Corporate Eye

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Archives for July 2010

5 Rebranding Mistakes to Avoid No Matter What

Rebranding is hot these days.  It seems like more companies are sending out press releases about their “rebranding” initiatives than ever.  However, many of these rebranding efforts miss the mark despite the huge amounts of money invested in them.

How can your company ensure that your rebranding is successful?  It’s simple.  Avoid the 5 mistakes listed below.

1. Forget a facelift.  A simple nip-tuck will do.

A rebranding takes more than a few tweaks to your logo and slogan, redesigning your signage, and printing new business cards.  A rebranding is an opportunity to re-imagine your story and create a new brand promise that will take your company into the future.  Would you rebrand yourself by simply getting a new pair of shoes or would a complete makeover — physically and emotionally — be required?  The same goes for your business brand.

2. Don’t call in unbiased branding experts to help you.

One of the most common mistakes companies make when it’s time to rebrand is assuming that they have the talent in-house to get the job done.  The job might get done, but it won’t be as good as it could be if you got help from people who live and breathe branding and can cut through the internal debates and hangups to truly roll out the best rebranding effort possible.

3. Involve anyone and everyone in the decision-making process.

When it comes to rebranding, everyone seems to feel like it’s their place to weigh in on the decisions.  Believe it or not, most people don’t have all the facts.  Their opinions should be taken into consideration but those opinions should not rule with an iron fist.

4. Don’t bother doing any research.  Go with your gut.

It’s true that the best branding experts have a sixth sense about branding, but there is more to branding than gut feelings.  You need to be able to formulate strategies and decisions should be based at least partially in fact.  Strike a balance between research and creativity, and you’ve struck marketing gold.

5. Just update the logo and forget about everything else.

Your brand is far more than just a logo.  Rolling out a new logo is not rebranding.  Don’t confuse the two.

Summer Fun


Battledore_-_Youthful_Sports

Summer isn’t really less fraught than the rest of the year, but we keep on thinking there’s more time to play during the warmer months . . .

In the spirit of the season, here are a few ideas that have (or at least could have) something to do with careers/recruiting/work/job, with a little fun in the bargain:

  1. Catch up on your reading. If you haven’t already followed last year’s Summer Reading suggestions—why not now?  And add to the list Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist:  The New Rules for Success, a quirky look at what works—and what matters—in today’s employment environment.  Some chapter titles to give you the flavor:  First-Time Managers Do Not Need to Suck; Sex Discrimination Is Everywhere, So Don’t Try To Run; and Getting a Promotion Is So Last Century.
  2. Start your own blog. Seriously.  TypePad is super-friendly, offers dozens of great designs, and gives you a 30-day free trial or even a free microblog.  WordPress also has a free version.  Don’t think about it in terms of an audience–blogging is a great way to talk to yourself!—but if you want to do something more in the professional line, you can start your own blog on ere.net with almost no effort.  (Extra motivation: ere.net bloggers can compete during July to win an iPad.)
  3. Get some business cards. No, not those dull ones you already have a box of.  Some really great ones from MOO.  MOO offers a wonderful array of designs, or you can upload your own images—and every card in your order can have a different design if you want to go nuts.  These cards really do grab attention, so they are worth the small investment.  Use them to invent an extra/alternative version of yourself, start that freelance thing you’ve been thinking about, or add some snap to your professional image.
  4. Organize your life. That’s a big one—but hope springs eternal, so if you’ve already run the gamut of time management methods with no luck, the Pomodoro Technique may be just what you’re looking for.  All you need is one of those kitchen timers that looks like a tomato, plus a free ebook from the Pomodoro website. You’ll either love it or hate it, but you’ll get some fun from the try-out.  And some people say this method worked for them when nothing else did.  (Pomodoro is Italian for “tomato,” by the way.)

Enjoy!  And if you guessed that today’s illustration is from the 1804 edition of Youthful Sports, give yourself ten points.


Begin With a Tweet? Foraying Into the Social Media Landscape

At 140-character increments, marketing your business has never been so easy. Twitter has made it simple and exciting for companies and individuals to interact, network and brainstorm on its platform.

How does social media fit into the grand scheme of things? How can a simple tweet change the way a media department is perceived?

Corporate Networking

Creating an environment that is conducive for social networking can be a challenge for some corporations. Perhaps many of the corporate executives think that the whole “social networking” thing is a fad that will pass. How can they be convinced otherwise? Sometimes, trying to convince corporate directors that a popular idea will work, doesn’t always work. Rhonda Sloan of American General Life Companies found out the hard way, but also found a way around the “no’s” to navigate her way to a “give us more” and at the same time, develop a strong company social media platform that saw growth. On average, public relations specialists may not have that degree of perseverance, but in the end, it can pay off in a big way.

Entertainment Networking

One fairly recent example of the power of social networking was when a Facebooker campaigned to get actress Betty White on the New York, USA-based comedy show, Saturday Night Live. The entertainment community was all abuzz about having the actress to appear and through Facebook and fans rallying to make it happen, the network decided to go ahead and have Betty White host the show. It was one of the most entertaining and impressive examples of the power of social networking seen yet. And, Betty White wasn’t too shabby on the show either!

Incorporating the Two

Although the corporate landscape and the entertainment world are two totally different, distinctively separate types of media, they both work on the same premise.

People.

Both genres need people-power to work, but the biggest difference in the two is the way that you get them to work, or to be effective. It may not be appropriate to have your company executive appear on a comedy-sketch show. It may not be the best idea to have a comedian give your corporate sales-team a virtual webinar either. But some way, somehow, there is a method to lift from both genres the things that work best and incorporate them into your media relations package.

What do you think would work best? I’ve come up with a very short list of the things that I feel would be conducive to it working, but I’d love to hear what you think also.

  1. Be creative, genuine. Don’t re-invent the wheel, just put your own spokes on it. Do something that hasn’t been done before, with your corporate personality on it.
  2. Utilize available resources. There’s no need to incur additional expenses. Use what’s at your disposal. Accounts with social networking platforms are free, upgrades at additional costs are optional.
  3. Engage the audience. Ask readers what they think and what they’d like to see. You’d be surprised at their responses and likely to get ideas as well.

Tell me what else you think would be ideal for social media outreach to work. What tools does your company use?

Is Your Corporate Website Ready To Audition?

talent showThis morning I was at my son’s primary school, watching their end-of-term version of Britain’s Got Talent: 17 groups of small children dancing, singing, playing instruments and telling jokes. (Electric guitar, since you ask).

It was, of course, exactly as you’d expect, but the judges found something genuinely good to say about all of them, even when it went horribly wrong.

And sometimes there were flashes of something very special.

It struck me that this was really very like my day job of reviewing and assessing corporate websites.

Superficially, corporate sites can seem similar and predictable – after all, they have to cover pretty much the same ground, and provide the same sort of information. However, when we take the time to look, there’s almost always something interesting and unique about them, at least if the company spends any time making the site about themselves.

And that’s the point: a corporate site is the opportunity to show off the unique nature and talents of the company – to sell the corporate brand. Every day is audition day, and every visitor a judge. The prize, of course, being engagement with the visitor if they decide to buy, to invest, to apply for a job, to read your material, to write about you.

Just like the children I saw this morning, every company is unique and has its own personality. But some present themselves better than others. And, just sometimes, we see something really unexpected, something that changes our perception of the company.

I’m glad I didn’t have to judge today’s talent competition, but I am one of the panel of judges for Communicate Magazine’s Digital Impact Awards. We’re shortlisting now and I hope to meet some of the entrants at the awards dinner in September. Do let us know if that’s you, and come and say hello!

Jeremiah Owyang’s Roadmap for the Corporate Website

Jeremiah Owyang is definitely one of the most influential voices in the social media space–and he has questioned the relevance of traditional corporate websites in the new online landscape.  In this presentation he outlines the issues and projects a path toward integration of social media and corporate website.

Although his overview is mainly focused on consumer-facing aspects of the corporate site, and he doesn’t touch on Careers or employer branding, the presentation offers some very useful information and insights.  Worth watching!

Making your Corporate Website Relevant


And here’s the related post.

Interesting note:  This presentation has received more than 16,000 views on SlideShare and is embedded on more than 60 sites.