The Engaging Brand

Show #228 Essential Wisdom Of The Greatest Entrepreneurs

Show 228 of The Engaging Brand leadership and marketing podcast is ready just for you. To subscribe or listen on your PC now - both for free, you don't need to download anything - all explained at the end of the post and don't forget to try GoToMeeting for your 30 day free trial!

Today's epsiode is an interview with Todd Buchholz, former White House director of economic policy, who has written one of my favourite books of 2009 - Lasting Lessons From the Corner Office.

This book looks at the business lives of entrepreneurs such as Estee Lauder, Walt Disney, A.P Giannini ( Bank of America), David Sarnoff (RCA) , Ray Kroc (MacDonalds), Akio Morita (Sony) and more, who have changed the world we live in forever. This book is a fascinating insight into the minds and lives of entrepreneurs and I ask Todd

• What did it take to be a successful entrepreneur?
• Are entrepreneurs led by a gut instinct?
• How Giannini knew the importance of knowing your customers' business even more than your own!
• The importance of strong ethical values
• We discuss the idea of advertising and how it was seen a "bad thing" - driving down profits
• The amazing "bouncebackability" of the entrepreneurs
• Have we lost that intense passion from the business world?
• Tips and tricks from Estee Lauder on how to gain customers

If you have feedback for me on the show or topics that you would like me to cover then e-mail me at anna@theengagingbrand.com or join me on twitter !

How you can listen to the Engaging Brand

1) You can listen on your PC now without downloading any software just click here to hear the latest podcast and it will take you to the latest podcast. Then 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

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The Effect of the Fear of Loss - The Lost Hour Story

This weekend we put the clocks forward in the UK. I was speaking to my friend who was lamenting about losing an hour on Sunday. The conversation went something like

"I was really looking forward to a lie in on Sunday, I had nothing planned and now I lose an hour's sleep"

"You don't lose an hour if you don't have to get up by a certain time though, you can still sleep as many hours as you would like...it will just be one hour later when you get up" I helpfully - or so I thought - replied

"No, Anna you don't understand we move the clocks forward, we lose an hour....just on the day when I needed to sleep longer...now I will sleep less"

The conversation went on like this for a while until I changed my tactics and said

"You will have the same sleep and you have gained rather than lost. Why? Because when you wake up you will be an hour nearer going to sleep again, than you thought!"

At that moment her mindset changed from one of loss to one of gain. She suddenly saw the benefit. The irony is that for her there was no real benefit or loss but hey, whatever!

When you are wanting to engage people, it is not about your perception it is about their perception and what is important to them. Don't argue...listen then change tack from one of loss to one of gain...

What is wrong with defining a brand...

In my brand strategy work people are often wanting to define their brand -  that feels odd and simply not right to me. Here is why...

When you see declutter, decamp, decaffeinated the 'de' element is about taking something out. Therefore each time I see define...I think of all the horrible meetings in which the 'fine' elements were take out to gain a compromise, or even worse to gain a good marketing slogan!

So from now on I think we should think about 'refining' the brand. It has that element of renewal, it has that element of class, it has that element of knowing that the brand essence is there we just need to clarify what it actually is!!

So to refine or not to define that is the ultimate brand question of the week :)

Brands and the social media conversation

Brands - I don't believe can truly be part of the conversation. Now this may be a moot point but I believe this for two reasons...

The most obvious reason being that if you do not passionately believe in conversations or social media, don't pretend....just don't do it!

The second reason is mulling around in my head. Brands may have personalities but they are not people. If they are not people per se then can they really join a conversation? People representing the brand can, but is that the same? Should we distinguish between the two?

I believe that brands need to see themselves as the conversation hub, the party organizer, the conversation starter etc The brand can be the hub of information, the social place for their customers, providing the space for their customers to share, to meet, to learn. So they are forming a hub not necessarily joining the conversation.

Social media is often seen as conversational, I wonder whether this is too narrow?

After all you cannot 'make' people have conversations but you can create the atmosphere which encourages the conversation to take place.
Brands are not people although people are behind the brands. Maybe the people need to join the conversation but brands need to be develop the social hub in which these conversations occur - this may be a subtle difference but I believe that within that subtlety lies the potential of brands in social media.

Show #227 - Leadership Tips in a Changing, Volatile World

Show 227 of The Engaging Brand leadership and marketing podcast is ready just for you. To subscribe or listen on your PC now - both for free, you don't need to download anything - all explained at the end of the post and don't forget to try GoToMeeting for your 30 day free trial!

This I speak with Alexander Grashow of Cambridge Leadership who has just co written a new book called The Practce of Adaptive Leadership, which gives tools and tactics for leading in an ever changing world. The book looks at both individual and corporate development techniques. We talk about

• What kind of leadership is required in this changing world?
• How we need to engage people above and below the neck?
• How people are afraid of loss not change.
• How social systems are defined by the people in them
• How to approach an organisation when the leaders don't want to change
• How leadership is a verb not a job
• Is the idea of risk the same at both the individual level as well as the business level?
• How leadership is about challenging expectations.
• How to deal with the blockers!
• What you need to solve a business problem
• How to orchestrate conflict!
• What are the basic needs of an individual?
• Three areas which Alex challenges you to do ;Take more risk, extend your authority and display your incompetence

If you have feedback for me on the show or topics that you would like me to cover then e-mail me at anna@theengagingbrand.com or join me on twitter !

How you can listen to the Engaging Brand

1) You can listen on your PC now without downloading any software just click here to hear the latest podcast and it will take you to the latest podcast. Then 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

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Why I believe the Bonus Culture Should be Stopped Altogether

I know many people love bonuses but  I never have, as I believe far from building value into the business they destroy value and engagement.

As a long term Director, I have always believed they potentially bring out the worst in people. I used to work on a board who were purely motivated by their own personal bonus payments. That can't be right and when I look at the devastation that mindset has created on a good company, I feel really sad especially when the founder would never have lived to those values. But that company is not an exception these days, it is more like the norm which we need to fix and fix quickly...

I always argued that if you want to ensure people earn the bonus then why not just build the amount into the salary? At the end of the day if you are doing everything in your power to let them earn it, then it could never be termed a bonus could it?? We could then give much better focused objectives for the good of the company as a whole, rather than for each individual.

During the banking crisis we talk about realigning the bonus schemes from short term to long term. I would propose something quite different - scrap bonus payments altogether. I can hear people screaming but I cannot think of one value a bonus scheme brings to a business? I can think of how bonus schemes harm a business which would be based around the 7 deadly sins!

For me, pay really, really well, great people who want to achieve the corporate objectives through the values the company has been built upon. Recognition for great work can be promotion, promotion up the pay scales, projects etc

Or maybe I am just getting old and cynical :)

10 Reasons Why Your Relationship with You Matters

Social media if used correctly can enhance relationships, can build relationships, can find new relationships. But social media rarely talks about the most important relationship in your life...the one with yourself.

1. Ensure that you think about what you want your legacy to be, then spend each moment creating that legacy you can be proud of...
2. Live by the values that are important to you. Never work for people who don't share them...trust me it just sends you crazy!
3. Remember to learn to listen to your inner thoughts and create time to listen to you.
4. Your life is in your hands. You never have to do anything....it is your choice. Choices may have consequences but remember it is still your choice.
5. You are effective when you are healthy and well rested - remember to look after yourself because no one else can!
6. Be true to yourself, as you will know when you are lying!
7. Invest time in you. Be it rest, a hobby, your development.
8. Allow yourself to be human. You will get things wrong at times, spend the time on putting it right not wallowing in the past.
9. Don't regret. That time has gone, just live each moment like your last.
10. Remember time is limited. Your life is about quality not quantity in everything you do.

Show #226 - Emotional triggers and why customers really buy Pt2

Show 226 of The Engaging Brand leadership and marketing podcast is ready just for you. To subscribe or listen on your PC now - both for free, you don't need to download anything - all explained at the end of the post and don't forget to try GoToMeeting for your 30 day free trial!

This is the second part of my conversation with Linda Goodman and Michelle Helin about their research into emotional triggers that help to understand how customers buy and therefore help you grow your sales. If you haven't listened to Part 1 then click this link to find out more about the emotional triggers and why customers really  buy.

I have just read their new book Why Customers Really Buy and in this second part of the interview we talk about

• How you can benchmark emotional conversations and the emotional triggers of your customers.
• Examples and case studies of how emotional triggers have helped companies engage with their customers.
• Is there a way of triggering positive emotions in customers in these difficult times?
• Is there a need to review emotional triggers over time?

If you have feedback for me on the show or topics that you would like me to cover then e-mail me at anna@theengagingbrand.com or join me on twitter !

How you can listen to the Engaging Brand

1) You can listen on your PC now without downloading any software just click here to hear the latest podcast and it will take you to the latest podcast. Then 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

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Show #225 - Emotional triggers and why customers really buy Pt1

Show 225 of The Engaging Brand leadership and marketing podcast is ready just for you. To subscribe or listen on your PC now - both for free, you don't need to download anything - all explained at the end of the post and don't forget to try GoToMeeting for your 30 day free trial!

Today I talk with Linda Goodman and Michelle Helin about their research into emotional triggers hat drive sales.I have just read their new book Why Customers Really Buy and wanted to explore how to understand more about

• How does the context around the customer affect how they receive communication
• Can you build rapport when you are not face to face?
• How to recognise emotion in your customer
• Are negative emotional triggers better than positive emotional triggers for engaging with the customers emotion?
• How do you gain insight into consumer behaviour?
• How to phrase questions to find out what is really important to the customer.

This is the first part of the interview, the second part will be available either later today or tomorrow - enjoy!

If you have feedback for me on the show or topics that you would like me to cover then e-mail me at anna@theengagingbrand.com or join me on twitter !

How you can listen to the Engaging Brand

1) You can listen on your PC now without downloading any software just click here to hear the latest podcast and it will take you to the latest podcast. Then 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

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What is Engagement?

Engagement is not something you can buy, not something that you can give, not something that is transient...engagement for me is

"....a state of mind, a state of the heart that shines in everything that you do"