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Archives for 2010

“New” Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For: Part 1

Fortune 100

The February 28th edition of CBS’s popular Sunday Morning show led with a profile of SAS, the top shop in this year’s Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For.  But the title of the story wasn’t “Workers in Paradise”—it was:  “The Great American Paycheck Squeeze.”

Fortune explains the choice for first place:

SAS boasts a laundry list of benefits — high-quality [onsite] child care at $410 a month, 90% coverage of the health insurance premium, unlimited sick days, a medical center staffed by four physicians and 10 nurse practitioners (at no cost to employees), a free 66,000-square-foot fitness center and natatorium, a lending library, and a summer camp for children.

There’s more about the culture (based on “trust between our employees and the company”), the continuity of leadership, the profitability of the company, and so on.  But the big deal is obviously the Edenic workplace, which also boasts 40 miles of running trails, a hair salon, three subsidized cafeterias, an onsite massage therapist (of course), and an artist-in-residence program.

So what could possibly be wrong with this picture?

As the Sunday Morning story observes:  “The reality is, for more and more Americans in these recessionary times, SAS might as well be Disney World.”

There’s an inherent discontinuity in the list between what we might call the “campus” companies, where life is made easy for employees (Intel, Intuit, Genentech, Qualcomm, the list goes on) and the “shirt sleeve” companies, where employees are offered emotional reward in lieu of creature comforts.  Stew Leonard’s, Build-a-Bear Workshop, Umpqua Bank and a few others compete mainly on charm—fun at work, family feeling, respect for and from management—plus health care benefits, with few other tangible perks.

There’s also a discontinuity between companies where many people might work and those where few need apply.  SAS actually did grow jobs last year, by a modest 2%.  But the people they hire are for the most part already selected out of the general population by high skill levels.  And many of the more applicant-accessible companies on the list had negative job growth, ranging from -2% to more than -20%.  Across the board, from FedEx to Zappos, CarMax to Men’s Wearhouse, the job news for non-geniuses was not good.

So who grew?  Biggest increases were at the Scooter Store (up 51%) and Smucker’s (up 44%).  The “why” at Scooter Store seems obvious, given the aging population and the general decline in fitness.  As for Smucker’s . . . well, sales have increased 58% since their acquisition of Folger’s in 2008, so effectively they bought a bunch of new jobs.  And coffee has turned out to be a great space for expansion, since decreases in disposable income have driven coffee drinkers to brew at home.  On the flip side, job growth at Starbucks was -27%.

More analysis, and some lessons from the list, in Part 2.

The Ultimate Brand Champion – Hugh Hefner of Playboy

playboyThe Playboy brand is one of the most recognized brands in the world, and since it debuted over half a century ago, one man has championed and protected that brand — Hugh Hefner.  In fact, Hefner believed so whole-heartedly in the brand promise that Playboy offered to consumers that he intentionally became the physical embodiment of the Playboy brand.  He reinvented his own image multiple times in order to live the Playboy brand promise, and consumers believed him.

The fundamental lesson to learn from Playboy and Hugh Hefner is that every brand should have a dedicated, passionate brand champion and guardian behind it.  That person should believe in the brand, advocate it, educate others about it, and protect it at all costs.

Does your brand have such a person behind it?  If not, you’re missing an important piece of the branding puzzle.

Other brand champion role models exist, such as Steve Jobs of Apple and J.K. Rowling for her Harry Potter brand.  However, the longevity of Hugh Hefner’s role as brand champion for the Playboy brand is unprecedented.  It could be argued that without his relentless advocacy and protection, the Playboy brand would have faded years ago.  Even today, while the Playboy company struggles to remain solvent, the Playboy brand remains one of the most recognized brands in the world.  That means, the Playboy brand still has incredible value, but since brand value is intangible, I have to wonder if that’s enough.

I explore Hugh Hefner’s role as the ultimate brand champion in my book, Building Brand Value the Playboy Way, and I discuss J.K. Rowling’s role as brand champion and brand guardian in Harry Potter: The Story of a Global Business Phenomenon.  Both stories are incredibly educational and inspirational, and if you don’t know how these two people affected the success of the brands they advocate, I highly recommend that you take the time to read their stories.  They provide lessons that every brand manager and marketer can learn from and apply to their own brand strategies.

You can read more about brand champions in these articles on Corporate Eye:

Who do you think is the ultimate brand champion?

Image: Flickr

Vocus Report Maps the “Traditional Media” Landscape

439px-Radio_News_Oct_1928_Cover

Social media seems to dominate the conversation about corporate messaging these days—and every week brings a new story about the demise of traditional media.  But it’s important not to oversimplify this equation.  People still read newspapers (you can watch them do it at Starbucks or on the bus), listen to the radio in their cars, borrow books from the library, watch television daily, and flip through magazines at the doctor’s office.  And businesses still have to use all these media formats strategically.

So 2010 State of the Media: An Analysis of the Changing Media Landscape by the Vocus Research Team is well worth a download.  The report, which analyzes the status of conventional media and identifies developing trends, was discussed in a webinar recently—and here are some highlights I took away from the presentation:

The magazine sector will shrink, with some titles folding (especially in areas where there are close competitors, such as Self vs. Shape) and other titles publishing less frequently.  There will be an increase in special editions on the print side, with digital distribution and on-demand content growing on the non-print side.  New online magazines will continue to appear, especially in niche areas.  Takeaway: Think beyond print when including magazines in PR strategy.

Newspapers are closing fast (especially weeklies) and launching infrequently.  Staffs and coverage are shrinking.  If there is good news in this sector, it’s not clear yet—but the trend is obviously toward more integration between paper and online delivery.  Takeaway: Everyone is overworked at papers today, so maximize the chance of getting attention by targeting pitches carefully.  Send exactly the right story angle to exactly the right person.

Cost-cutting in television may not be evident to the viewer, but it’s definitely going on.  And the main casualty is news.  There’s less coverage for soft news and in-depth stories, and in some areas talk shows are replacing newscasts.  Staffers may have to manage online content as well as on-air reporting.  Takeaway: Broaden pitches to go beyond the traditional newscast.  Make the reporter’s job easier by offering extra content (fact and images) and high-quality b-roll for online use.

Radio has lost stations, jobs, revenue, and programming—but there is still a lot of strength in this sector.  Although listening alternatives (satellite radio, MP3s, etc.) continue to increase, the majority of adults still get the majority of their audio from broadcast radio.  Takeaway: Keep in mind that most radio stations now have websites and podcasts, so there’s a need for rich content.  Think beyond sound bytes!

The webinar concludes with some good general advice:  Remember that traditional media still matters, continue to maintain relationships, provide substantive content, and stick to the tried-and-true PR principles of accuracy, timeliness and relevance.

Vocus, by the way, is “a leading provider of on-demand software for public relations management,” offering a web-based software suite that not only facilitates media relations, news distribution and news monitoring, but also provides cool reporting functionality.  They will actually reward you for taking a tour of the product—and it’s a fun trip, so why not?

 

(The technology magazine Radio News was started in 1919 by Hugo Gernsback, who became one of the most influential figures in science fiction publishing.)

ANZ Bank, the Spirit and the Letter

I enjoy finding a corporate website that stands out from the crowd. My latest finding is ANZ, one of the largest companies in Australia and New Zealand, and a major international banking and financial services group.

The first section I always look for is About Us

ANZ-About

The About Us landing page is comprehensive and well designed. Personally, I would like Corporate Governance to be more prominent, but it is available via the related links section from the landing page.

Once in Corporate Governance, let’s look at what is displayed in this section.

At the top is this statement–

In relation to corporate governance, ANZ’s Board seeks to:

  • embrace principles and practices it considers to be best practice internationally;
  • be an ‘early adopter’, where possible, by complying before a published law or recommendation takes effect; and
  • take an active role in discussions regarding the development of corporate governance best practice and associated regulation in Australia and overseas.

The second and third bulletpoints are remarkable. This is a company that wants to go beyond the “letter of the law”.

The Corporate Governance section Is very comprehensive; however you have to download PDFs to access the information.  Regular readers will know that I would prefer the information to be displayed online with PDF as another option. A must see is the the Continuous Compliance Policy (PDF) which is an explanation of the company’s objective of going beyond Compliance Regulations.

Another interesting element of this site is the Our Company section that is actually the detailed About Us section, and quite a good one at that.

ANZ-C0mpany

Click on Our Businesses and you get a more detailed description of functional and geographic areas of the company.

View Management to obtain a comprehensive background on senior managers.

Select Our Profile to learn more about the company’s strategy, and more.

A noteworthy section nestled within the Corporate Responsibility section is the company’s commitment to enhancing Financial Literacy. This subject is getting global attention due to the demise of personal pensions and the worldwide economic crisis. The company offers extensive education.

In partnership with some of the most trusted community organisations in Australia and New Zealand, ANZ has developed a number of programs that address issues of financial literacy and inclusion. Find out more about our programs:

  • MoneyMinded – an adult financial literacy education program
  • Saver Plus – a matched savings program for people on low incomes
  • Progress Loans – a program offering small loans to people on low incomes
  • MoneyBusiness – a program to improve levels of financial literacy in indigenous communities

Action on financial literacy and inclusion doesn’t only help the community – it helps ANZ too. Find out why.

This commendable suite of programs deserves to be prominently displayed on the homepage. (More about financial literacy in future posts).

But most interesting is the desire to go beyond “the letter” of compliance to “the spirit” of best practice.

Kululua Airlines Creative Rebranding Generates Global Online Buzz

South African airline Kululua Airlines recently turned to its internal creative team for a rebranding initiative that has drawn global attention and spread across the social Web thanks to bloggers and Twitter users.  Not only did Kululua Airlines’ creative team decide to change the color of the company’s planes to fluorescent green, but they also decided to turn the planes into flying blueprints.

Under the rebranding, the new planes carry the name Flying 101 on their sides along with labels depicting where the various parts of the plane are and what they’re called. Check out the pictures below.  I’d like the seat by the black box please.

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The online buzz for the new Flying 101 planes started before the actual planes began flying, and now people are spotting them in the sky and talking about the fueling both online and offline buzz.  The rebranding is fun but it also doesn’t take itself too seriously (e.g., the labels on the plane include the “mile high club initiation chamber”), making it perfect fodder for a viral conversation.

There is no doubt that the redesigned planes are attention-getting and memorable.  What remains to be seen is if the onboard experience matches the expectations for the brand that the new planes create.  In other words, the planes are different, will the Kululua Airlines experience be different, too, or will it be the same as any other airline?  Afterall, one of the labels on the plane does show where “Kululua Fans” can be found within the planes.  It’s up to Kululua Airlines to make sure they can keep those fans and add new ones.

So what do you think?  Is the new Kululua Airlines rebranding initiative a good long term strategy or a short term tactic that will fizzle out sooner rather than later?  Take the poll below and share your opinion. If you can’t see the poll, follow this link to take it.

 

The Definitive “Definitive Guide” to HR Blogging

Definitive Guide Cover

Many thanks to Standout Jobs and Talent Synchronicity for A Definitive Guide to Corporate HR Blogging by Ben Yoskovitz and Susan Burns.  If you haven’t downloaded a copy of this excellent ebook—do so, ASAP.   For those who need some persuasion, here’s a speedy overview plus a few highlights . . .

The authors provide a guide to the guide, previewing “what you’ll learn”:

  • Why blogging is important to your success
  • How to develop the case for blogging
  • How to get management approval
  • How to handle bad news and negative criticism
  • How to start a blog – the technology, definitions, and more
  • How to write a blog – editorial calendars, story ideas, research
  • How to build traffic – linking, social media, commenting, etc.
  • How to go beyond blogging – Twitter, social networks

There’s good coverage on each of those topics—and in fact, this ebook offers both a great overview and a sturdy set of how-to steps for anyone interested in blogging, HR or not.  In addition to all the basics (with examples and links to information resources), there are in-depth explorations of corporate blogging challenges, with advice on how to establish blogging policies, how to work across the enterprise, and how blogging can generate quality leads.

Here are five of my favorite quotes.

1.  From “Why Blog?”:  The key is to think of blogging as a long-term, evolving strategic initiative. Blogging won’t help you fill a position instantly. But it will help you expand your reach and build a community of people (readers, job seekers, etc.) that’s interested in you and your company.

2.  From “Getting Management Approval to Blog”:  If management can’t recognize the value of blogging you’ve got bigger problems, because that means management doesn’t understand the value of strategic recruiting and inbound marketing.

3.  From “Post Topics”:  Job seekers want the inside scoop on your company. They want to collect as much information as possible before deciding whether your company is the right fit. The more you can do to open your doors and provide that sneak peek inside, the better.

4.  From “Staying Motivated”:   It is very important to stay motivated and keep your blog updated regularly. That’s why an editorial calendar can be so helpful for advanced planning. And that’s also why having multiple authors or even guest bloggers can help a great deal.

5.  From “10 HR Blogging Best Practices”:  Be personable, authentic and real. Job seekers and candidates don’t want corporate-speak and buzzwords. They want information and dialogue with real people about real issues and stories.

With Twitter so much in the forefront of social media hype, it may seem like blogging is old hat.  But more often than not, the two forms need each other.  Blogging provides an opportunity to present information and ideas in more depth—and also to establish a personal voice or group viewpoint.  Tweeting, in turn, can support and enliven the blog.

Thinking of developing a blog?  Start with this ebook.  Have a blog?  Read it for a refresher and reminder.  Don’t see blogging anywhere on your radar?  The Definitive Guide will convince you to give the idea some serious consideration.