Challenges

Organisational structure

When you ask people what they think of where they work, what's interesting is not just what is said, but how often it is said - across organisations in different sectors, with different cultures and different strategies. The same things - that's right, the very same things - seem to pop up everywhere. And in every case, the organisation seems to be suffering financially and emotionally as a result. Conclusion: the management consultants are wrong. We are not meant to work this way. It's not easy. It's not natural. It might make sense logistically. But it's a black hole emotionally.
From: The sure signs of a disillusioned culture.
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Customer service

Funny isn't it? No customer wants to feel resented, and yet so many organisations deliver resentful customer service - only what they have to, only up to a point, only in certain conditions, only what suits them, only with the information they have at hand ... only, only, only.

Offer any kind of customer service you like I say ... As long as you explain those terms of business to your customers very clearly, they understand that's what they are getting, the terms of business and customer service align with your brand promise and personality, and your customers do business with you in the full and frank understanding of those terms.
From: Why should your customers report to your processes?
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Truth

Where I really take issue is when organisations use excuses such as simplified English and/or political correctness to actively deceive ... Take the word "accountable". It used to mean "responsible for". Today, particularly in parts of government, it often means little more than "what I get paid to do". So "I am totally accountable for this" actually means "I don't have any other jobs at the moment."

Elsewhere in this delusional landscape, words that do have significance and emotional depth have been replaced with new phrases that purport to say nothing, and in fact say even less. Have you noticed for example that people never die in hospitals anymore? Instead, on the advice of some smart-ass management consultant no doubt, the patient's condition is described as "less than optimal"! Faced with this barrage of Alice in Wonderland stupidity, customers have quite rightly become cynical, disbelieving and impatient.
From: The truth? Who wants to know?
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Culture

Brands are powered by ideas, but most of the people responsible for convincing customers to buy brands have no idea themselves why they come to work. The reason is simple - there is no compelling, singular, riveting idea driving their work. They are not on a mission. They are taking up a seat. They are meeting a job description. They are collecting a pay packet. Their ROE - return on emotional investment - is close to zero. The only things that get them up in the morning are their own ambition and the alarm clock. ... In a world market that is as competitive, as commoditised and as product equalised as the one we work in, the mental game is vital. If your people's headspace is wrong, you're at a disadvantage. In other words, you need to align your people and your culture to your brand and your customer expectations for exactly the same reason as you spend so much money on IT, business restructuring and research and development. It makes you more competitive. Period.
From: Singing in the Rain.
There's a keynote on this

Competition

You may think what you do is special. You may like to see your offerings as unique. They're not … or at least, not for long. To the person looking to buy, what you say and what you offer sounds just like what everyone has and everyone else does. And if it doesn't yet, it soon will. They can't tell the differences - either because the differences don't exist, or because they are so subtle as to mean squat ... As the technological time to market continues to shrink and pressure on margins forces profits down in your sector and others, convergence is huge. More and more companies and products look more and more the same every day. So you're moving into other sectors to get away from the noise, the clutter and the competititon, and guess what! others are coming after you.
From: Brand up for what you believe in.
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Cult brands

The wonderful irony of globalisation is that you don't have to be a big brand anymore. The internet has seen the rapid emergence of companies that cultivate an ardent following by not cultivating a mainstream following. This is branding with a buzz. All the attitude of a successful brand, but without the mainstream, predictable promotion. The big idea, expressed through Chinese whispers - and gaining strength, mystique and respect with every telling.

An idea formed in Tokyo can be in London in a click. Brands that gently bring their customers to boiling point understand that. And they've seen its potential in a range of places, including the command on your email called "Forward". You can now do business with the world, without pandering to it.
From: Cool to be cult.
There's a keynote on this

Internal branding programmes

Most internal branding programmes broadcast, they don't engage. They lay out rules and tell people what is going to happen, instead of presenting the case for why things need to change and how each person can be involved. People want to contribute not just to conform. Strong internal branding programmes work because they arouse curiosity, pique interest and invite participation. Bad programmes simply direct.
From: Why are so many internal branding programmes such crap?
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Brand

Brand is the F word of marketing. Everybody swears by it, few people are that good at it and everyone would like you to believe they do it more often than they do.
From: Brand up for what you believe in.
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Place

What happens in your country, how your government behaves, the image that your homeland has in the world, even how pressure groups regard you nationally has the potential to influence how people in turn perceive, rate, respond to and interact with your brand. Global media, the internet, blogging ... they have all changed not just the level of information that consumers receive, but also the level of interest that consumers take, and the opinions they may bring to bear in purchasing decisions. It follows that brands have the potential therefore to be tarred and feathered with the same brush of world opinion as a government's policies or actions - whether they actively agree with or endorse those policies, or not.
From: Where in the world?
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Inspiration

I am increasingly perturbed by the cult of the literary lemming which so many business people these days seem in danger of joining - the unquestioning determination to adopt an idea because others are talking about it and therefore it must be right. But the challenge every reader or listener faces is not just absorbing and understanding the business case for change, but then finding a way to bring it alive that is unique. Business people have to be prepared to go beyond what they see and read. Speeches and business books are not gospel. They are a springboard for thinking to arrive at a solution that is yours.
From: If you want to be competitive, look out!
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Durability

Some may question whether Chanel is a realistic benchmark for those looking to manage older brands in more prosaic sectors. Far from being an easy choice, however, I think Chanel is an example of a company that could so easily have got it wrong – and chose not to do so. After all, they have a particular audience, they are in an industry that reinvents itself by default, they are surrounded by players who can undermine them on price and distribution, and they were at one time synonymous with a charismatic, high profile personality who passed on. In many ways, the odds could easily have stacked against them.
From: No. 5 is Alive
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Word of mouth

It’s too soon to say what the all-out implications of WOM will be. One thing is certain. If you’re not ready to be talked about, then you may not like the attention you are now getting, or will soon get, over how you act, think and trade. On the other hand, if you’re one of the vanguard of companies coming to the realisation that marketplaces are just as much communal as transactional, then word of mouth could well work powerfully in your favour. Companies that embrace their markets, that are committed to doing right by them, and that are inclusive, honest and open with influencers will profit from the talk they generate.
From: Wrapping your brand around Word of Mouth
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