Marketing Hipster

This past weekend I was reading an article that was discussing how CEO Norman Adami of Miller Brewing Company was proceeding with freezing the pensions of all his hard working employees. Obviously, this is something that the employees are not in favor of and I gather a bit upset over. Well Virginia at Brains on Fire discovered a video on YouTube made and performed by Miller employees expressing their unhappiness.

Now by no means is this video that good to be honest, but it sure brings the issue down to a human level compared to a union press release. Though I do think they missed a great opportunity here. They should of included the CEO’s email address or something that people who watched this video could complain and threaten to stop drinking the company’s beer. The best way to get senior managements’ attention is to threaten their bottom line.

Technorati Tags: Norman Adami, Miller Brewing Company, YouTube

I have found particularly interesting the coverage in both the blogosphere as well as the media on several leaked company emails / memos recently. Most of the discussions have focused on the information in the memos itself, but no one is discussing why employees are leaking confidential information that at times puts the companies they work for in a bad light. On the surface, many people would say that these kinds of leaks are inevitable because of the size of the companies. I would respond that companies like Google, Apple, Nike and Berkshire Hathaway never have leaks and are all large companies. So the question is why do some companies have employees who are willing to share confidential information while other companies do not?

There are a number of possible answers to this issue, but the top issue I believe stems from how an employee feels towards the company he or she works for. In other words “the connection” that an employee has with the company they work for. This can include feeling unwanted or unappreciated to feeling like they are doing a tedious or boring job. My company and I have been doing a lot of work with our clients on what is being said about their companies both online and offline by their employees. I have to tell you that I have been stunned at times reading some of the things that employees have written about the companies they work for.

So how does a company go about first recognizing that this is an issue and then what can be done internally to rectify it? At Capstrat, we have developed a new initiative called Employee Marketing. Overall, the same marketing techniques that a company would choose to increase visibility and market share can be used internally to better communicate and connect with the people who matter most within a company, it’s employees. What it truly boils down to is a company showing it’s employees that no matter where you are on the org chart, no matter if you are a VP to a newly hired intern, each and every person has a voice in the company. Not only is that voice wanted, but more importantly, that voice is needed for the short and long term success of the company.

I am going to have several follow ups to this post to delve deeper into why this is an important issue that many companies are going to have to deal with in the future.

Technorati Tags: leaking confidential information

Now that the new new year is in full swing and we are all back to work, the blogosphere is a awash with articles on anything and everything that is Web 2.0. Depending on whom you read, Web 2.0 has many different meanings. One of the main themes that I have pulled from many pundits is that this is the year that marketers really engage with their customers. Instead of this one way push conversation that has been going on for the better part of forever, this year large and small marketers alike realize that the only way to truly own their customers is by opening a two way conversation.

One of the questions that I am being asked by clients is where and how to start? As many of us know, when you are dealing with large companies with many levels, change does not happen quickly to say the least. Also, when you are talking about engagement marketing, there are definitely some trials and tribulations involved. In other words, companies do not want to take a chance of opening Pandora’s box.

An area where I believe is a must starting place for any company is to look internally. How are customers / clients being dealt with today by the employees? How is communication being handled whether through phone, email or fax? Are customers only being spoken with when there is a problem? Are you being proactive or reactive? To really properly engage with clients, it starts on the front line which is your employees. They need to be engaged and understand the vision to ensure that everyone is proceeding in the same direction.

I was sitting in a client meeting recently when a question was posed to a client, “If you were sitting down for Thanksgiving dinner and one of your relatives asked you to tell them about the company you work for, what would you say?” There was silence in the room while people searched for a response.

If it takes employees time to figure out how to define your company, what do you think your customers are saying?

Technorati Tags: Web 2.0, engagement marketing

Why do certain companies succeed while others fail? During my career, I have worked for some very successful companies and then honestly, some not so successful companies. I have also seen successful companies take an utter nose dive while struggling companies improve. There are some fairly obvious factors that decide whether a company is going to be successful like their product offerings, customer service, competition in the marketplace, marketing strategies and of course price. These are all critical issues that will help determine a companies future.

Though, based on what I have witnessed first hand, I believe there are many other important factors which if not addressed will eventually lead to the demise of any company. Here are some of my important factors:

• Communication -The constant and consistent communication between management and it’s employees. Management developing the road map and vision and ensuring that every employee understands and has bought into that vision and everyone is proceeding in the same direction. I would also add that management needs constant input from its employees on what is working and what is not which might cause the vision and direction to be changed or tweaked.

• Apathy – Never stop pushing the envelope, trying new things and continually improving on what has delivered success in the past. The day you stop moving is the first day of a long and painful death.

• Environment – A company must empower every one of their employees to feel that each one is making a significant contribution to the overall goal. A team atmosphere must be created that employees can feed off and learn from each other. They must believe in it’s management and that they have a voice in the company.

• Greed – Once management as well as employees start focusing more on stock price or bonuses instead of the business, it is time to take your cash and get out. Let someone else who is still hungry take your place in line.

• Respect – Employees need to respect the leaders of the company and the leaders of the company need to understand that the only true commodity any company has is its people.

Technorati Tags: successful companies, Communication, Apathy, Environment, Greed, Respect

For the last couple of weeks, I have been going to a number of different company Christmas parties. While I along with most people were drinking, eating and being merry, a couple of thoughts popped in my head that I just have not been able to shake. I found it interesting just listening to employees from a number of different companies talk honestly and openly about the companies they work for. I thought this would make an incredible focus group for companies to hear an unbiased and totally raw opinion of what their employees are saying about them when the gloves come off.
When I meet with clients and we begin to discuss things like brand reputation and customer feedback, I always like to ask what they believe their employees are saying about their company. Usually they feel their employees are happy and would provide positive feedback. I would say 50% of the time, they are usually wrong. One of the areas that companies have spent very little time or money on is internal communications. Simply, this is developing a plan and process that allows for two-way communications between management and its employees. And I want to stress the term two-way. Anyone can send emails and have a newsletter distributed throughout a company, but that does not allow for any feedback from the people a company should focus on most, its employees. These people are on the front lines of your business, which represent your brand to your customers, potential customers and anyone else within ear shot.

I did a brand analysis for a company I work with who believed with total certainty that based on their internal metrics; their employees are satisfied and believe in the companies vision. It took me a half an hour to find a half dozen blogs written by employees whose main objective was to bash the company. Here are some specific quotes that I found:

“Company Name could give a damn about its employees. Its sole focus is on quotas and profits.” “It blows my mind how management can continually show absolute total disregard for their employees. How do they expect to stay in business?” “I have been working for him for almost 5 years now and I am constantly amazed how a CEO can continually lie to his employees and still show up everyday with a smile on his face?”

I could go on and on, but the wake up call for this client along with many other companies out there is that you need to start at square one and that is your employees. Opening up a line of communication, a place where an employee can feel like he/she has some sort of voice is incredibly important for an employee’s attitude and state of mind. In part 2 we are going to go into specifics of what a company can do to open up these lines of communications.

Technorati Tags: brand reputation, customer feedback, internal communications, brand analysis