Rebrand or Reposition?

Perhaps it is just one of those coincidences, but recently I have heard a lot of people talking about Rebranding. “We’re about to rebrand”, “We’ve just rebranded”, “We’re going through a rebrand” or my favourite “We rebranded a year ago, but it was a disaster so now are going to do it again”!!

I am always very worried when I hear the phrase rebrand because I think it is nearly always misused and should be considered very very seriously before any business undertakes such a thing. To be really clear, I am not even sure that you can rebrand. I think you can redesign the expression of your brand, and I think you can reposition your brand, and you may do either of these things for perfectly valid reasons, but you cannot rebrand. You can throw your existing brand away and start again – but I am not sure the agencies that seem to be recommending a rebrand would recommend that with such enthusiasm and confidence.

So if you are getting feedback that your brand is becoming out of date, or tired, or slow to react, or boring, or out of touch, what should you do? A rebrand? NO! Listen to your customers and consumers, and ask what is wrong. If it is the product, work hard to update it. If it is the tone of voice of your brand, refine it and perhaps modernise it (do this only based on your customers feedback), if it is the look and feel of your packaging, consider updating the design. My point here is do not rebrand – the values of your brand should still hold true, but do consider improvements to the relevant areas of expression of your brand to keep it relevant and engaging to your audience. This is not a rebrand, or even a reposition – it is at best a refresh to the shell!

Alternatively you may be losing sales, your market may be shrinking, and even worse your share of market may be shrinking at the same time. Should we rebrand? NO! It will do absolutely nothing to improve the position you are in. I don’t want to look at all the possible scenarios which could be driving this unfortunate position in this post, but one may well be that your market is reaching the end of its natural life. A rebrand will not change that – a reposition may do though. A reposition is not about throwing your brand away, it is about making it relevant in a different context. Just as you dress differently when you go to work, when you go to see friends, or when you go to a wedding. People are always rebranding, by changing the style of language they use, the way they dress, the things they talk about. My favourite example of a reposition is Lucozade. When my grandparents were in their 70’s Lucozade was a drink for them, it gave them the extra energy they needed as they were getting older. Today I drink Lucozade, it gives me the energy I need when I go running or swimming. Lucozade has always been about giving energy, inspiring people to perform above their expected performance, but when older people realised they got more benefits from retiring early and playing in a park with their grand children than they did from drinking Lucozade, and as younger people appreciated the benefits of exercise and started to buy gym memberships, a reposition was needed – not the dreaded rebrand!

Leaving Microsoft To Change The World!

Throughout my life in business I have always been aware of the question, could we do what we do with business, what we do to make money and deliver share holder value, to change the world for the better? Could we use the skills we have to instead of selling more widgets, get more food to people who need it, or instead of becoming more efficient, could we help communities that struggle to grapple with famine become sustainable? On a different level individuals often seem to struggle to balance the demands, stress and focus required from high profile jobs with the enjoyment and reward they want from of life. I think it is generally accepted now, that the one who earns the most if perhaps not always the one who is happiest. Alongside or perhaps because of this dilemma, there is also the new idea that is not realised because it means sacrificing too much, or taking too many risks, or is simply just too scary to contemplate seriously.

Leaving Microsoft To Change The World is the story of one man who left a high paid job, the stress and financial rewards that went with it, and perhaps to coin a phrase followed his heart instead of his head. The book is a great story of someone who had an idea, an inspiration and felt confident enough, or compelled enough to make it into a reality. John Wood came face to face with the lack of education in the third world during a well earned holiday and decided to do something about it. To most people that would perhaps involve giving a donation to a local charity – but that was just not big enough for John. He left his high paid job at Microsoft and began sending books to children in Nepal so that they could read, learn, and become inspired to realise their potential. The idea flourished and soon a few books became a library, then one library became a school, and then several schools, then hundreds, and then hundreds in several countries. John Wood had found his calling in life and by making a massive leap of faith, having the courage of conviction, had managed to help hundreds of thousands of children across the world with an education. In doing so he went from having a job and having a life that never seemed to compatible to simply having “found his place in the world” as he puts it.

The book is a great insight into many things. As a marketing consultant in Norwich and someone who is interested in some of the voluntary organisations marketing Norwich, I was most interested by John Wood’s drive and motivation, the way he used his business knowledge in a charitable organisation, how he was able to move from managing a big team of people to working for a start up organisation, the mistakes he made as well as the successes. He openly shares how he learnt on the move, how he improvised, made the most of all his skills, and reinvented himself. The book is inspiration, a motivation, and perhaps a challenge, as well as a good reference for anyone who is considering starting a not for profit organisation or start up business.

It is also a great read and one that I thoroughly enjoyed!

Collaborative Coaching

I like this phrase! I heard it a couple of weeks ago and started looking into the subject. The basic notion is a group of people convened to help someone tackle a problem. A group of people with different backgrounds and different skill sets, but all focused on helping someone solve a problem, move something forward, or answer a question. Where does the coaching come in? Well you don’t have to do it just once, the group can be reconvened at any time to review ideas, developments and progress, and secondly the group is asking open questions, without prejudice or preconception in order to give an independent view and perhaps provoke thoughts and feelings that would otherwise go unnoticed, undiscovered, and not considered in the journey.

As the opportunities for personal development get bigger and bigger the area of coaching is an interesting one. Quality is important; you must choose a coach that is right for you on many levels – perhaps intellectually, socially, and in experience, etc etc. Chemistry is important – you must be honest with your coach and feel comfortable to share anything and everything. I think a coach should be objective, impartial and balanced. I have often been sceptical of substituting reading and structured learning for these softer personal development tools, but I do think they can be a useful part of someone’s toolkit.

To find out more about the specific Norwich Business services I offer, visit my Saturday Kitchen page!

Sustainable Communities

Throughout the general election the national media has led us, or certainly me, to focus on national issues when trying to decide who to vote for. Now before I go any further I want to state that this is not a political blog, (it is about my thoughts as a Norwich marketing consultant) in fact I work hard to try and keep my personal views on politics away from the work I do as I think it can get in the way of positive working and collaboration. When trying to decide how to vote, there is so much coverage about the state of the country’s finances, the challenges in education, the state of our NHS, the need to deal with an aging population, and of course the sensitive subject of our foreign policy in the Middle East. With all this to consider, I find it easy to completely overlook the fact that actually you are not voting for a party to govern as a whole, or for the next Prime Minister, but for a local candidate to represent the community in West Minister, and work on behalf of constituents to improve the local environment for everyone. This means considering a completely different set of issues to decide who to vote for. There is local crime, concerns about street lights being turned off for half the night, the need for better local services for parents with young children, the still pressing issue of dualing the A11 and improving train transport links into London.

Last month I went to an event where I heard from a guest speaker from Inspire East. Inspire East have developed an interesting model demonstrating what they believe is necessary for a sustainable community and I think it is pretty comprehensive. Whilst the model can be used to build a new community or a new community based organisation, it can also be used to evaluate existing communities – and perhaps their strengths and weaknesses. By looking at the relative focus of each aspect of a community as they describe, one could draw conclusions about the culture and society of the community. Interesting stuff!

Although the model is primarily aimed at community development, I also think the model could be used as a template for the key considerations of a board in a business organisation. There are other models and papers that tackle the subject of an optimised board but this is a good start – and I like the colours!

Things are happening in Norwich!

Marketing Norwich to different audiences seems to be really happening in so many different ways at the moment. The Norwich in 90 campaign seems to be really taking off. During the election campaign we have been able to use this, and the dualing of the A11 to get visits from high profile politicians and real discussion about how to improve transport links into our city. Norwich is an economic creation centre for our country – yet why does it take so long to get here. The benefits of better transport links would be massive, and it is important to note – we are not asking for advanced technologies to be pioneered here in Norwich. We are simply asking to have a dual carriage way like every other major city going to London, and a train that gets from A to B in 90 minutes and has a WiFi facility on board – that is all!
As the campaign for better transport links continues to grow, we also begin the Norfolk and Norwich Festival. Yesterday as I walked to the train station there was a lot happening. Canadian duo Les Sept Doigt de la Main showed off a flamboyant combination of Diablo, whatever that is, gymnastics and dance to mark yesterday’s press launch of the Festival.

Today the Festival, which has already broken its box office records before it has begun, will be launched publicly with haircuts by children, drums at the Forum and a team of decorators firing confetti and streamers around the streets of Norwich. I think this gives our city a real buzz both for visitors and for residents. It makes people feel positive and energetic and gives people an opportunity to reconnect with the community. Let’s all enjoy the Festival!

It only takes a micro second to change!

There is much written about change. People who want us to change, things we want to change, and people perhaps we would like to change. Throughout the election campaign we seem to constantly be hearing about the need for change, the opportunity for change, and even when is the right time to change. Businesses are always grappling with change. As markets change businesses have to respond. Even the widest macro economic conditions are always changing, and these affect how markets behave, which in turn affects the way that organisations have to respond. Look at how cigarette companies have had to change their advertising and marketing over the last forty years – changing advertising styles, messages, and even markets. For a more current, more rapid example, look at how banks have had to change their products and branding to reflect both the products that they can actually offer and the reputation of their industry as a whole. Marketing Norwich as a creative centre for the East, as a dynamic business hub just 90 minutes from London, as a city of culture also requires cultural change locally!

There are lots of business books written about change, and often change is described as something that happens over time, which happens gradually. Books often describe how change has to be understood, accepted, the implemented, then reviewed to take a positive outcome from the experience. I have recently been reading a little about the prison service and life in a prison. One of the main objectives of putting someone in prison is to change their behaviour so they don’t re-offend. So does change happen during their sentence, or if successful, does the change occur in that split second that they are released back into community. There has to be specific point in time when they go from being imprisoned to be free. My point here is simply that whilst perhaps it is entirely necessary to have a build up time period to change, and perhaps a reflective period after change, but change itself I don’t think happens gradually, it happens in a moment. Perhaps the trick to successful change is recognising that moment and encouraging it, protecting it, and celebrating it.

An open enquiry, a collaborative enquiry!

What is an open enquiry, and what is a collaborative enquiry? I am not entirely sure myself, but the reason I ask this is because these ideas show news ways of learning and developing new concepts. I like the idea of taking a passive role in a distant but complex environment and scenario and seeing what one can conclude sounds very interesting. To start with this presents so many opportunities for learning, the Ash Cloud, the general election, a hospital struggling to cope with a virus, a business in another country – the possibilities are endless.

The internet has made it possible to gather so much information from a pc and blogs, news feeds, rss, and social networks allow people to get much greater insights into organisations and people who are involved with them .

Particularly in a group, being able to analyse what the challenges maybe, what the possibilities are, and what the impact has been to-date, all produce valuable learning’s that can often be translated into insights or learning for other organisations.

I look forward to taking part in collaborations with other Norwich marketing organisations soon!

Introducing NLP Neuro-Linguistic Programming

Many people in business often seem to be asking what is the secret to success, or how can I become more likely to succeed. In recent years this seems to have created a new industry called business coaching. Largely unregulated there seems to be a massive variance in quality and approach of offering in this area. I have never been particularly interested in this subject area, and have been concerned when it appears to spill over into getting people to adapt or change their personality in order to fit into a particular culture or assume a particular personality or persona.

Set against this I do understand the need for positivity, the need for mental strength, and the importance of creativity in order to be successful in anything. I can also see how sometimes people limit their own possibilities and potential by looking at things through a particular frame, or by imposing restrictions or hurdles that perhaps aren’t really there. It is certainly true that if you ask ten people to consider the same circumstance or scenario, they will all see it differently, notice different opportunities, solutions and indeed challenges.

Following an interesting meeting (about marketing Norwich more effectively) last month I have become interested to learn a little about NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming). During a presentation and discussion amongst business people from Norwich I started to consider just how important ones perspective is in decision making. Introducing NLP Neuro-Linguistic Programming is a book by Joseph O’Connor and sets out many of the guiding principles in this topic. The book is easy to read and really helped me to reconsider and reappraise the way I sometimes set about tackling problems and building successful business solutions. Easy to read, particularly as an introduction to the topic.

I found the chapters on maps and filters, perception doors, anchoring, context, and strategy particularly interesting and may well investigate these particular topics in more detail – a very interesting read indeed!

Business Coaching

I am sometimes asked about business coaching. I think the phrase covers a wide range of support services and tools for personal development and means different things to different people. I think the best coaches have a set of personal characteristics that enable them to connect with people, to motivate them and build confidence in them, to empower people, and to enlighten them with new knowledge and learning’s from experience.

When I work with clients, I do in some cases take on a coaching role. It is important to listen, to be open, to ask open questions, and help facilitate the client make sense of their problems or challenges.

Through Saturday Kitchen I have come into contact with people who after an initial workshop have wanted to continue a dialogue with me. Whilst my experience is clearly marketing orientated, my MBA has given me a much broader working knowledge of the full range of business challenges. By being open with people and working to listen hard to what they say, I can often tease out the real issues and help clients to come up with creative solutions.

If you would like to see if we may be able to work together, why not try a Saturday Kitchen session?

The King Of Madison Avenue – David Ogilvy

Anybody who is interested or active in the marketing industry, particularly in promotion, will find this book a fascinating read. Kenneth Roman tells the story of how David Ogilvy took an English Agency to America and built a fresh thinking, innovative advertising agency from scratch on Madison Avenue.

The book is rich with insights, first into how David Ogilvy used research and customer insights to build compelling and innovative advertising. Many of Ogilvy’s big ideas are still around today! The book goes on to explore how he managed the agencies rapid growth, developed its corporate culture, changed the billing structure for an entire industry, and dealt with mergers and acquisitions as his once small business became a worldwide organisation.

The King Of Madison Avenue shows how an agency works from the inside. It demonstrates one approach to the central issue of nurturing creativity, and discusses the often difficult relationship between talented creative’s and a client’s requirement to sell more products.

David Ogilvy didn’t just do advertising, he pioneered consumer research within advertising, he was a strong promoter of direct marketing as a specific discipline, he encouraged account executives to use management accounting techniques to appraise campaigns, and he built the first “boutique” agency. He understood that he was selling brands, not products, before brands were called brands.

Kenneth Roman uses David Ogilvy’s career and the development of Ogilvy & Mather to discuss many of today’s hotly debated marketing topics, and highlights David Ogilvy’s approach to leadership, management, and a fast changing operating environment.

As a Norwich Marketing Consultant who has worked with agencies in Boston, Seattle, London, Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield, and Bristol across many specialisms on many different projects this was a fascinating read!