The steps in the process seem fairly straightforward and linear:

1. Determine your desired brand attributes
2. Determine how your organization is currently perceived by internal and external audiences
3. Identify and prioritize the gaps
4. Design tactics to help close those gaps

Of course, the process itself is far from linear. Why? Because service organizations are comprised of people and people are anything but predictable. Creating brand ambassadors requires clear communication, feedback and follow-up and consistency. It requires:

• Identifying the behavioral traits that the best employees exhibit and hiring for those traits
• Clearly identifying and conveying the behavioral expectations that you have through both written policy and procedure and leader actions
• Quickly and explicitly providing positive and constructive feedback to employees who are–or are not–exhibiting the desired behavioral attributes
• Measuring and monitoring results

Most importantly — it requires clear, consistent and open communication. And that, unfortunately, is where most organizations fail to close the loop. For instance:

• Some of the organizations I work with will say things like: “Well, our employees complain about XYZ all of the time, but the reality is…” Guess what? Their reality is your reality! What they believe is what they communicate. So if your employees believe that your organization is understaffed, that’s the message they will send to the people they interact with–whether their perception reflects your reality or not!
• Some of the organizations I work with are concerned about “opening up the floodgates” to gather input from employees because they’re afraid that this input will be overwhelmingly negative and, additionally, that they won’t be able to adequately address the concerns raised. Well, guess what again? The input may be negative, but those opinions exist whether you’re soliciting them or not. And, if they exist, they’re likely being shared. What you don’t know can hurt you!
• Some of the organizations I work with fail to explicitly convey to employees what the expectations are for their behaviors related to seemingly minor things like how to answer the phone, how to acknowledge people they encounter daily in their on-the-job interactions, how to respond to comments/concerns/complaints they may receive, etc. If it’s not explicit, it’s not real.
• Finally, many of the organizations I work with don’t spend enough time, training and effort to ensure that their supervisors, managers and leaders “live the brand promise” and model through both word and deed the behaviors they want their employees to exhibit. What happens if you declare an expectation and then fail to positively recognize the employees when they exhibit that behavior? What happens when you declare an expectation and then fail to constructively address the situation when they don’t exhibit that behavior? And what happens when you fail to do either of these either sporadically or consistently?

Nobody said it was easy. But most would agree that it’s important. And, studies back up that belief:

• Employees rank higher in public trust than a firm’s PR department, CEO, or Founder according to Edelman’s 2013 Trust Barometer.
• In the health care arena, patient satisfaction is most influenced by human factors, especially superior service-related communication skills between hospital staff and patients, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 National Patient Experience Study.

The good news for service organizations: your staff has a significant impact on how you are perceived. If the word of mouth they share is positive, that’s a lot less expensive and far more effective than trying to influence your target audiences through paid advertising.

The bad news? If the word of mouth they share is negative, no amount of money spent on paid advertising – or any other efforts to counter their negative WOM – is going to have an impact.

Isn’t it time you started to focus on the role your employees play in impacting your brand?

Suggested reading:

The 2020 Workplace: How Innovative Companies Attract, Develop and Keep Tomorrow’s Employees Today

Like a Virgin: Secrets They Won’t Teach You at Business School

Related blog posts:

Why Employee Engagement Should Be Part of Your Marketing Mix

Effective Internal Communication Drives Business Success Say Investors

Brand Matters!

1) Communicators are provided with a wide range of new options for getting their messages across.

2) The audience for these messages is exponentially broader than ever before.

Despite those–admittedly, significant–differences, the basics still apply.

I was involved in an online conversation recently about the “blurred lines” between PR, marketing (in this case, more correctly, advertising) and social media. While I believe the lines truly are blurred, and I also believe that advertising is losing relevance in favor of non-paid forms of communication, I also believe that the basic rules of good communication are still relevant.

One communicator in this forum posed the question: “How do we define our role in this merged environment?”

My response:

“I don’t think this merged environment is necessarily new, although the tools–specifically social media–may be new. Our role, I believe, is as it always was–to communicate messages that are aligned with our organizations’ mission, vision, values and goals. Effective communicators need to understand all of the ways they can connect with their key audiences and leverage them, in combination, to achieve their desired results. Interestingly, I think, this environment presents both benefits (many ways to connect with audiences) and challenges (many ways to connect with audiences)!

What do you think?

Suggested reading:

Communication Basics

Optimize: How to Attract and Engage More Customers by Integrating SEO, Social Media and Content Marketing

Related blog posts:

Is Social Media Advertising or PR? – Duh!

What Social Media Tool Should You Use? No Easy Answers

Does PR Matter in the Internet Age?

“If you always do, what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” If what you’re getting is what you want, great! But if not maybe it’s time to change your strategy. What do we look at when we consider strategy in any business setting:

• Our target audience and what they value
• Our competition, which I like to define as “any alternative source” of what I/my clients have to offer

For television stations–and for newspapers–what they target audience values is information, specific types of information that they have historically provided: news, sports and weather primarily. But today, those consumers can access that information through other channels (the competition)–most notably the Internet. Why do we need to watch the local weatherperson tell us about the weather (and wait until 6:00 or 10:00 p.m. to hear what they have to say), when we can simply look at an app on our smartphone?

The same is true of national/international news. We don’t need our local newspapers or local television stations to deliver the national news to us. We have access to national news, 24/7, through a variety of traditional (e.g. television) and new media (Internet, smartphone apps) outlets. We can overdose on the national news quite easily (I know, because I tend to do it far too often…).

What we can’t get so readily through new media sources, though, is in-depth local news, unless the local media are providing that news. The challenge then becomes discerning what types of local news/information is of value to the audience, where else they may be able to attain that information, and how to provide them with what they want (and what the competitors aren’t giving them).

That can certainly take a leap of faith–breaking away from the traditional is tough, but if it’s not working what other alternatives are there? As the author of the TVNewsCheck piece suggests, there is much that local television stations can learn from the plight of local newspapers (particularly those that are thriving despite the proliferation of other sources of information.

These lessons, though, aren’t limited only to local television stations. How is the world changing for your business and your customers? How are you staying on top of those changes and remaining relevant to your audience? Or maybe you’re not…

Here’s another saying that may resonate: “Adapt, migrate, mutate or die.” Which will you choose?

“Suppose I’m one of your internal customers and I come to you and say ‘I need a brochure’ (or you could say ad, or web site, or email blast or any other form of communication). How do you respond to that request?”

Most people (yes, sadly, even for senior-level marketing positions) will begin to tell me the steps that they will take to create whatever communication tool I’ve asked them to create. So, for a brochure, they might say: “I’ll ask for information about the product/service they want to sell. I’ll want to know what size they want the brochure to be. I’ll ask if there is any specific information that they want to include in the brochure.”

• In short, they focus on the WHATs.
• What I’m looking for? A focus on the WHYs!

I don’t want marketing staff–especially senior level marketing staff–to focus on tactics. I want them to focus on strategy. What I hope to hear when I ask a question like this is:

“Well, first I’d want to ask them some questions. I’d want to know who their target audience is and what’s important to that target audience. I’d want to know who the competition is and how what we have to offer might be better/different than what they have to offer. I’d want to know what our goals and objectives are with this promotion. And then, based on what I learn, we  might move forward with a brochure–but we might identify additional, or maybe different tools, that would best suit our needs.”

That’s a great response. Because how can I know if I need to give you a brochure, if I don’t know what it is you’re trying to do or who you’re attempting to influence?

The difference between a focus on WHAT and a focus on WHY is the difference between taking a tactical vs. strategic approach. Tactical people are doers and we certainly need doers in marketing positions–but we don’t need them in mid- to senior-level marketing positions. I don’t want order-takers in those positions. I want people who can think strategically–and creatively–about how to address marketing needs based on audience, objective and a thorough assessment of the competitive environment.

If you aspire to rise to a higher level marketing role, pay attention to how you respond to the assignments that are presented to you. Do you focus on the WHATs or on the WHYs?

Seriously? Now, Inc. is a well-known magazine and Scott Elser, the author of this piece, is co-founder of an advertising agency and presumably a bright guy, but the question seems enormously naive. Perhaps, of course, it is intended to be so simply to stir some discussion. But, who knows?

The first line of the piece says: “PR excels at messaging, but advertising focuses on results?” Huh?

IMO both PR and advertising must focus on results. So must internal communication and crisis management and social media and any other form of communication. We don’t communicate simply to communicate. We communicate to achieve some desired outcome. Or, at least, we should. But, back to this author’s original question: “Is social media advertising or PR?”

I suppose what we call various forms of communication doesn’t really matter except, perhaps, from an academic standpoint, but I am admittedly somewhat of a purist. The simple distinction I make between the two is:

• Advertising is paid communication
• PR is non-paid communication

Notice I didn’t focus on cost. Both advertising and PR involve costs that don’t include the payment for actually conveying the information. But it is the act of paying for a message to run that defines it as advertising, I believe. And, by that definition, social media is quite obviously PR.

Does the distinction matter? Ultimately, probably not. What matters the most is that–whatever communication channels you’re using to generate response–you achieve the results you intended to achieve.  We have a wide variety of communication tools at our disposal these days, reflecting both advertising and PR-related opportunities. Effective marketers will clearly understand the pros/cons of each of these methods, relative to their target markets, and implement them to achieve desired results.

Social media is certainly an important part of the mix. But, whatever you choose to call it, the bottom line is that your use of it needs to generate results. Or, by definition, what you might really be conveying could best be called noise.

The good news is that even very small organizations can generate media exposure. They need, though, to follow some general guidelines.

First, recognize that the media is not out there “pounding the pavement” looking for your news. Most of the time they rely on publicists, PR people–and you!–to tell them about newsworthy activities that may interest their audiences. That’s great news for you– but only if you can take your marketing hat off, and put your news media hat on. Here are some tips to get you going:

• Start by clearly identifying your desired target audience and your objectives (e.g. raise awareness, establish yourself as a thought leader, influence some issue, generate leads, etc.).
• Based on the audience you are hoping to reach, and influence, research and develop a list of potential media outlets.
• Make connections with the editors/reporters/producers/journalists associated with those media outlets through social media and email (phone calls, these days, are frequently frowned upon by the media–they’re too busy to deal with unsolicited calls).
• Offer “news”-related stories–not stories designed to be self-promotional; it’s a fine balance, but an important one. Obviously you’re interested in promoting yourself, but the media will quickly ignore you if they feel you are looking for “free advertising.” Keep your focus on content that represents value for the media outlet’s audience.
• Take advantage of resources like HARO and Profnet to learn about stories that journalists are working on and looking for sources for.
• When responding to journalists, stay on topic and be detailed and relevant in your response; frequently they will pick up content from your email to use in their stories.
• Don’t badger reporters–e.g. asking them if they’re going to use your comments, when the piece will run, if they’ll send you a copy, if it ran, if you were quoted, why you weren’t quoted, etc., etc., etc.

Contrast this spot to an equally creative–and far  more out-of-the-box–spot created by KMart for YouTube and achieving more than 15 million views before ever even hitting the airwaves. Kmart’s “Ship My Pants” ad, uses a play on words which involves shoppers talking about “shipping” their pants, drawers, nightie and bed. It’s funny stuff to many–although offensive to some (One Million Moms says the ad is attracting the wrong kind of attention).

Another series of spots, created in Australia, and pointed out to me by students in my Advertising Copy & Design class called “Dads in Briefs” promotes BGH air conditioners through images of brief-clad middle-aged men in awkward situations. Funny, attention-getting, the kind of content that is likely to be shared and talked about which is, after all, the first thing that advertisers hope to do–generate awareness.

Here’s the deal: the process of creating consumer engagement, and ultimately sales, starts with awareness. Each of these spots certainly generates awareness and, through the power of the Internet, viral sharing that serves to increase that awareness exponentially. Beyond awareness, though, marketing communication must also generate knowledge, perception and preference before actual sales will ensue.

The KMart ad gets to knowledge: after viewing it we know that KMart is offering shipping on a variety of products. That may lead to a positive perception and perhaps even preference if other retailers aren’t offering the same option.

The air conditioner ad generates awareness in a very clever and memorable way and also provides viral content likely to benefit from the pass-along factor. While, unlike the Evian ad, this ad’s creativity is relevant to the product, there is not a lot of knowledge conveyed. Still, awareness is “Step #1.” And this ad does generate awareness.

So do the other two.

The outstanding question for all of the advertisers is whether massive awareness translates, eventually, into sales. Time will tell.

Recommended Reading:

Ogilvy on Advertising (a classic and one of my still-favorite books on effective advertising)

How to Make Your Advertising Make Money (another classic, by John Caples–truly a “must read”!)

Related Blog Posts:

Iconic Brands Revisited With a Boost From Technology

What You Can Learn From the Super Bowl Advertisers

The Three C’s to Cementing Your Brand in the Minds of Your Market: Coca-Cola Style

• Welcome ambiguity. Things change. Often. Rules changes. Methods change. Needs change. Successful marketers, rather than becoming frustrated with a changing environment that can quickly make the successes of today irrelevant or outdated, embrace the challenges that such uncertainty involves.
• Are consciously and constantly aware of the environment in which they operate, taking more of an external than internal, view. You, of course, know what you have to sell—intimately. But, that’s not enough. This knowledge is worthless without an equal or greater understanding of the competitive, social, economic and cultural environments that are changing around you every day. Successful marketers are well-read and well-informed. They watch the news. They read magazines and journals from a variety of fields and areas of interest. They interact with others –inside their organization and out; inside the industry in which they work and out; inside their age and demographic boundaries and out.
• Are analytical. Successful marketers are comfortable – even enamored – with data. They peruse sales data, market share data, census data and draw conclusions from these various pieces of information that are pertinent to the organization’s marketing efforts. They don’t accept the “easy answers” or take statements at face value. They constantly question and challenge and search for “truth.”
• Ask “why?” Why are we introducing this new service? Why does our billing cycle work this way? Why do we think clients will value these attributes of our firm’s services? Why do our prospective clients value what our competitors have to offer more than what we have to offer? And on and on. Marketers are curious.

Are marketers creative? Certainly. But creativity isn’t coming up with clever sales slogans, or developing eye-catching graphic design. Creativity involves drawing conclusions from a broad array of information sources and implementing strategies and tactics based on those conclusions that generate results. Marketing is about far more than simply “being creative.”

Look around you? Are you surrounded by great marketers?

Recommended Books:

All Marketers are Liars - Seth Godin

The Great A&P and the Struggle for Small Business in America – Marc Levinson

Related Blog Posts:

Markets Can’t Really Tell Us How They’re Influenced

Creating a Competitive Positioning Matrix

Are the 4 P’s Still Relevant?

To me the distinction is clear.

I view the distinction between leading and managing like the difference between strategy and tactics–leaders establish strategy at a high level and, through their vision, lead their followers (managers and staff) toward some clearly articulated end point, or goal. Leadership sets the vision and direction; management makes it happen.

Managers are tacticians–they are responsible for doing the things that need to be done to achieve the goal(s). This may involve working alone, or working with a combination of internal and external assistance to get the work done. Through this process they manage all of the moving parts toward a vision that has been established by the leaders of the organization.

Importantly, just because an individual holds one of these roles doesn’t make them automatically a good fit for the role. Some leaders act more like managers; some managers act more like leaders.

Organizations are best served when they can achieve clarity around these roles and when they can populate leadership and management positions with those best suited to fulfill these roles. At the same time, it’s important for organizations to know where they may be at risk in terms of not having ample talent on hand to serve as both leaders and managers. There is opportunity for line staff to be developed to move into management roles and, in turn, for management staff to be developed to move into leadership roles–that involves succession planning and leadership (or management) development.

We are at a turning point in this country with hordes of Baby Boomers (finally!) getting ready to leave their organizations and open up opportunities for GenX and GenY to take their places. Some organizations are prepared, or are preparing, for these transitions. Many are not. While managers may be abundant, the biggest gap I believe will be in the leadership ranks.

Look around your organization. Are your leaders leading? Are your managers being prepared to lead? Is your organization at risk of setbacks related to critical gaps in these roles?

Recommended Books:

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership – John C. Maxwell

The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations – James M. Louzes

Related Blog Posts:

Create, Co-create, Collaborate or Die

Business Failures: What’s Your Level of Risk?

Process and Variation: You Need a Little of Both

]]> http://blog.stratcommunications.com/the-difference-between-leadership-and-management/feed/ 0 http://blog.stratcommunications.com/should-you-outsource-your-marketing-function/ http://blog.stratcommunications.com/should-you-outsource-your-marketing-function/#comments Thu, 18 Apr 2013 17:26:09 +0000 lpophal http://blog.stratcommunications.com/?p=2243 I was interviewed recently by a reporter with Inc. Magazine about the prevalence and value of outsourcing the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) role. It’s a topic that I definitely have an opinion about–one that may seem to be at cross-purposes with my own self interests. As a marketing communication consultant I’ve actually served in the role of an “outsourced CMO” on a couple of occasions. In one instance, the client was looking for not only my assistance with current marketing efforts, but my recommendations for how they should proceed in the future — should they continue to outsource this function, or should they hire someone to handle their marketing efforts on staff?

While I certainly would have loved to continue in my role as an external service provider — both because it was a very interesting and fast-growing organization and because the account was a good one for me financially, I strongly believed that they needed to have this function on staff. While external input/assistance can certainly be helpful, based on my experiences, I would generally advise organizations to have a CMO who is part of the organization and is solely focused on their needs and not the needs of multiple clients.

That’s not to say there aren’t some benefits to outsourcing this function. There are. To me, the big benefits are:

• Outsider perspectives can help to provide a non-biased view of the marketing function and serve to uncover blind spots
• A large part of the value that external consultants bring to an organization is their experience with other organizations and the best practices they’ve gleaned from these experiences
• In some cases, the cost of outsourcing may be less than when hiring on-site full-time staff

But, there are also some key drawbacks:

• The marketing function is a critical function for any organization — not having this function as part of the organization, in my opinion, doesn’t give it the presence and influence it needs. The CMO, I believe, needs to be embedded within the organization.
• When working with an independent consultant/agency, the outsourced CMO will have other clients/obligations that may divert their attention from your needs.

With the groups I’ve worked with my recommendation has been to hire on-site marketing staff, while still maintaining ties/a connection to external resources that can provide advice/counsel and bring to bear best practices and expertise from outside the organization. That on-site staff doesn’t necessarily need to be at the C-level, depending on the size of the organization and its structure, but I believe there needs to be some consistent, on-site presence.

Related Blog Posts:

Greatest Marketing Challenges Facing Businesses Today

What’s the Difference Between Marketing, Branding, Advertising and PR and Does It Matter?

What Measures Can Marketing Communications Impact?