Continuing my series of answering questions sent in by you, this week’s question asks about the all–important values of an organisation. We recently came up with a set of values and rolled them out to everyone in the business. We even have them up on posters around the office but I still...
I’ve been thinking about, working with and generally immersing myself in what it takes to build a brand for many years now and I’ve always had an internal war going on about which is more important – skill or will. Not that it’s a contest, because in truth you do need...
PART 1 Where does your customer’s experience start? When they walk into your store or wander into your website? When they talk to a sales person? When they go searching for something on Google? When they see or hear your ad? When they use your products or services? Sure these are all...
Everyone in business has to form partnerships of one kind or another. Sometimes they are a massive joint venture, sometimes they support operations, and sometimes they are just obvious marketing ploys wrapped up in a partnership bow. Like the one highlighted in a recent Oliver Burkeman article. It seems hotelier Marriot has...
The ‘slow’ movements around the world which began with Slow Food, have since expanded into various areas of thinking and doing underpinned by the ideal of taking the time to make a connection. Reading the terrific book Slow Fix by Carl Honoré got me thinking about the idea of “slow brand” (I sense a...
The obvious topic for my blog this week is the hot water Commonwealth Bank has found itself in through dodgy advice doled out by its financial planners over around a 10 year period. Plenty has been written about the poor and somewhat tardy response by the organisation and others have also...
Values. Google calls them the “ten things we know to be true”. Atlassian says they “guide our business, our product development, and our brand”. Big corporates like to talk about them but they never seem to add up. I call them non-negotiables. It’s not news that you need to have a set...
Can we please stop talking about trust like it is a thing we do. Actually I’d like to stop using the word altogether in a business context. Personally I prefer to use the word associated with the old Norse root of the word “traust” – confidence, as suggested by my friend...
One of my favourite topics addressed in my articles, and one I talk about regularly with clients, is how actions align with values. Values aren’t values unless you do them every day, and one of the best organisations around for actioning their values is Patagonia. I know I use them as an example a...
Here is a different business approach that has the power to transform your organisation and, as a result, your brand: be generous, with your time, your knowledge and your praise. The idea first emerged to me in an article by Stefan Einhorn in the Intelligent Optimist – one of my favourite magazines. Sadly,...