One of the most meaningful books I’ve ever read is Now Discover Your Strengths, by Marcus Buckingham (He’s the guy who wrote First, Break All The Rules). The easy-to-read book encourages individuals to enhance their strengths instead of focusing hours and hours on weaknesses and then finding you’ve made no progress.

I think the state of Iowa needs to read the book. I’m constantly reading newspaper accounts and hearing TV news stories about the Hawkeye State’s efforts to keep young people here instead of letting them go off to the big city – Chicago or Kansas City or Minneapolis, in most cases. We keep trying to build entertainment districts of bars and restaurants and bring in big-time sports teams and more bars in attempt to keep 20-somethings between the Mississippi and the Missouri.

I think we should give every high school grad a state road map and tell them to go seek adventure, sow their oats, party ’till the cows come home. And then come home. If we raise them right, they’ll come back to Iowa with some life experience, some work experience, a new expensive car that we can tax and a few kids that we can’t. They’ll come to appreciate what we offer: clean air, safe streets and good schools. And low insurance rates. You can’t say that about Chicago, Kansas City or Minneapolis.

I think our state’s strength is its family-friendly cities, towns and villages. You can walk the sidewalks at night. You can leave your keys in the car in the driveway. You know your neighbor’s name. Our governor is not afraid to wear a Winnie the Pooh costume.

Yes, we have problems. We have more than our fair share of meth labs (what rural state doesn’t have meth labs). People drive way too fast on the freeway (at least they can). And the family farmers don’t get along with the big farmers (but you don’t see drive by shootings to settle the issue).

But it’s also true that this is a great place to raise kids and we need to quit being ashamed of it. We need to plaster it on the welcome to Iowa signs. Iowa needs to play to its strengths. It’s a different, inviting, relevant and truthful brand.

I said the same thing about “Made in America” campaigns in a Toastmasters presentation more than 20 years.

Too many organizations rely on locale rather than provide good service or good products – or a good experience.

If you buy exclusively from a company just because it’s local or just because it’s made in the USA, all you’re doing is rewarding a real estate decision. You’re not confirming a good brand. In many cases, you’re actually encouraging lousy service, crappy products or behavior that’s not worth encouraging.

Several years ago, I walked in the door of a local car dealership to talk to the general manager about sponsoring the local soccer club. Local charitable contributions can be a very strategic move by a company with the courage to carefully and purposefully make the right connection for their brand. This guy didn’t want to hear any of it. He unleashed a 10-minute monologue about the locals who have never supported his dealership, who buy their cars from other dealerships in central Iowa and how he was going to show them all by moving the dealership to another nearby community.

The first thing that crossed my mind was “how long ago did he make the decision to move?” Secondly, I realized he had put all his eggs in the “buy local” basket. He thought that all he had to do was open his doors and the locals would come running. Something tells me put on his suit of disappointment every day before heading off to work.

Here’s an alternative: How about a “LOOK Local First” campaign?

Such an effort would replace guilt with a beneficial suggestion. Then, local companies that were built to serve their customers would have a chance to shine while the losers would be exposed for what they were. In a smaller business community, there might even be a bit of accountability put into place so the bad apples don’t spoil it for the rest of them.

Brand happens every time a customer experiences a business, and local companies have only a slight advantage because of proximity to their customer. That advantage can evaporate, however, when the company takes the customer – and the experience – for granted, and expects loyalty because they’re close by.

When “Buy Local” has a demonstrable benefit – such as the freshness you can get with local produce, for example – there’s a brand-building moment. Even better? Make a great brand experience that has nothing to do with your location. When you do that, people will seek you out, no matter where you are.

One of my favorite examples is Barratta‘s, an Italian restaurant that has created a loyal following despite its hard-to-find location deep within the south side Des Moines neighborhood.

Are you taking something for granted about your brand? Do you expect your customers to love you just because you’re nearby? Are you able to demonstrate value in your proximity or are you relying on guilt?

At the very end of Chapter 14 in Paul’s letter to the church in Rome, he made this brand statement:

Now, did that mix of faith and marketing get your nervous? Make you uncomfortable? What about those brands that do it all the time?

• Hebrew National is a brand that quickly comes to mind. The kosher meats manufacturer and marketer is probably the largest, most well-known kosher brand in the U.S., thanks in large part to its over-the-top commercials and clever tag line: “We answer to a higher authority.” The brand focuses on the observant Jew’s desire for a variety of meats and condiments.

• Chick-fil-a doesn’t wear its faith on its sleeve, but the brand is more than willing to honor the Sabbath and close up its restaurants – even its mall locations – on Sundays so that customers and employees are free to go to worship, if they desire. Its fans seem willing to skip a chicken sandwich on Sundays as long as they can get one any other time of the week (note: the Chick-fil-a chicken sandwich is in a category of its own…mmmmmm!).

• Interstate Batteries sells more than just car batteries. Its mission is “to glorify God as we supply our customers worldwide with top quality, value-priced batteries, related electrical power-source products, and distribution services.” It’s a clear example of living the command in Colossians 3:23  (“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men” - NIV).

Those brands integrate their faith at different levels within their organizations, but what kind of pressure does that put on the employees managing those brands? Is it more difficult than being the fastest, the most convenient, offering amazing design or exceptional quality?

And does it require even stronger vigilance to ensure authenticity?

As a Christian, I understand that we have more than our fair share of hypocrites who’ve fallen short of the promise, but that’s all part of being a Christian. We’re human, and we make mistakes but part of being a Christian is to live to a higher standard, no matter what the world would have us do. As a marketer, I’ve seen  brands fall short of their brand promise. It’s what happens when organizations lack the discipline to do what the brand demands, when they get lazy and distracted, when they take short cuts.

Brand happens every day, but those who live to a higher brand standard understand the return on the investment. Branding is for the bold!

Wow, the comparison is kind of scary. No wonder some people believe branding is like religion!

Focus on the employee orientation - The best opportunity to maintain an amazing brand experience for customers is when a new employee joins your organization. At that critical moment, the organization can focus its resources on ensuring a great brand experience for everyone by offering a comprehensive and educational welcome to the new employee.

My first night in big-box retail, few people knew to expect me. And it took about 15 minutes to get me stationed at a computer for the next four and a half hours of back-to-back-to-back-to-back computer-based training modules. The modules were well done and integrated enough that I quickly learned some of the processes and standards that this brand integrated into its experience. But I learned little else. I didn’t learn the brand story or the emotional touch points that make the brand relevant to its target audience.

And I realized what a huge opportunity it was to teach this part-time, short-term employee how to create long-term brand loyalty all the time.

In more than 25 years of marketing communications, I – and many of my colleagues – have argued that a logo, business card, letterhead, brochure – and now, website or Facebook page – are the table stakes required to communicate your brand. I’m now adding an employee orientation or “on board” process to my recommended first steps.

It’s too simple of a concept to be ignored. It lays the ground work for the brand by explaining the technical procedures and emotional background for embracing an amazing brand. It creates confident and comfortable brand warrior. And it costs pennies.

It might look like this:

Technical processes and procedures:

1. Here are your insurance, W-2, confidentiality and other forms.
2. Here’s how to use the time clock.
3. Here are your keys, and here’s how to turn off the alarm.
4. Here are the emergency telephone numbers and procedures you should know.
5. Here’s how to request/log vacation days.
6. Etc.

Emotional background:

1. Here’s our story, why we’re here.
2. Here’s what that means in your job.
3. Here’s what we expect of you.
4. Here’s what you can expect from us.
5. Here’s what our customers expect from you.
6. This is what our brand looks like.

You can’t possibly explain every aspect of the job, but a good brand foundation allows employees to demonstrate the brand in a different, inviting, relevant and truthful manner every day, even if the technical aspects are not exactly right.

I’ve worked at places where policies, specific procedures and brand underpinnings emerged (evolved?) months, even years, after I joined the organization. I often joked “I must have missed that during the orientation!” It was funny at the time – and a more than a little frustrating – but until I saw it again in a different environment, I hadn’t recognized the missed opportunity it was.

Brands are like a bowling alley: each employee can go after the same set of pins from a different angle….as long as they’re on the right alley. With a proper employee orientation, you can get your employees bowling on the same lane in no time at all.

Volunteers need orientation, too
This is a critical opportunity to engage volunteers, too. Organizations don’t have the same economic hold on volunteers that they do on employees: there’s no price to pay if a volunteer leaves you tomorrow. A positive, comprehensive experience in the first days and weeks of working with a new organization, however, can pay huge dividends.

Brand happens, whether you prepare for it or not, so why not deliver the brand narrative early – during an orientation? You’ll increase the chance that the brand conversation in your audience’s mind is the right one if it starts correctly in the employee’s mind.

What do you think? Does your organization take advantage of the employee orientation? Or are you missing an opportunity?

This coming May 20th will be the 15th anniversary of my heart attack. Yes, despite people telling me that I was too young at 35 to have a heart attack, I indeed did have a heart attack. The calming nurse at the Iowa Heart Center told me so.

And it says so on the calendar my wife keeps in the upstairs bathroom. It’s a milestone in my family. Like any milestone, it marked time. For me, it’s the date we starting forking over a lot of cash to the pharmaceutical companies, started eating better, started listening for the latest heart therapies that come down the pike. It’s the date we started taking seriously the amount of life insurance I had. And the date I thought about dying.

Organizations have milestones, too. Some go by without much notice, while others mark significant change. It’s those big ones that organizations need to pay attention to when understanding their brands.

• Years ago, a small manufacturing company I worked with, discovered that it started out as a distributor, deciding only to manufacture a product when nobody on the market made one that met their high standards. That milestone helped shape the company’s unmatched commitment to quality that still set it apart from competitors who had moved onto products with more bells and whistles, and lower dependability. The company offered true craftsmanship and stood by their products with twice the industry standard warranty.
• Another former client,a software developer, told his employees reason he quit working in a large, corporate IT department: he hated “programming to the big book,” and wanted, instead, to write software that solved real business problems. It was a milestone moment in his life and the life of his company.
• Another manufacturing client recounted how he’d survived the departure of his two co-founding partners and a successful defense in a lawsuit, all over a period of about two years. When he saw it on paper, he became very thankful and was much better able to begin working on the real issues in his company rather than those already conquered.

Brand happens every day, but we need to mark the milestones that make us who we are. That’s why I address milestones early in a brand discovery process. Together with my client, we list dates and as much detail as possible, discussing what they mean and folding them into the brand story. Understanding milestones is a critical step to understand where you’re going.

So, what are the milestones in your organization? Have they marked change? Have they marked setbacks or achievements? Does everybody in your organization know about the big ones?

More than 90 percent of the time I and other employees spend on the floor is spent returning items to their proper place. And that costs money, adding to the price of goods.

Besides changing my own habits and trying to change the habits of my wife, this also got me thinking about what it takes to be a customer. I’m not talking about a retail consumer, but a consumer of business-to-business goods and services. What kind of a customer have I been? What kind of a customer are you?

Brand happens every day, even when you treat a vendor wrong. It effects your brand because vendors are one of your most important audiences. They know people who know you, and aren’t afraid to share their experiences just like you, as a consumer, do with your friends.

Do you beat your vendors up on price, or do you show appreciation for their brand? Do you always get three bids? Or do you trust in the relationship you’ve built with your vendor, like you want to be trusted by your customer?

Do you hold back payment or do you do everything in your power to pay on time…even a little early when possible?

Do you focus on a mistake despite a long track-record of positive experiences?

Are you quick to switch vendors because of a lower price, a mistake or a little quicker turnaround?

These behaviors cost YOU money.

When I was a marketing services manager for a large corporation, I tried to honor relationships with vendors. Loyalty was a key currency in the transaction because it paid great returns. I didn’t ask for a bid: I asked for a price range so I could see if it fit my budget. And in return my company received insightful answers and on-strategy work every time…and we received more value for our dollar than if we worked with the lowest bid provider,

At a former agency job, the controller was obsessively on time with her payments to vendors. She kept paper back up for everything and once fought an errant report on our credit record until it was corrected. She knew – and taught me – that being a good customer paid dividends…we got top priority when it came to scheduling, lower prices and stellar service.

Sure, things go wrong from time to time. We’re human. That’s what happens. But we gave our vendors the benefit of the doubt because we understood their brand. It was emotional. It was based on a long track record. If the relationship soured for whatever reason, we parted ways, but we did it face-to-face, not with an email or a letter….or even worse, by not returning phone calls.

It’s what we expect of our customers, so shouldn’t we expect it of ourselves? What are you doing to be a good customer today?

I laughed at myself, and then soon realized my experience was a metaphor for brand failure with some of our clients. Like the self-propelled mower, all the great brand management in the world does little good if the employees don’t know how to use it, don’t embrace the brand or don’t own it every day.

My coworkers and I have been discussing this very issue lately, and realized that the failure of many of the brand management advice we give clients is directly attributed to the lack of follow through at the client level. When we include brand training at the front line, company-wide presentations and ongoing training, many clients say they’ll avoid that cost and do it themselves.
Like picking a budget printer who has no contact with the designer or letting your in-house help desk team build the corporate website, internally launching the brand with only in-house resources is a recipe for disaster. In most cases, clients who come to us for brand management consultation and support don’t have the team in-house to define the brand, let alone present the brand to the people responsible for owning the brand. The same outside viewpoint that discovers these clients’ brands is also the best prepared to communicate that effort internally.

Even worse: someone completely outside the brand discernment process steps in at the last minute – without benefit of the lengthy, sometimes painful and always beneficial discussions – hijacks the process and the brand comes out the other end looking like its been through a mower.

The best way to attack the brand job: get many people involved in the beginning – the like-minded and the people most likely to puke on your ideas – in the middle and at the end, then let them get to work. It’s a whole lot easier to get the job done that way.

Technorati Tags: employees, brand management, employee communication

Second story: I walked to lunch the other day, and at a fairly busy intersection on my route, I waited for a light. A guy on a nice looking motorcycle approached the red light and I thought to myself, “now there’s one of the good motorcyclists. He’s wearing a helmet, long pants, good boots: he’s representing us motorcyclists.” No sooner had I completed my thought did he blow right through the light and make a right turn without even the slightest pause. In all 50 states of the union, it’s legal to make a right turn on red after a complete stop and yielding to all oncoming traffic.

Both stories are very representative of what happens in many organizations: the marketing or sales or management staff think everything’s going fine, everybody understands the brand and everybody’s living it. Then something starts to smell or someone blows through a stop light: someone ignores a rule, cuts a corner, shuts down early, blows off a customer and all the goodwill goes down the toilet. This is not an ongoing, low grade fever of failure that the zombies bring on: that kind of defect in the brand is pretty apparent. I’m talking about the occasional blip on the screen that goes unnoticed and unchallenged.

I like employees are your first line of brand defense, brand warriors unwilling to give an inch when it comes to protecting the reputation of their brand, unwilling to go to sleep on the job, unwilling to let the drawbridge down after hours.

And when one employee doesn’t do the job, it’s up to the others to let ‘em know, hold them accountable. If employees are fully versed in the brand, are trained how to support the brand, tested to ensure they can protect the brand and empowered to defend the brand with every ounce of their being, they shouldn’t be surprised when a co-worker holds them accountable.

Without that level of commitment by everybody involved, a little stink can bring down the brand.

Technorati Tags: brand ownership, brand warrior, defending the brand, employee responsibility

In my third job, I was the communications director for a dairy association. My expertise was writing newsletters. In this case, my main responsibility was to explain the value of the dairy check-off – a USDA mandated expenses dairy farmers paid to support generic dairy advertising. My secondary job was to promote ice cream, milk and other dairy products. Now, I’m a suburban kid through and through, always living in middle class neighborhoods in between the tough inner city and the hard working country. While I learned to appreciate the very hard work of dairy farmers and others involved in production agriculture, I did a lot of on-the-job training.

One day, while doing a radio interview promoting June Dairy Month, I delivered ice cream to a morning radio personality. To add a little fun, I also gave him an inflatable cow that was used in grocery store promotions. I told him “It’s not too difficult traveling with an inflatable cow. He packs up real easily.” Without missing a beat, the DJ said, “Uh, Mark. Aren’t dairy cows female?” I can’t remember my response but just remembering it still makes me laugh.

Another time, on the same job, I was taking ice cream to yet another radio station – DJs love ice cream in the morning – on an incredibly hot St. Louis summer day. I had the ice cream in a cooler and it was starting to melt, so I ran into a restaurant near the radio station and asked the manger for some ice to keep my ice cream cold. He looked puzzled, but gave it to me anyway. As I walked out the door, he asked “You know that ice is frozen at 32 degrees and ice cream melts above 0 degrees?” I said, “so?” That’s when he told me that by putting ice on the ice cream I actually helped warm up the ice cream and made it melt faster!

Again, I laugh about it today, but I never put ice in the cooler with my ice cream!

I wonder if the guy who thought up new Coke can laugh about it today. Or the person who designed the Edsel or the Cadillac Cimmaron. What about the team that developed the Martha Steward version of The Apprentice?

Technorati Tags: ego in business, humility, bad business decisions, learning from mistakes