Oct

AIG: Brand trust, actions speak louder than words

Just don’t get it. Don’t understand what leadership could possibly be thinking. Because their actions are in such stark contrast with what you’d expect from an organization that should be doing all it can to win back our collective trust.

Maybe things like reputation and trust just don’t matter to a leadership team who has already been bailed out once, and who’ve recently put in their second request for additional funds. Maybe it’s easy to turn a blind eye when you know your back is covered, regardless of your actions.

Whatever the reasoning, why AIG would go off to Phoenix for a second boondoggle and spend another $340k (or thereabouts) is beyond my understanding. On top of this, to travel incognito and think that you wouldn’t be exposed is just stupid. I called AIG, because I wanted some answers. I spoke with a senior member of their communications team. He told me that they traveled anonymously because AIG employees were being harassed as they entered their NYC headquarters. I was told that the majority of the trip was not actually paid for by AIG. But who cares? The reality of the situation is that we’ve bailed you out once, you’re back again with your hand out, and you’re at a resort in Phoenix.

I do feel for the vast majority of employees who had absolutely no knowledge of the incompetence and arrogance of their leadership. It’s got to be very tough right now, and I’m sure, going to work each day really challenges their moral compass. In fact, the communications liaison I spoke with made a point of saying that he was not one of those fat cats. That he too is suffering through this.

At the end of the day, actions speak louder than words. Brand trust has eroded, and these actions just rip at brand reputation even further. From my vantage point, I see no signs that AIG is trying to endear itself to those of us (all of us) who bailed them out.

Oct

Promotional partners to help brand dollars go farther

Dollars are scarce. Value (added-value) is high on your customers list. Brand-enhancing promotional partners are one way to make marketing dollars work harder – helping you garner attention, boost image and and drive sales.

Some considerations:

• start with your consumer – about how you can surprise and delight them
• the simpler the better – they should see it and get it immediately
• your partner should make sense – for your customer and for your brand
• your organization-fit needs to make sense – as you’ll need to work closely together
• retailers need to think it makes sense – so get their buy-in before you’re too far down the road
• what are measures of success – both image and impact, and agree up-front
• are there any other third-party participants/sponsors – that can provide additional spin

No Related Posts

Oct

Rebranding pitfalls that health brands can avoid

Your brand isn’t running on all cylinders. There are indicators that you’re leaving reputation, relationships and business behind. So you’ve made the decision to re-brand. Some organizations have the skills, discipline and stamina to execute a strategically and tactically brilliant, organization-changing result. Others, while good intentioned, leave something [if not a lot] behind.

Here are common common pitfalls to aviod:

a. Ready, Fire, Aim. The significant time and expense of re-branding warrants tangible returns. Isolate and agree upfront to the most important business and brand issue(s) that you’ll address through the effort.

b. Not Realizing What’s On The Table. As your brand encompasses all the characteristics, both tangible and intangible, that surround your offerings, realize that everything your organization says and does makes up the brand experience. So everything, as it should be, is up for evaluation and refinement.

c. Going It Alone. Just as you wouldn’t diagnose your own physical ailments, the objectivity and expertise of an external consultant is critical to evaluating, creating and credibly selling internally to your leadership and teams.

d. Not Having Key Influencers and Decision-Makers On Board. Do not undertake this effort until these important allies are on board. Understand their opinions and expectations. And keep them appraised along the way.

e. Lack of Demonstrated Senior Leadership Commitment. All the time and expense of this endeavor will never be taken seriously, and will certainly never stick, unless leadership has explicitly communicated [and is ready to demonstrate] their commitment.

f. Inward Perspective. Your external audiences are the arbiters of your success, so understand how they view the organization. Contrast and reconcile these perspectives against your own to determine the gaps that need to be filled to realize your objectives.

g. Disregarding Your Legacy. While you can’t be led by the past, you don’t cast aside those equities that you’ve worked so hard to create. Don’t disregard what’s working, because these are the building blocks for enhancing your relevancy.

h. Bypassing Insiders. Your employees will make or break the initiative. They need to understand and believe in the program and the desired outcome. And most important, they need to be emotionally engaged.

i. Branding As A One-Time Event. As James Gandolfini would say “fuggedaboudit.” Because branding is akin to a marathon, not a sprint to the finish line. It will take longer, and cost more, than you imagined.

j. Neglecting To Patrol And Control The Airwaves. Monitor and share in the web-based conversations about your organization. Participate in the blogisphere. Help yourself control (at least as much as you can) your own destiny.

Sep

Branding Lessons From The Political Front

Today’s the day. Finally. As of Wednesday, no campaign ads, emails, mobile texts.

So what are some lessons healthcare and healthy lifestyle brands can take away from the battle of the last two political brands standing?

Ride the wave. Obama was handed on a silver platter an obvious case for change. At the same time, many deemed the competitive Republican brand to be lagging behind the times. Obama’s team did a tremendous job of staying on point and seizing the moment.

Own a word (as Al Reis pointed out years ago, it’s a powerful strategy). Obama scripted “Change” into his vocabulary from day one. It was his brand theme. And it was ubiquitous. McCain began as the “Experience” candidate. He then co-opted “Change” and tried to make it his own. Before he became the “Maverick.” Witness the results.

Keep it simple. Like “America is ready for Change.” Doesn’t get much better than this.

It’s rarely about “functional” features and benefits. Evidence the talk about wardrobe spend, multiple (but too numerous to remember) homes, the demeanor of a presidential-looking candidate, and the demeanor of someone who is not. It’s rarely about rational arguments, but rather how we make people feel while they’re in our presence.

Execute Brilliantly. One candidate never waivered. Was consistent in his style and tone. Brilliant in his execution from start to finish. The other was not.

Relevance alone doesn’t win the day. But “different” and relevant will. Both candidates were relevant. But one was also different. Only one provoked a response of “that’s what I’m hungry for.”

Build A Community of Evangelists. Witness the thousands of people attending Obama rally’s. The thousands of first-time volunteers. The tremendous use of social media to generate conversations, collaboration and community. Beyond their war chest of funds, Obama’s team was so much more in tune with their consumers motivations, expectations and practices.

No Related Posts

Sep

Health brands that best stand out and apart – real. simple. branding

In a world filled with too much of everything (and just as much similarity), the ongoing process of building clear, valued and sustained differentiation through branding is a crucial step to forging relationships and growing business.

So how can your health brand stand out and apart? By aligning your organization, services or products around the promise of your brand. Ensuring that all you do from selling your brand’s story inside, to building your product, service, market, channel, pricing, customer service and communications strategies reinforce why you’re the best choice for consumers. And this is about REAL. SIMPLE. BRANDING:

REAL.
I remember calling AOL a few years ago. I was told via IVR that “we’ve doubled our number of customer service representatives to deliver a higher standard of customer service. Please hold and the next representative will be with you shortly. Your waiting time is approximately nine minutes.” That’s not real.

SIMPLE.
Stand for something. One thing. Be the best at safety, performance, whitening, speed, durability, magic, luxury. Put a stake in the ground and declare your one thing to the world. Remember Billy Crystal’s line in City Slickers. He tells his riding mates that life’s about one thing. Well, the same holds true for branding.

BRANDING.
Like any verb, connotes action. Practicing the REAL and SIMPLE of above. Managing the multiple (off line and on line) interactions that people have with your brand each day; and that either enhance or detract from your desired perceptions. Remember that whether you’re driving or not, your indelible mark is being stamped into consumers minds! It’s an imprint that’s hard to erase, so create it on your terms.

Sep

Imagine what health brand marketers could do with $300MM

Microsoft just broke their new three hundred million ad campaign — designed (I presume at some point) to sell more PC’s by creating a more favorable impression of Microsoft’s Windows operating system. Well, I don’t get it. The spots are humorous. It’s fun to see Jerry and Bill side by side. But they’re actually kind of boring (reinforcing the image Microsoft is trying to dispel). And don’t get how it’s going to move the sales needle when Microsoft equals Vista – the enemy of all who work on the PC.

Imagine what good health+ healthy lifestyle brand marketers could do with $300MM.

Imagine you did. What BHAG’s (big hairy audacious goals) would you set out to achieve. Now open your eyes, but don’t let reality set in. How could you achieve these same goals with available resources. How can you be more insightful about your audiences (and your audience segmentation), more creative about what you provide that others don’t, and more imaginative about your tactics? Just a thought.

Aug

Healthcare system branding – some rules of the road

While brand-building fundamentals tend to be similar across many industries, Health Care Systems, with their many hospitals, facilities and audiences, possess a unique set of challenges and requirements. Based on our extensive work within this industry, here are some “Rules of the Road” starting points:

Leadership must take the lead
Brand-building commitment and demonstration must start from the top. It is imperative that leadership embrace branding as a strategic tool to proactively build and nurture relationships.

Start with your strategic plan direction
Any “system level” brand work needs to be grounded in reality. And this grounding starts with strategic plan direction. Business initiatives such as expanding into new geography, introducing new service lines, merging with other entities and physician groups will impact your brands value proposition.

Consider the importance of your multiple external and internal audiences
Externally, there are your local communities, patients and their families, media and politicians. Internally, there are doctors, nurses, staffs and volunteers, boards and foundations – who will make or break you brand-building effort. Ultimately, they all need to understand, connect with and be aligned around what your system brand stands for and how it relates.

Analyze where system-audience relationships exist, today and into the future
Have you historically focused on building relationships with the system brand or the individual hospitals and facilities that provide care? Consider these answers in the context of your strategic plan and annual business goals, e.g. creating a seamlessly integrated ” continuum of care” or an affiliation of specialists. Analyze the pros and cons of each possible branding system scenario.

Formalize your brand agenda
All system staffers, physicians and associates should have a clear and consistent understanding of what makes your brand unique and special. Commit your intended brand purpose, promises, personality, positioning and unifying brand idea to paper for all to help shape and embrace – and then use this as a guidepost for all brand actions and communications.

Audit, monitor and refine the myriad ways you express your brand
Consider all the ways your brand speaks to its audiences. All impart messages about your brand. To ensure that your brand consistently shines through, you need to audit all of these different touch points to gauge their effectiveness at conveying an ” on-brand” message.

Brand from the inside-out
Branding is all about building relationships to fuel business growth. And these relationships start inside your system. You must be aligned to deliver your brand promise day in and day out through the actions and interactions of your staffers and physicians. Every single touch point through which your local communities and patients experience your health care system brand should reinforce its vision.

Jul

My health brand, my way – providing personalized health and wellness brand experiences

Who’d have thought that Burger King could see into the future of health brand marketing. Remember their “have it your way” campaign? Were they really ahead of the curve in customizing brands to meet our individual needs.
From custom protein shakes, to skin care products, beverages and even senior-focused retailers such as HOJO in Lyon, France – providing “just-for-me” experiences is the most effective way possible to ensure brand relevance and connection.
One important impact of this, however, is how companies individualize the associated customer service experience to align with brand delivery.

Jul

Brand differentiation for health and healthy lifestyle brands

Differentiation is the ability of your healthcare or healthy lifestyle brand to stand apart from others in your market, in ways that are important to your audiences and supported by your organizational strengths. It reflects not only how you’re going to play the game, but how you’re going to play it differently by creating meaningful, genuine and lasting points of difference.

But most brands are failing. A 2006 study by Copernicus Greenfield showed that brands in 48 out of 51 product/service categories were perceived to be undifferentiated by consumers. And 80%+ of products still continue to fail, according to Ernst & Young, because of lack of differentiation.

Yet the benefits of differentiation as shown below (in terms of profit margins, operating earnings, market cap growth) are tremendous, as demonstrated by Y&R’s Brand Asset Valuator.

So why are most brands failing. Because differentiation actually requires you to think different and do different, starting with your strategy. Which requires original thinking – which is sorely lacking today. But there are some brands that are truly differentiated, and that transcend their categories.

These brands:

• are aligned – with the culture of the organization behind them (e.g. Nike, Southwest Airlines)
• are relevant and deliver on their promises – what people want and performing the way they want them to (e.g. Ikea, Nordstrom)
• are surprising – raising the bar relative to expectations (e.g. Virgin, Jones Soda, Cirque De Soleil)
• tap emotions – as product benefits have become table stakes (e.g. Harley-Davidson, Tiffany)
• execute brilliantly – through their actions and interactions (e.g. Ralph Lauren, Zappos)

Jun

The Power of Brand Story

Was at dinner with a client the other night, and we ventured into a conversation about our agency’s ultimate value. We were considering that it might be our ability to craft and tell their brand stories – in authentic, simple and remarkable ways.

A well-crafted story

• raises awareness
• changes perceptions
• reinforces existing relationships
• creates new ones
• generates sales

…and (should) inspire and connect all employees whose consistent delivery of the story is critical to ultimate business success.