The Engaging Brand

Trick or Treat?

My knees are straining under getting up and down to the door for the wonderful children who are out on Halloween. I rush to the door and these angelic faces shout "Trick or Treat?"....difficult for your heart not to melt at the wonderful outfits...

Interesting that we all love a night that is about "Give me a treat otherwise I will trick you" approach!!

Then I smiled and realised that some of the bad managers I had seen over my life, had probably never grown out of their trick or treat days....."Do me a favour otherwise I will make you life hell!

So tomorrow...think not trick or treat, but the trick is to treat high performance!

A thought on life....and branding

To get the most from our short time on this earth, I believe growth and development is so important.... when I was a teenager people said I had "stopped growing", now I know they meant my height, but how wrong they were  -  my mind never stops growing.

I believe in living in a state of perpetual beta. There is no perfection in humans...there is only the search...and I think that is true for strong consumer brands as well. When you look at Coke...it too is in perpetual beta, evolving over time.....Strong personal brands as well as strong consumer brands understand the power of......"Perpetual Beta"....(musings from a tired traveller!)

Gypsy Rose Lea(der)

I am always amazed at how many people will have their palm read, or visit a fortune teller....and yet it shows how much people want to dream, want someone to give them hope of a brighter future.

In business, there should be a Gypsy Rose Lea(der) inside all of us....that ability to describe the future - the good and the bad - in a way that engages the person in what the future looks like....the difference to the pier end lady, is that you can then be the catalyst for making that future prediction a reality.

To engage people in the business world, you need to be a fortune teller with a difference, one that has the ability to

Predict with honesty, clarity and engagingly!
Deliver with integrity, authenticity and tenaciously!

Marketing - About how people want to consume OR their age?

Are there really generational differences? I am starting to think that it is not about your age it is about your attitude. So should we really be thinking of consumers and talent as split into Gen X, Gen Y, Baby Boomers.....

Or should we think in terms of

1. People who love trying something new and like to be a pioneer - The Party Host
2. People who are interested, keep up to date with what's going on and who will join in when they feel confident enough - The Party Goer
3. People who feel too busy with life..not resistant to change but will only change when they have to -  The Party No Shower!
4. People who don't want to change and will hold on to the past at all costs - The Party Pooper!

I believe less and less that whether you are party host, goer, no shower or pooper has to do with the date you were born and more about your attitude to life and to change. My mum went to PC classes when she was going on 75! My neighbours son hates anything new, in fact shuns anything new and prefers books to gadgets...he is 11.
When we want to attract consumers to our brand offering - be it product or employer based - I believe that we should look at traits of how people want to consume our offering, rather than labelling in a demographic way.

Change in the modern world  - globalisation, Web 2.0 etc has indeed democratized us as human beings...we are free to choose who we are and who we connect with....

We belong to a world that is flat, but we decide on our own personalised 3D world by our approach to life, not by our age or gender....

What do you think?

Show # 120 - Developing Relationships

Show 120 of The Engaging Brand  podcast is ready just for you. Help for listening or subscribing at the bottom of the post - but no download of software is necessary!

Today is the 1st part of an interview with Deb Knupp of Akina who explains to us about how relationships work and how to develop relationships that provide value to both you and the other person. Relationships are so important at home and at work, in developing your talent and the talent of those around you. I believe this show will inspire you to develop those personal skills that will lead to greater career and personal success.

Deb has worked with global leaders on how to develop a winning culture and is a wonderfully passionate speaker on communication and authentic relationship building. I was so absorbed with her words that the interview overrun and I have had to split the show into 2 parts - watch out for the second part later this week.

Remember to hop over to The Engaging Brand facebook group - and add your thoughts to the conversation!  If you have feedback on the show or want to contribute to the new leadership tip section then record an audio message by clicking on the recorder on the side of the blog or e-mail me at anna@theengagingbrand.com.

How can listen to the Engaging Brand

1) You can listen on your PC now without downloading any software just press the play button!

2) You can subscribe to the show via iTunes or

3) If you use a different podcatcher then you can subscribe using the following  http://www.podcasternews.com/feeds/enbr.xml

4) Or if you don't want to subscribe, just want to listen to this show as a one off the go to the podcast page and click download to save to your computer.

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Focus on Customer Experience Delivers Profit

Peer Insight did a 3 year study of 40 Fortune 500 companies - the results show that companies that focused upon customer experience design outperformed the S&P 500 by a 10-1 margin from 2,000 to 2,005.

The test would be whether these companies are STILL focused on customer experience. For instance, I love Amazon...they took the pain out of much of my shopping for me....last night I tried to order some stuff ready for Xmas. Order process great...but delivery for products in stock, ordered now...Dec15? What??...if they are in stock why would the delivery be so long...large order cancelled as the delivery date is far too near Xmas. This is now the 3rd time I have cancelled orders based on the delivery dates they have given me in the last 3 months. Amazon was the ultimate experience for me...but over the last months the delivery element is falling way behind my expectations.

My customer experience is on the decline and it reminds me of something my maverick Uncle used to say...my Uncle was a multi millionaire several times....bankrupt several times!!!...he said "Anna, it is easy making a million, hard part is holding on to it"

When a brand connects with their customer, that in some ways is the easy part, the hard part is keeping the customer at the centre after the success/profits comes flooding in. Success can breed complacency, success can breed arrogance.

I was once in a meeting with a marketing person who said "The customer feedback is irrelevant, they don't understand marketing"

I would argue ...that marketer is irrelevant, as they don't understand customers!

Driving Lessons To Help Leaders

When Dad was teaching me how to drive, he would say "Anna, the best drivers don't just drive....they learn to anticipate, they learn to increase their reaction time. I want you, as you are driving, to keep a look on the cars that are 2-3 cars in front, look for them braking or problems that you will need to react to... I want you to think when you join a new road where your escape route is, just in case of a car coming at you - then you are prepared and know what to do...
When you drive you are in a powerful position, with power comes responsibility to think ahead, to assess risk, to have a back up plan...to ensure that the passengers enjoy their journey, safely. "
You see, nothing was simple with Dad! However, many years later that advice saved my life...when a car came towards me on the wrong side of the carriageway...I saw it about to happen, I had my escape route planned. Broken bones, cuts, bruises and a written off car..but alive to tell the tale.

Leaders are drivers...leaders are taking people on a journey...managers are looking at the registration plate in front...leaders are reviewing the traffic ahead. To keep your team safe - ensure that you are scanning for escape routes, anticipating problems and driving within your limits.

4 Winners of Leadership Books

All the way to the end of the year, I will be running competitions for people to win books from my development library. Well we have our first 4 winners based on the party games post!

Congratulations to Joanna Young, Ronna Porter, Michael Julson and Michael Fulton.

I am away at Podcamp Boston from tomorrow but will contact you next week for your addresses and your choice of books!

Engaged - Meeting in Process!...More Bathroom Blogfests

Based on yesterday's story about employee engagement and customer service in a Devon toilet...Eric

Fraterman e-mailed me this story

"There is a service legend story that goes back well over ten years. Greyhound bus lines had a new CEO who was rejuvenating the brand and trying to break out of the mould of bus travel being only for those who could not afford anything else.
Of course, the bathrooms in bus stations were notoriously un-clean more often than not. The CEO issued several edicts to have them cleaned up and of course explained why... The change resistant organization did not respond very well, though.
His solution to communicate that he meant what he said?
When travelling around he started convening his meetings with the station managers, guess where... 
You got it! 
The word spread fast of course. And guess what happened to bathroom cleanliness from there on?"

Thanks Eric...as I always say actions speak louder than words.

If you have a story for the Bathroom Blogfest then e-mail me at anna@theengagingbrand.com

 

Bathroom Blogfest - A Story of an Engaged Consumer and Toilet Attendant!

I was delighted to be asked to participate in the Bathroom Blogfest 2007 which runs from Sunday, October 28 through Friday, November 2.  It features 22 bloggers from around the globe, writing about the importance of bathrooms in the customer experience.

Today I wanted to talk about a bathroom that I visited several years ago - unfortunately I cannot remember the name of the family store in Devon,  not because it wasn't memorable but because of my age!

I remember speaking to the person cleaning and saying "Thank you, you must be very proud of how beautiful you keep this room?"
The lady turned and said "My boss is a very strange man, he understands women!"
After laughing I asked "What do you mean?"

She said "When I was interviewed he told me that this was part of the retail store. That women make the majority of the buying decisions and did I want the chance of helping to influence the ladies! He asked me to think of how I could make the restroom a marketing tool! Well, I didn't even know what marketing was, I am 64 you know, but I just thought how do we make this a place that makes people leave and want to buy from us. So I brought in a couple of soft chairs for older people to sit whilst waiting, fresh flowers to give that natural smell, decorated inside the cubicles like you were at home with scenic photo's etc and put a few of our products on display saying if you like this there is one waiting for you in store....I even added little promotions at different times of the year."

I was desperate at this stage to go to the toilet myself by this point!!!
But I said "Your boss made a great decision in recruiting you" She smiled and said "It helped being his mother!"

I laughed - maybe her engagement was because she wanted the retail store to succeed, but the most telling part for me was that the running of the bathrooms was done by the owners' mother! ...Because that room was an extension of the retail experience....wow!

Do you have any stories or if you would like to contribute, please e-mail me your photos and explanation , and I will link to you and include them in the festival.

Here are the links to this year’s participating bloggers:

• Kate Rutter—Adaptive Path
• Laurence Helene Borel—Blog Till You Drop
• Iris Shreve Garrott—checking out and checking in
• Susan Abbott—Customer Experience Crossroads
• Maria Palma—Customers Are Always
• Becky Carroll—Customers Rock!
• Toby Bloomberg—Diva Marketing
• Stephanie Weaver—Experienceology
• Linda Tischler—Fast Company Now
• C.B. Whittemore—Flooring the Consumer
• Ed Pell—K+B DeltaVee
• Helene Blowers—Library Bytes
• Claudia Schiepers—Life and its little pleasures
• Katie Clark—Practical Katie
• Sandra Renshaw—Purple Wren
• Reshma Anand—Qualitative Research
• Marianna Hayes—Results Revolution
• Carolyn Townes—Spirit Women
• Sara Cantor—The Curious Shopper
• Anna Farmery—The Engaging Brand
• Dee McCrorey—The Ultimate Corporate Entrepreneur
• Katia S. Adams—Transcultural