Singer-composer Paul Simon’s classic song “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover” is about an emotionally torn man who “struggles to be free” of his wife. He learns, from his mistress, “The answer is easy if you take it logically.” Her advice? “You just slip out the back, Jack. Make a new plan, Stan. You don’t need to be coy, Roy. Just get yourself free.” Companies usually don’t want to slip out the back, leaving their customers feeling dumped. But companies can unconsciously induce their customers to say goodbye to the company’s brands – in ways as swift and sure as the song’s recommendations. I won’t bore you with fifty ways, but here are seven sure-fire mistakes leaders make that lead their customers to “slip out the back” or “make a new plan.” 1. Placing profits before people and customer experiences. Financial outcomes are…
Lessons for leaders from NBC’s newsroom fiasco
Stars and companies fall from grace. Because of the public hanging, the fall is never pretty. And it’s far easier to explain what happened in hindsight than predict with foresight. Still, looking backward is how we learn our lessons. So here’s my take on NBC’s shocking change in fortune. Breaking your brand promise destroys trust. News anchors must convey the objectivity, rationality, and truthfulness their viewers demand. CBS’s Walter Cronkite is the gold standard. When your chief newsman appears on late night shows and tries to be funny or raises his hand to be Jay Leno’s replacement—as Williams did—you have a potential branding issue to manage proactively. Restlessness places brand promises at risk. Restlessness emerges when the status quo produces a feeling or reality of stagnation. John Stewart is exiting the Daily Show as he felt his viewers did not deserve a host…
Are your business model strategy and marketing communications aligned?
A dangerous canyon often arises between business model strategy and marketing. Separate roles, meetings, deliverables, timetables, personalities and consultancies exist on each side of the divide. When business strategy and marketing execution move forward independently – as they often do – spin, distrust, poor customer experiences and commoditization result. A classic case of this problem was the latest branding of Plymouth as “Not your father’s Plymouth,” when the new model was in fact just like the dated car. Needless to say, the brand now belongs to history books. Ty Montague offers a needed bridge across this canyon in True Story: How to Combine Story and Action to Transform Your Business. Montague is co-founder of co:collective, a consultancy that helps its clients develop their strategy and brand story using the principles of Storydoing™. Montague’s premise – and it is a terrific one – is…
Are your business model and brand strategies aligned?
A new client asked me a good question today. “You talk Kay about helping us find our value promise, but my communications agency is totally focused on our brand platform. What’s what and why does it matter?” The answer rests in understanding communication challenges. The internal communication challenge Employees need a shared and actionable aim that advances the company’s success. It must be actionable so that employees and teams know how to go about their work. The aim must also be shared or else actions by one part of the organization hurt another part’s success, creating distrust and silo-mentality. (These two requirements are why “Grow profits and revenue” as the only aim fails.) The best internal directive is a value promise. It’s the promise the company makes to its target customers and the basis on which it wants to win business. Internally, it…