Strategy in business is one of those phrases that can make a grown person cry....because it is used with such business jargon as paradigm shift, proposition, strategic imperatives.....all of which are totally unemotional and not at all engaging.
Leaders may sound clever using the business jargon but they don't sound passionate, they may sound worldly but they don't sound human! And leaders may have the job title of leader but have they engaged people to follow?
The question is this...would you try and sell your product or services to customers with this kind of slogan
"There is a strategic imperative for you to make a paradigm shift to our value proposition - buy now"
I suggest not.
So why do leadership and management try and sell the brand vision, the business vision in these terms? After all what is a business strategy for other than engaging people's hearts and minds?
Keep business strategy, marketing strategies...any strategy simple
What are you wanting to change in the world for the better?
Why are you so passionate about it?
How will you change the world?
And by when ...
Here is a little Bobographic to keep reminding you
Business value is something that I am researching as part of my social business PhD. The valuation of a business has always been linked to adding value - value through service or value through the combination of raw materials.
Business strategy for creating value used to be "easy" but with the advent of the Internet the consumers have so much more power - they can make, they can access services through social networking, they can even challenge what value you are creating.....
My initial PhD research is showing though that although value creation may be changing...as always the foundation of growing a business has not changed. (Note I will be sharing the PhD research in future newletters - so if you want to know more subscribe to The Engaging Times!)
Value creation is based on living your values
When customers buy into those values, recognising the value of their purchasing, their recommendations, their brand loyalty etc
We talked about strategy and how leadership and management can create a successful business plan that shows how they will make money through their business ideas using a robust business strategy that works.
Many have tried to term the age we live in:- the knowledge economy, the digital economy, the experience economy, the
Internet, the list goes on... but the one I use is the connected or network economy.
There is a social change in the economy today and we can be fooled into thinking that the change is all about the Internet....however that is one piece of the jigsaw behind our thinking about economic development.
For a business there are four ways to look at what is happening and to start a business around these factors or to evolve your customer management of your existing business.
The four factors are interlinked but they do need you to see the subtle differences between them.
Technological. The most obvious and therefore won't expand too much! But the technology is changing the way that people communicate, where they communicate, why the communicate and how they communicate. Think about technological change
Social. As our living habits change, our needs as consumers change. We have developed over the century from a localised, family based community to a global, transient population. Our work may be at home, we may live "alone, yet in a highly populated city", we may struggle to balance family and work because of communting times or working hours. In general people have a social need that no longer gets filled by close by family or friends. We are not inherently more social, I would argue we are inherently in need of social because of the way we live our lives. Think about the social change
Economical. In my Dad's day his marketplace was relatively local but now most businesses have global competitors. The global economy has changed our business model and made profit harder to find...but not impossible. We need to recognise that the global competition problem is offset by opportunities. Niche markets, online delivery, less fixed costs, greater word of mouth, more market testing etc etc. We must not focus on what is eroding our profit, but on what is creating opportunities for profit if we change our traditional mindset. Think about the economic model
Networkable. The top down approach to selling, leadership is changing to what I term cyclone-ship. The power and strength of companies relies on your ability to connect, to network, to develop relationships....not just with consumers but employees, suppliers, talent, ideas, supply chain management. We need to evolve from hierarchical, chain like process to a networked eco-system.....Think about the structure and talent
The key for business is to think about how technology can help you deliver and maximise the other three factors.
How can we help fill the social need of modern consumers?
How can we use technology to create value for the business?
How can we develop skills that will enhance our network capability?
The listener of the week and winning an Engaging Brand goodie bag is Hugo Fernandes. Remember the goodie bad is picked from all the people who share, like, tweet about the Engaging Brand podcast to say a BIG thank you from me!
Today is an interview with Kevin Kelly. Kevin has been publisher of theWhole Earth Review, exec editor at WIRED, founder of visionary nonprofits, and writer on biology and business and "cool tools." He's admired for his new perspectives on technology and if you get chance check out his Ted Talks
Humans love to imitate and as technology advancements happen....we have an even greater ability to imitate! (Listen to The Knock Off Economy to hear about the copyright issues).
Copyright law never seems far from a blog post and yet sometimes I think we tend to see all copyright as bad - copying can be good and here's why..
Human's are an evolution of their genetics...we have copying built into our DNA. It is part of our 'humanness'. Therefore social media and social marketing are playing to genetic make up - copy and share.
I always love the quote - "Be yourself, everyone else is taken" Yes, we need to be unique BUT in order to improve why not imitate the person you want to be remembered for being? Many people try to imitate business leaders...but they fail because they are...and can never be...Steve Jobs or Richard Branson. Instead, write your legacy now and grow towards it.....the more you imitate the person you want to be, the closer you grow towards being that person.
People talk about elevator pitches...I must say that I don't do those!....they always sound so manufactured to me. However, try and develop a style that is repeatable, that shouts your personal brand..that people can hear and automatically link to you. Bob over on the left of this post is my little signature..if you see Bob then you know it is me writing or presenting.
Social is about sharing and so if people are not sharing...then either you are not connecting with the right people (who share your values) or your content marketing does not have that "shareability factor". You see people will pass on little snippets in day to day life, they will copy an accent, they will sing catchy tunes...when you are producing content you need to create and then build in the catchyness!
Humans can be complex to work with.....however remember they are simple in so many ways...they
Love to be recognised...so thank them. (I give away a goodie bag each week to someone who shares about The Engaging Brand Podcast.
Love to be the one in the know - so give them something to share.
Love to be needed - so show appreciation.
Love to learn - so help them.
Love things that make their life easier - so simplify for them.
Social doesn't have to be complicated...just like humans.
I often think it is us that makes both social media and human relationships complicated...how? ...by over-thinking and by preventing our pure 'humanness' to abound.
Think of how business technology has altered
business over the last two centuries, however technology does evolve just like business. Business and technology follow each other and create new markets globally, new consumer markets emerge from nowhere...and even new business models are created.
Think about how we have progresses from the telegraph, to letter, to phone, to fax, to email, totwitter...each building on the restrictions of the past. Ease and simplicity being two key factors in the innovations
Think about business....moving from landowner/peasant, industrial powerhouses, cooperatives, entrepreneurship, online business etc etc
As technology creates markets, as business is made simpler for anyone to create.....business spreads and so does technology.
Why am I blogging about this?
Well because for all those businesses who can't see the purpose of social media forbusiness...remember.....
Technology in the future will build on the technology of today
If you are not embracing today's emerging technology then you are falling behind in the race for tomorrow's consumer.
Social media is not new. Social media is building on the offline world of networking and customer relationships.
It is another brick in the business world - it isn't about demolishing the ways to do business, it is about building new ways to do business. What is social media and what is it's importance for business....well
It is important today...but it will be vital as a foundation for tomorrow.
Speak to many people and the Internet has changed the business landscape - many speak of the global economy, a global village and how globalisation has widened the market for small business as well as large
corporations.
This is all true but I think it tricks us into thinking too globally. Actually another powerful internet tool is the ability to localise, the ability to find and grow niches.
The overall power of the web may lie in the global network but for business - and especially small business - the power of local has never been stronger.
So instead of thinking you can sell to the world, understand your target customer and use the web to localise your efforts.
Business is about finding your niche....local search is about helping you reach your niche audience.
Following on from this week's Engaging Brand podcast, I wanted to share some thought on the pirate organisation.
First learning for me was that the word itself comes from the Greek 'peirao' which means put to the test. Too often we try and shut off the potential threats, too often we see them as renegades with nothing to learn from, however...remember the idea of put to the test. The people at the fringes who are trying to redefine your market, are actually a great mirror to your brand...are you playing it too safe, have you forgotten the raw ideas that helped you grow the business in the first place?
We need to understand that old adage...knowledge is not power, it is the sharing of knowledge that brings power. It is about sharing enough to get people interested, to want them to know more....social media is the appertif!
Take a look around at what the 'pirates' of your industry or to your industry are doing...if they are strong enough for people want them to be shut down e.g. napster...they are a new business opportunity in the making e.g iTunes.
In trying to control, you push people to fight against you. To 'control' - learn from them, listen to them...that way you can tap into their energy and their audience.
Pirates are successful through their agility, their speed and their element of surprise. Why leave those attributes to others.....build your brand, build your business on those values.
In 1965 we say Pirate radio as wrong, today we have independent radio stations. Only a few years ago the web was seen as geeky, now a website is a must.....if you want to see the future, a good place to start is the fringes...
Pirates are focused on a cause.....a following comes from standing for something. If you want a following on social media, stand for something....not everything.
We are born to conform...to our parents, to the law etc....but never mistake respecting with trailblazing...
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