you in touch with the right people.
The Alternative: www.thealternative.co.uk . They are about activation and delivery of engagement programmes and communication. Historically they work with senior managers (HR, Marketing, Product, Comms, Retail or even Operations), they get called in when people are beginning to feel under pressure as the future they were building is now starting to look uncertain due to financial constraints. Most worry about launching new initiatives in a market, where there is little or no room for error. Others are frustrated by the lack of creativity from their current agencies, whilst they are working in a climate to deliver more with less. It’s not unusual for them to be meeting people who are anxious to guarantee that their next event or communications push delivers clear results.
The Alternative believes true engagement and performance comes from having the ability to deliver deeper feeling with meaning to customers, employees and stakeholders, so that’s what they’ve recently been doing with clients, including Orange, Skype, American Express and WTTC.
Rambutan: Co-founders of NBT and experts in management communication and leadership development. www.rambutan.biz . Rambutan help evolve leadership style and practice so that managers become fully engaged chieftains for your new brand tribe. Amongst other things they can also help practically deliver enhanced inter-personal; engagement and communication skills amongst leaders at all level. Can assist with Coaching, NLP, Presentation Skills, Facilitation and so on. Clients include board level directors at companies like Metro Cash and Carry, Northern Rail, Ventura etc. Get this Rambutan guarantee results on a better than risk-free basis. There are plenty of consultancies, training companies and coaches out there who can offer you similar solutions and skills… but how many of them are really confident and willing enough to put their money where their mouths are and say this?
Burke McCarron: Brand architecture and analysis consultants. www.burkemccarron.com. Burke McCarron provide understanding and analysis of how to align brand attributes into practical and effective internal values and behaviours, ensuring that neither brand nor operational culture are misaligned. BM would support relevant projects by ensuring the interfaces between brand and organisational design / culture are focused.