The Engaging Brand

Show #187 - Making Innovation Work in Green Marketing

Show 187 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. Don't forget to try GoToMeeting for your 30 day free trial!

Today I talk with Rob Shelton who is an expert on innovation and talks about how innovation is needed for the green marketing initiative. You can email Rob, or check out his making innovation work site for more information. We talk about

• Is the green marketing initiatives an evolutionary or revolutionary process for business?
• Is the confusion over the terminology - green, sustainable etc - for consumers, slowing down innovation?
• Should we be innovating to create new products or markets rather than incremental improvement to existing products?
• Do we encourage incremental innovation by not demanding a change in consumer behaviour through law?
• Is the sustainable, green agenda going to be driven by the consumer or the business world?
• When we go "back to the future" by using old techniques, ingredients or former ways of doing things, does this increase the adoption rates for consumers?
• The cyclical nature of innovation.
• Do you think business concentrates enough on what motivates the consumer to be interested in green products?

 

And don't forget to subscribe to the show - details at the bottom - so you don't miss the second part of the show :)

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 hop over to Facebook group for The Engaging Brand. or the new room set up on Friendfeed

How you can listen to the Engaging Brand

1) You can listen on your PC now without downloading any software just click here for the 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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7 Wonders of Anna's Business World

1. I wonder who had the idea of holding the first meeting, did they do it without a meeting?
2. I wonder why,  'If value creation is the role of business' why do we usually judge by absolute profit?
3. I wonder how many hours, months, years I have lost listening to the person who just wanted 5 minutes?
4. I wonder whether the focus would change if we had to by law, take a look at year end, at the value of each person - has their talent appreciated or depreciated? I wonder why we do that for machines and not people?
5. I wonder how many ideas we would have, if we valued "wondering"
6. I wonder why we don't spend money on conversational skills if markets are about conversations?
7. I wonder if we all lived our dream when we were a child rather than being sensible...would the world be happier?

Your Free Satellite Navigation for Strategy

Driving home tonight, using a satellite navigation pack...it reminded me of a conversation with Dad.

When they started to become popular I turned to Dad, and said "Wouldn't it be great if you had one of these for business, wouldn't it be great if each leader could have one to direct them through their business strategy?"

He turned, laughed and said "Oh Anna, you already have one...it is called a brain. The only thing that leaders are missing, is a definite destination that they want to get to....once you understand where you want to go, click the brain into action and let it take you there"

Do you know, I think he had something there!

The 3 Pillars of Brand Engagement

Branding has 3 pillars, that if they don't match, if they don't reflect the same brand experience then the brand that you are trying to create, will not succeed.

• The leadership write, speak and decide on the brand values. At this stage the brand is a vision, the brand is a goal. The brand is not active.
• The employees experience the brand values through the actions, the words of the leadership and management team. The employees need to match the words written with the words spoken, they need to match the words spoken day to day, with the words aspired to on the brand statements. If they match then the employees will feel inspired and work on delivering those brand experiences to the customers. If they don't match, then confusion, unease and a lack of employee engagement occurs. The customers will experience this confused feeling.
• The customers read the adverts, hear the adverts, feel inspired to try your brand. They then talk and write about their experiences. If their experiences don't match then the frustration will come out and perceived brand values will take hold.

Strong brands work hard on making sure that the words on the marketing documents, match the experience inside the organization for the employee, and externally for the customer. Understanding the employees link from the internal to external brand.

Biggest mistake is often the resource, the effort, the funding goes into stage 1. Without the same brand investment in stages 2 and 3, that employee engagement and consumer engagement with the brand will not occur.

Going for the leadership gold

As the Olympic closing ceremony draws to a close, it made me wonder

If you, as a leader, could compete for a Gold medal every 4 years in the Olympics, how would your approach to leadership change?

Would you look after your health more?
Would you train and develop each day for the goal?
Would you dedicate your life to self improvement?
Would you have a clear goal of what you need to achieve on a weekly, monthly, yearly level?

There may not be a leadership Olympics, however there is an annual review....aim for that leadership gold - aim to be swifter at learning, higher at achieving those objectives and stronger at wanting to achieve that career dream.

You Know That You Have a Strong Employer Brand When...

1. You have people contacting you to see if they can join
2. When your "unintentional" employee turnover is significantly lower than the competition.
3. When you have a waiting list of potential recruits.
4. When your employees recommend you as an employer to friends and family.
5. When your employees are proud to say who they work for...
6. When people choose to stay despite a better financial offer.
7. When employees do not focus on what they are being paid.
8. When people are smiling in open rather than talking in corners.
9. When you don't have to look outside to fill a role and there is a pipeline of talent.
10. Oh and of course when people wear the company t- shirt on holiday!

Be Careful What You "Predict" For...

When I see the news and how the world economy is slowing down, I often wonder whether the economic slowdown would happen if we didn't talk about the possibility ? Do we talk ourselves into depression? If so can we talk ourselves to success?

I know at work that the more you fear, the more you talk up the risk, talk down the opportunity, then the more success for the business and for each employee becomes harder to achieve. I believe our predictions shape our future, so

• Predict how people will succeed
• Predict how our people will grow and develop
• Predict how we will achieve success
• Predict how people will feel as the objectives are achieved

Clearly a dash of realism is needed, however the more you talk about success, the more you talk about how it will feel, then the greater - I believe - the belief will become.
We need dreams to believe in, we need to grow that belief by sowing the seeds of success and planting the belief that we can do it....because re

Show #186 - The Relationship Economy

Show 186 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. Don't forget to try GoToMeeting for your 30 day free trial!

Today I talk with Jay Deragon, all about the new style relationship economy. You can download the book free of charge by clicking here for The Relationship Economy -Download RelationshipEconomy-eBookv.04.pdf I also include an audio comment from Simon Young who loves the new mac version of Go to meeting - if you want to hear the interview I had with Simon on creative communication techniques then you can listen here.

 

What is the revolution of the relationship economy?

Is social media enabling relationships or connections?

The struggle of turning on line relationships into economic value?

Is there a difficulty with making money through relationships with friends?

Will people accept businesses making money from their on - line relationship?

Is creating a relationship about gaining influence over behaviour?

Are there global cultural differences that will complicate internet marketing?

The difference between sharing information than sharing knowledge and how do businesses move from information sharing to knowledge sharing?

Can businesses build relationships at an individual rather than the market level ?

How do you create time within a business to invest in consumer relationships?

Will consumers form cooperatives and cut business out of the loop, if companies don't join in the relationship economy?

How the world will change as social networking increase across the population?

 

And don't forget to subscribe to the show - details at the bottom - so you don't miss the second part of the show :)

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 hop over to Facebook group for The Engaging Brand. or the new room set up on Friendfeed

How you can listen to the Engaging Brand

1) You can listen on your PC now without downloading any software just click here for the 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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How to Stand Out In Your Career

Average is a bland description and yet the most used score in business. To stand out within business I think there is an unusual difference between a team member and a leader of a team

Extraordinary performance by definition is doing what is not expected of the level that you work at....therein lies the ultimate irony.

• To be extra - ordinary as an employee, you need to go beyond the expectations of your level. You can star, by showing your potential - to give more than is expected, to take personal responsibility. In essence the extra is performing to a level above.

• To be extra - ordinary as a leader, you inspire partly by being ordinary! By understanding that it is the ordinary aspects of human leadership - the thank you's, the seeing the person not the role, by being available to people, by  showing that you are an ordinary human being. Extraordinary leaders are ordinary people at heart who inspire them to believe in the dream.

I think it is worth thinking about your role - the extra needed to be a high performer is often ordinary human elements that you have naturally inside of yourself.

The extra is understanding what is not often seen in your role and delivering it - that may seem difficult, when in reality what people are looking for, are ordinary in your everyday life. Just think of the team member who is a scout leader outside work, or the powerful leader who is the parent who reads to their child when they get home, knowing the joy sharing one on one time, gives that child.

Employer Branding Live Event

Don't forget to join me on this Friday's Epic Living Hour when I will be discussing employer and personal branding and even some of the 'myths' surrounding employee engagement with Eric Pennington. The tables are turned from interviewer on the podcast, to interviewee...after I talked with Eric about Escaping the Corporate Rut - you can listen to his thoughts by clicking here to listen to the weekly leadership podcast