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Archives for 2011

Twitter, Tweet, Trademark, and Lessons Learned

This week, Twitter settled a lawsuit to secure the trademark for “tweet.” Back in 2009, Twittad, a company that provides sponsored advertising on Twitter (e.g., a Twitter user publishes a tweet with an advertiser’s message in it), secured the tweet trademark as part of its tagline, “Let your ad meet tweets.” Twitter claimed that the term “tweet” had already become a popular term that users created to refer to their published Twitter updates, and Twittad’s use of the term would cause consumer confusion.

Until Monday, Twitter wasn’t having much success in securing the trademark to tweet from Twittad, but a confidential agreement was finally made, and Twitter should get the trademark for tweet that it’s wanted for so long.

The lesson to learn is this — always secure trademarks related to your brand, business, and company. Think big and do your due diligence. Don’t pick a brand name that another company in your industry already uses. That’s what happened to Apple when it launched the iPhone (Cisco originally owned the trademark for iPhone) and IBM when it realized a small computer company owned the trademark for Big Blue.

Trademark applications aren’t difficult to complete and the cost is minimal. It’s worth the time, effort, and money to research potential brand names for availability and any potential problems before you spend even more time and money rolling out a brand that turns out to be a trademark infringement.

It’s fairly safe to assume that Twittad received some compensation from Twitter to settle the trademark lawsuit and give the rights to the tweet trademark to Twitter. That’s what happened to Apple when it got the iPhone trademark from Cisco, and that’s a position you don’t want to find yourself, your company, or your brand.

Brand equity is a powerful business asset. You wouldn’t risk other business assets by skipping steps to protect them, and you shouldn’t skip those steps with your brand either. Step 1 — make sure you can trademark your brand name!

Walmart Launches Local Marketing Push via Facebook App

Walmart might put an end to the debate as to whether or not Facebook is effective for local marketing by global companies with its new store-level messaging Facebook campaign.

According to AdAge, Walmart will launch a new Facebook app that will allow the company to customize messaging for each of its 3,600 brick-and-mortar locations. The app will deliver more relevant information about local deals, promotions, events, limited-distribution products, and more.

Walmart already has over 9 million Facebook fans, so the local messaging the new app will provide (assuming it works correctly) should be a welcomed addition to Walmart’s Facebook presence as far as customers are concerned. For example, Walmart expects to tie local events (like sporting events) and weather-related news and trends (like upcoming snowstorms) to the messages published through the new Facebook app. The app will also integrate with mobile devices, so consumers can find real-time deals at stores near their current locations.

Walmart claims the new app is being launched based on customer input and feedback, but messages will only be published twice per week to ensure consumers aren’t overloaded with local Walmart messages.

There is no doubt that this is an important step in localized and personalized social media and mobile marketing. Marketers are clamoring to tie localization and personalization to brand campaigns, but we’re still very much in the experimental phase. The Walmart Facebook app is drawing a lot of attention and should deliver some interesting learnings for marketers considering similar approaches to reaching the social web audience in a way that’s customized to their individual wants, needs, and location.

For global brands like Walmart, this type of localization via the most popular social networking site represents a significant opportunity to turn a one-to-millions conversation into a one-to-few or even a one-to-one conversation. That’s the real trick of successful social media and mobile marketing — connecting the brand to individuals in a way that could never happen through traditional mass media marketing 20 years ago. It’s an exciting time to be a marketer!

What do you think about the new Walmart Facebook app? Could you do something similar to promote your brand and business?

Image: Walmart Stores

The Good and the Bad

Patagonia, a company making and selling outdoor gear, outlines both the good and the bad aspects of each of its products in terms of their corporate responsibility ambitions.

We like this because:

  • It communicates transparency
  • It indicates a desire – and a plan – for improvement

See Patagonia’s Footprint Chronicles

Top 100 Global Brands of 2011

Interbrand released its top 100 global brands of 2011 report, and Coca-Cola took the top spot for the 12th year running with the brand valued at $71.9 billion. IBM came in second, and Microsoft rounded out the top three.

When it comes to the biggest brand value gain — Apple stole the title with a 58% increase in brand value. Amazon also performed well with a 32% jump in brand value, and Google experienced a 27% increase.

On the flip side, big losers in terms of brand value on the 2011 list include Nokia, which experienced a 15% decrease in brand value, and Nintendo, which suffered from increased competition leading to a 14% drop in brand value.

The breakdown of brands by sector in the list of the top 100 global brands is as follows:

  • Electronics = 14 brands
  • Financial Services = 14 brands
  • Automotive = 12 brands
  • FMCG = 11 brands
  • Alcohol = 7 brands
  • Luxury = 7 brands
  • Business Services = 5 brands
  • Diversified = 5 brands
  • Internet Services = 4 brands
  • Beverages = 4 brands
  • Restaurants = 4 brands
  • Apparel = 3 brands
  • Media = 3 brands
  • Computer Software = 2 brands
  • Sporting Goods = 2 brands
  • Energy = 1 brand
  • Home Furnishings = 1 brand
  • Transportation = 1 brand

The top 100 global brands are primarily American brands. When looking at brand value by region, 52 of the brands on the list are from the Americas, 38 brands are from Europe and Africa, and 10 brands are from Asia Pacific.

Interbrand develops its annual global brand ranking report by evaluating brand financial performance, the brand’s effect on consumer purchase decisions, and the brand’s strength relative to its ability to continue earning money for the company in the future.

The leading 50 brands in the top 100 global brands of 2011 according to Interbrand are:

  1. Coca-Cola = $71.9 billion
  2. IBM= $69.9 billion
  3. Microsoft = $59.0 billion
  4. Google = $55.2 billion
  5. GE = $42.8 billion
  6. McDonald’s = $35.6 billion
  7. Intel = $35.2 billion
  8. Apple = $33.5 billion
  9. Disney = $29.0 billion
  10. Hewlett-Packard = $28.5 billion
  11. Toyota = $27.8 billion
  12. Mercedes-Benz = $27.4 billion
  13. Cisco = $25.3 billion
  14. Nokia = $25.1 billion
  15. BMW = $24.6 billion
  16. Gillette = $24.0 billion
  17. Samsung = $23.4 billion
  18. Louis Vuitton = $23.2 billion
  19. Honda = $19.4 billion
  20. Oracle = $17.3 billion
  21. H&M = $16.5 billion
  22. Pepsi = $14.6 billion
  23. American Express = $14.6 billion
  24. SAP = $14.5 billion
  25. Nike = $14.5 billion
  26. Amazon.com = $12.8 billion
  27. UPS = $12.5 billion
  28. J.P. Morgan = $12.4 billion
  29. Budweiser = $12.3 billion
  30. Nescafe = $12.1 billion
  31. Ikea = $11.9 billion
  32. HSBC = $11.8 billion
  33. Canon = $11.7 billion
  34. Kellogg’s = $11.4 billion
  35. Sony = $9.9 billion
  36. eBay = $9.8 billion
  37. Thomson Reuters = $9.5 billion
  38. Goldman Sachs = $9.1 billion
  39. Gucci = $8.8 billion
  40. L’Oreal = $8.7 billion
  41. Philips = $8.7 billion
  42. Citi = $8.6 billion
  43. Dell = $8.3 billion
  44. Zara = $8.1 billion
  45. Accenture = $8.0 billion
  46. Siemens = $7.9 billion
  47. Volkswagen = $7.9 billion
  48. Nintendo = $7.7 billion
  49. Heinz = $7.6 billion
  50. Ford = $7.5 billion

You can see the complete top 100 global brands of 2011 list here, and read more about the methodology behind Interbrand’s annual brand ranking here.

What do you think about this list? Do any brands surprise you? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Image: Interbrand

Employer Brand, Culture and Authenticity: Interview with Max Heywood

This is the first of a series of three interviews focused on careers, online recruitment and social media. First up: Paul (Corporate Eye CEO) interviews Max Heywood, former Global Head of Employer Brand at Credit Suisse, about his views on employer brand, and how employers express themselves online.

Job seekers’ behaviour on corporate websites, especially graduates, is probably not what you’d expect. Listening to the research that Max has done would lead you to re-evaluate where you focus your online careers efforts. And when the job-seeker does get to your content, the thing they really value is authenticity.

It’s a brave company that allows employees to be authentically themselves while representing the corporate brand. And yet, in this new world of social media, this may be the best way to attract potential candidates, by conveying the corporate culture in the natural voices of current employees.

Max believes that social media and networking technologies are in the middle of – or perhaps only at the beginning of – changing massively how organisations connect with everybody, especially jobseekers.

He talks about actions some of the more adventurous companies are already taking, and the opportunities for firms to steal a competitive advantage by taking the next step forward.

Do listen: the interview is full of valuable pickings gleaned from the coalface of careers communication: the way candidates view companies; how they use the corporate website and social media in practice; and the reality of recruitment pressures.

I’ve broken the interview down into smaller pieces, so that you can quickly find particular points you’d like to hear about. I’ve also included the whole interview and a transcript.

Part 1: Change, choice and channels

Key topics:

  • ever-increasing choice of channels
  • wide-spread availability of information about people’s experiences within companies
  • reduced trust in employer communication

Soundbite:

“The world has changed from one where corporate communications could control the brand, control the message… all they can do these days is really engage, participate and influence.”

[audio:https://www.corporate-eye.com/main/audio/max-heywood-interview-pt-1.mp3] Length: 3:52
Download: Max Heywood interview: part 1

Part 2: Facing the fear and doing it anyway

Key topics:

  • where to start
  • overcoming the corporate fear of:
    • conversational overload
    • brand-threatening conversation
  • the benefits of social media for promoting employer brand

Soundbites:

“[some companies] lock their pages down so that students can’t engage… that’s actually a big turn-off and I think massively limits the power of the medium.”

“Having sat on that side, planning those activities, I know full well what the concerns are… but the reality of it is quite different”

“If you’re talking about [communicating with] university students, then really Facebook has got to be one of the primary platforms, because [of the] 650 million people […] and all university students, pretty much, using it”

“In the year that Ernst and Young began its Facebook activity, they had a massive jump up the Universum rankings, I think they got to the top, or very close to the top.”

[audio:https://www.corporate-eye.com/main/audio/max-heywood-interview-pt-2.mp3] Length: 10:27
Download: Max Heywood interview: part 2

Part 3: Employer differentiation and corporate culture

Key points:

  • importance of people in conveying culture
  • using home-grown advocates to connect
  • using LinkedIn to connect: know your audience

Soundbites:

“By the time [students] have seen three or four [milkround] presentations, they can’t remember who’s who, or what’s what! And what they fall back on, and this is why face-to-face continues to be arguably the most important channel, is ‘Did I like the people?’ ”

“The reality is, if you empower an employee to speak on your behalf… they’re not going to say negative things. They’re going to be positive”

[audio:https://www.corporate-eye.com/main/audio/max-heywood-interview-pt-3.mp3] Length: 7:29
Download: Max Heywood interview: part 3

Part 4: Employer Brand and Values

Key topics:

  • relationship between employer brand and corporate brand
  • relationship between employer brand and corporate values
  • how best to use advocates to communicate values

Soundbites:

“There’s value in trying to understand who you are, and trying to express that. But there’s a real danger that it becomes very manufactured [and that is] an increasingly big turn-off to candidates who really are interested in authenticity.”

“If you let employees talk about their experience authentically… those things [values and culture] will shine through.”

[audio:https://www.corporate-eye.com/main/audio/max-heywood-interview-pt-4.mp3] Length: 6:33
Download: Max Heywood interview: part 4

Part 5: Employer brand online: corporate website vs Facebook

Key topics:

  • behaviour of students in usability tests of the corporate website
  • migration of the careers site towards Facebook

Soundbites:

“[On their first visit] university students pretty much didn’t go to the careers website… They did come and visit the site for one thing, and one thing only. And that’s to make an application… They wouldn’t come back at all unless they got some kind of positive response from us.”

“There’s a number of studies that show that if you’re two clicks away from Facebook, you lose half the people.”

“The web is shrinking, apart from social, which is great. And you see a trend now where you see big employers actually moving their careers site, almost lock, stock and barrel, into Facebook”

[audio:https://www.corporate-eye.com/main/audio/max-heywood-interview-pt-5.mp3] Length: 7:24
Download: Max Heywood interview: part 5

Part 6: Evolution, ethics and expenditure

Key topics:

  • evolution of the employee profile
  • Facebook, privacy and ethics
  • where to put the corporate budget?

Soundbite:

“The single most powerful thing is campus events… this is an opportunity with social to really viralise your content and your messages.”

“So when you go on campus, and you’re going to do a campus event, for goodness sake, take some pictures, post some pictures up, get people tagging themselves. Encourage candidates to do it. And actually, because the more authentic it is, the better, actually: shoot some video. Get some vox pops saying, ‘What do you think?’ ”

[audio:https://www.corporate-eye.com/main/audio/max-heywood-interview-pt-6.mp3] Length: 6:59
Download: Max Heywood interview: part 6

Here’s the whole interview, in case you’d rather listen to it end-to-end; and the transcript, for those who prefer to read.

[audio:https://www.corporate-eye.com/main/audio/max-heywood-interview-full.mp3] Length: 42:53
Download: Max Heywood interview (whole interview)
Download: Transcript

Many thanks to Max for taking the time to talk to Paul.

Who were we speaking to?

Max HeywoodFormerly Global Head of Employer Brand at Credit Suisse Max Heywood has spent the last 10 years running Talent Attraction programs for Investment Banks, previously JPMorgan, HSBC and UBS.

His experience is centred in graduate recruitment but also includes experienced professional recruitment, internal mobility initiatives, HR and employee communications, HR systems and HR transformation programs. He began his career as an account manager at EURO RSCG, and went on to successfully co-found his own digital marketing agency, before moving across to the client side to manage global agency partnerships and run recruitment marketing operations.

Max is an enthusiastic advocate of Social Media for recruiting, and has been active across all of the major social networks for some time.