Strong brands can weather the storm of controversy

Strong brands are a valuable asset: they are often able to withstand significant challenges thrust upon them and retain (or at least regain) the loyalty of customers. There has been much debate over the past few months regarding how the Qantas brand will fare after the myriad of controversies it has faced of late. Almost daily, news regarding industrial disputes between the airline and a number of employee groups, culminating in the infamous grounding of the entire Qantas fleet late…

Internal Branding – the Key to reconnecting your Customers and Employees

Customers drive sales and profitability. So how do your employees interact with and engage customers? How would your customers describe their experience? Do your customers have an expectation on how your employee will represent your brand?   

So how does an organisation manage its customer experience to ensure its people, processes and culture are reinforcing customer expectations? A key foundation of customer experience management is internal branding.

Internal branding in…

Leadership – Taking Your Brand to the Frontline

The importance of the role managers play in infusing real change is under-estimated in most organisations. Whilst it’s true that perhaps certain leaders are born, the significant majority are developed into becoming leaders. Your position as a manager or supervisor gives you the authority to accomplish certain tasks and objectives. This power does not make you a leader, it simply makes you the boss!

If you Google the word ‘leader’ or ‘leadership’, there are 487 million hits. That’s…

Meaningful Employment Value Propositions for Generation Y

Generation Y is widely defined as the people born between 1982 and 2000. In total there are in excess of 5.15million Generation Y people currently living in Australia. Understanding how they view the world is critical as Employers grapple with skills shortages and an ageing population. Companies that can understand and cater for the needs of this younger group of workers will be more likely to attract and retain this critical group of workers.

In an article published by the…

Brand is Image and Image is Brand….

For those that believe brand and image are separate and in no way linked may need to rethink their position. In the media recently have been two prime examples of how brand and image are closely interrelated, albeit almost the same thing. Brand in its simplest context are those attributes that makes one product or company stand apart from another. Image is how products and companies present themselves, through logos, colours and artefacts.

The definition of brand needs to go one…

Think Different

Whether you are a lover or hater, promoter or detractor, a user of Microsoft Windows or Google Android, there is one thing we can all agree on. Apple Inc. with Steve Jobs at the helm has influenced ours lives in one way or another. You may be a “disciple of the church of Apple” or wishing to bring it down, either way Apple has been on the tip of your tongue. This blog post aims to discuss how brands, especially brands like Apple, can evoke such strong emotional responses in us,…

Employee Engagement for Competitive Advantage

Your brand is only as safe as your least engaged employee. Engage your employees and align them with your corporate vision and values, as they are the face that represents your business at all levels, interacting with all stakeholders. Employee engagement is also an effective source for competitive advantage. Not only are employees an asset that is dynamic, flexible and resilient, but they are also difficult for your competitors to replicate, a source of value and uniqueness.

Data or Analysis: What gives the greater edge? The debate continues…

In part two of this debate, the question of what truly gives a competitive edge is explored through looking at the types of data captured, and poses a further conundrum of what is the better type of data, quantitative or qualitative?

In the previous blog (posted 12^th August, 2011), the position was taken that it is the uniqueness of data that can provide quality insights that help establish a sustainable competitive advantage; but in saying this, the unique data needs to be matched…

When Brands get Branded

The difference between having a brand and being branded is an issue that has arisen in the news recently. The plight of Tiger Airways and The News of the World are examples where a company has lost the brand reputation and, as a consequence, have now been branded by the public. A quote from billionaire businessman Warren Buffett comes to mind and managers at the top and middle ranks of the two companies could have heeded its warning. Buffett was quoted as saying, “It takes 20 years…

What does your Political party really stand for?

Political parties traditionally are the embodiment of a set of strongly held beliefs about the way a country and economy should be managed.  Sadly, most political leaders now spend more time thinking and worrying about their public image than they do about what they and their party really stands for.

In his recently published book “The Dumbing Down of Politics” Lindsay Tanner explains that political leaders are now obsessed with achieving media exposure. He goes on to explain…