Social Media, Social Currency & Brand Marketing

According to AdAge, “Brands have a compelling need to communicate who you are as a brand and what your stand for through social media in a far more consistent, strategic and global way.” But as the Gap learned from its logo debacle, consumers rather than the Gap’s marketing team, own the brand. And thanks to the explosion of social media channels and technologies, brands are sometimes forced to play catch up with consumers. In addition, brand advocates are now forced to handle their brands with white gloves and proceed carefully to create brand equity as if they walk on a circus tightrope.

In a study entitled “Social Currency, Why Brands Need to Build and Nurture Social Currency” conducted by Vivaldi Partners, “Brand social currency is not about social media, not about buzz, not about tactics. It is so much bigger. It gets to a brand’s long-term sustainability. It’s about how customers relate to one another in the context of brands and how those brands, companies, products and people relate to customers…It’s an experiential, holistic concept that we have deconstructed and reconstructed to map to brand value.”

In “the old days,” the traditional model of brand marketing focused on the principles of competitive positioning, target marketing, and consistent messaging. In today’s environment of building social currency, the focus is interaction, collaboration, conversation, and co-creation. According to Vivaldi Partners’ study, “If brands used to be built through creating mindshare, the new model of building social currency is about creating share of daily life.” As a result, the most compelling aspect and the least quantifiable aspect of social currency is that it is neither a product feature nor a public relations campaign; it is not managed by any single company; and it is much more delicate to build, nurture, and maintain.

But don’t despair. Here are four steps to build, nurture, and manage social currency:

1. Understand buyers – how they connect, share, and chat
2. Determine the levers of social currency – understand how buyers choose to grant permission to a brand to be part of their social life
3. Define social currency strategy – decide which levers of social currency will create the most value for a company or brand
4. Develop and execute social currency programs – make sure that the program integrates digital and social technologies with traditional brand-building plans

Since a myriad of brands compete for attention, it is imperative to evolve with the technology and marketing landscape. So, does your company have plans to develop its social currency in 2011?

Have You Heard of Personality Poker? It Could Dramatically Change Your Business

Stephen M. Shapiro, a business expert with international consulting experience and regular features in Newsweek, Investors Business Daily, and The New York Times, has written a book that explains his inventive card game, Personality Poker. This card game tool teaches employees how to develop, nurture, and drive teamwork and simultaneously supercharge innovation. Over 25,000 people in dozens of Fortune 500 companies have played Personality Poker, so what are you waiting for?

In order for a company to be balanced, Shapiro presents four distinct innovation styles:

• People who prefer facts and principles (spades)
• People who prefer ideas and experiences (diamonds)
• People who prefer plans and actions (clubs)
• People who prefer people and relationships (hearts)

Here’s an example of the different types as they assemble data about a company:

• Spades want PowerPoint slides with key information in bullet point format, business cases, and cost benefit analysis
• Clubs want process flows, data sheets, and detailed resumes of interviews and observations
• Diamonds want all facts that were essentially sensory aspects (sound, smell, texture, taste) with illustrations, megatrends, and future scenarios
• Hearts want quotes from interviews, customer empathy maps, images and illustrations that conveyed feelings, and a timeline with key elements in relation to the history and evolution of the company

By applying different strengths and by understanding different approaches to the project, the groups are able to maximize the contributions of each team. Other results include greater levels of innovation and employee satisfaction.

Leadership teams often wonder if the right people are strategically placed in the right roles to maximize performance. But do leadership teams apply an individual’s strengths to specific projects (play to their strong suit)? Do leadership teams have balanced teams with all styles represented (play with a full deck)? Do leadership teams regularly assemble teams to encourage collaboration (shuffle the deck)? Is work divided to maximize individual accountabilities and minimize redundancy (deal out the work)?

Personality Poker can be played by a few people or large groups, but the key is to be open-minded. The objective is to learn or reinforce your style of innovation and determine which part of the innovation pie best suits you. Personality Poker allows people to accept differences in a fun and non-threatening manner, and as a result, employees learn to better understand each other’s strengths so that everyone can work together better.

More details:

http://www.steveshapiro.com/books-and-articles/personality-poker

Download the first chapter:

http://personalitypokerbook.com

Try out Personality Poker with the free online video version:

http://game.personalitypokerbook.com

Follow on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/perspokerbook

Connect on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/personalitypokerbook

Two weeks make a huge difference in the life of a logo - just ask the Gap

Last week, after time and money, the Gap unveiled its new logo. Now, this week, after capturing the attention of marketers, advertisers, competitors, and most importantly, consumers, the Gap announced that it would use its original logo instead of the new one.

Do you have whiplash yet?

While this change of events resurrected memories of the New Coke fiasco, for the Gap, the logo was the issue more than the actual product. Had the new logo been amazing and inspiring, perhaps, consumers would not have demonstrated such distaste. But, the new logo lacked imagination. In fact, it actually resembled the logo of another brand - that of a social media company that shall remain nameless.

Since this blogger was unimpressed with the look and feel of the Gap's new logo, I continue to believe that this entire campaign was an orchestrated publicity stunt by the Gap to generate interest in its brand. In today's challenging economy, brands need to stand out...and you just can't pay for the kind of attention that the Gap has received these past two weeks.

Why is there so much noise surrounding the Gap’s new logo?

Almost a week after the introduction of the Gap’s redesigned logo, people are STILL talking about it. While logos are important reflections of a company’s brand, the chatter seems so well orchestrated that I wonder if the Gap unveiled a new logo just to cause a stir in marketing and advertising circles.

But, since this is not the case, I wonder why the Gap created a new logo in the first place. According to Wikipedia, “a logo is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant recognition. Logos are either purely graphic (symbols/icons) or are composed of the name of the organization (a logotype or wordmark).” Well-known examples include Coca-Cola’s red script, Google’s colorful letters, McDonald’s yellow arches in the shape of an “M,” and the script in Walt Disney’s name combined with the drawing of Mickey Mouse that together form the logo for The Walt Disney Company.

According to David Aaker, brand marketing expert, “An extended identity can help a brand break out of the box…consider the strategic role of the Wells Fargo stagecoach in the brand’s awareness level and associations of reliability and innovation.” The stagecoach image immediately tells a story for the Wells Fargo brand – and the story is an integral part of that brand. Aaker explained in his book, Brand Leadership, that there are several advantages to developing a rich brand identity:

• a richer brand identity more accurately reflects the brand
• the point of the brand identity is to provide guidance to decision-makers about what a brand stands for
• a brand identity should capture the values and culture of a company
• the extended identity helps the brand move beyond core attributes

So, here are my questions for the Gap’s new logo design team:

• What is the new logo telling consumers?
• How is the new logo’s story different from the old logo’s story?
• How does the new logo fit with the company’s culture?

I think the Gap’s new logo resembles Facebook’s logo – note that it appeared soon after the release of the movie “The Social Network.” Maybe, the question we should be asking is, how else will Facebook redesign our lives? What do you think?

Do your employees like your company or do they dream of moving on? A Review of “Lead Employees to Success, Not Out the Door”

Businesswoman and employee satisfaction researcher Wendy Duncan has written a book for everyone that has been touched by poor management in the workplace: supervisors, leaders, managers, and subordinates (employees). According to Duncan, studies show that the number one reason that employees leave companies is “the failure to connect with their boss or leader. People leave managers not companies.” That statement proves that too many people in supervisory roles just don’t understand the power they wield.

The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say “I.” And that’s not because they have trained themselves not to say “I.” They don’t think “I.” They think “we;” they think “team.” They understand their job to be to make the team function. They accept responsibility and don’t sidestep it, but “we” gets the credit.” ~ Peter Drucker

In her book, Duncan adds names and descriptions to familiar workplace characters. Supervisors, leaders, and managers who embody these characteristics are the reason that employees don’t give 110%, aren’t totally engaged, and dream of moving on. You may recognize some or all of these characters in your workplace:

• The bull (aka, bull in a China shop)
• The intimidator/bully
• Every man for himself
• The credit taker
• The assumer
• See employee as a customer
• Bad mouth, loud mouth
• Discriminating Dick
• Introvert Ernie
• Promising Pete
• Lack of interpersonal skills
• Condescending Curt
• Micro-Mary
• Moody Marge
• The extreme macro-Mac/ghost manager
• Brown nose Betty
• The corporate climber
• Chatty Patty
• Executive Romeo
• The corporate sniper (aka, the black widow)

So, how can employees change their perspectives from dreaming of leaving to, instead, remaining and re-engaging? According to Duncan’s research, studies show that employees need trust in and respect for their direct supervisor as well as for their company’s leadership team. So, in order to create an environment where trust and respect can exist, Duncan provides 24 excellent questions that leaders and managers can ask themselves. While all provide areas where a leader or manager can improve his or her supervisory style, the following are my favorites:

• Do you bring value to your employees? If yes, what?
• Do you support your employees whether it is for completing daily job responsibilities or furthering their knowledge or career?
• Do you give credit where (and when) credit is due?

So, the next time an employee gives notice, consider what you, as the supervisor, could have done differently to make that employee feel more empowered, work harder, or be more motivated. Duncan’s book is a great tool to assist you with your evaluation.

Follow Wendy Duncan on Twitter: http://twitter.com/betterbossbooks

Check out Wendy Duncan’s website: http://betterbossbooks.com

What’s up with “About Us” pages on websites?

During the last few weeks, I have witnessed a great deal of chatter regarding “About Us” pages on websites. When I say that I witnessed a lot of chatter, allow me to clarify. I have received several e-zines in my email box, read several tweets on Twitter, and read several blog posts on this topic. As a result, I presume that one of three things is happening:

[1] companies are redesigning their websites and eliminating their About pages

[2] companies are focusing their Internet dollars on social media and eliminating their websites

[3] companies are moving the content from their About pages to different pages on their websites

When I consider these three possibilities, I have to shake my head and wonder. The implementation of any of these options will not help a company turn prospects into customers, nor will any of the options lead to increased sales. So I have to wonder, what’s up with About Us pages on websites?

The contents of a website’s About Us page should include the following:

• company name
• company address and/or contact information (at a minimum, phone and email)
• company purpose, i.e., what it does or sells (this can be done with a few sentences, a tagline and logo, a mission statement, a vision statement, a values statement, a brief overview of a strategic plan/company initiatives, or a positioning statement/competitive advantage statement)
• Optional but recommended: company milestones – if company has 25, 50, or more years of history
• Optional but recommended: CEO’s, president’s, or founder’s welcome (with the person’s photo)
• Optional but recommended: video of how to use the product
• Optional but recommended: link to a press room page or another page with a corporate backgrounder, company fact sheet, or press kit
• Optional but recommended: link to FAQ page
• Optional but recommended: link to privacy policy

Unless your company has several websites with different URL’s, a main corporate website has to be a “one-size-fits-all” marketing tool. It has to satisfy many requirements and welcome different audiences simultaneously. Therefore, a website welcomes visitors with no knowledge of your company while also welcoming existing customers. It has to welcome members of the media as well as competitors, investors, and job seekers. As a result, your About Us page must contain information that you may consider repetitive, unimportant, or a waste of space.

But the simple truth is, your About page may be the most important page of your entire website.

A Review of “Leaders Without Borders: 9 Essentials for Everyday Leaders”

Leadership expert Doug Dickerson has compiled an excellent anthology of inspiring anecdotes and guidelines designed for leaders at every level within an organization to develop their leadership skills.

As a leader, how often do you ask yourself these questions? Doug answers them with memorable examples as he breaks down the borders that surround leaders.

¨ How can I energize my employees?

¨ How can I teach my employees to embrace priorities?

¨ How can I share optimism?

¨ How can I establish and motivate a team?

¨ How can I exhibit a positive attitude?

¨ How can I demonstrate authenticity in my actions?

¨ How can I create loyalty?

¨ How can I express kindness?

¨ How can I develop my legacy?

The simple truth is that leaders with borders become insulated from their followers, or in other words, from their employees. This can, and often does, result in disillusioned employees, lackluster work product, stifling office politics, incompetent teams, dissatisfied customers, and decreasing sales. However, when leaders remove the borders around them, they become empowered and able to make a positive long-lasting impact on their employees and companies.

The common theme of all of Doug’s anecdotes was people, and my favorite lines were:

¨ Simplifying the mission is about people in your organizational structure being able to connect the dots because leadership made sure they saw the big picture and knew where the ship was headed.

¨ A leader expanding his borders understands that his success is tied to the success of others around him.

¨ If you are going to leave a strong legacy as a leader, people must be your priority.

In the words of Doug Dickerson, “keep expanding your borders,” and you may be amazed at the results.

Follow Doug Dickerson on Twitter:

www.twitter.com/managemntmoment

Check out Doug Dickerson’s Blog:

www.dougsmanagementmoment.blogspot.com

Connect with Doug Dickerson on Facebook:

www.facebook.com/pages/Management-Moment-Leadership-Services/185947674152