Does your company have good character? I’m not talking about the people or “characters” within the company. While the people make up a very important part of it, I’m talking about the character of the company, itself.

Good character, like TRUE branding, is based on a very specific set of criteria. For TRUE branding, we’ve determined that the brand must be True, Relevant, Unique and Engaging to have a strong, marketable brand foundation. But when it comes to character, there are six traits that form the strongest foundation:

•  Trustworthiness
•  Respect
•  Responsibility
•  Fairness
•  Caring
•  and Citizenship

Not one of those characteristics has anything to do with increasing market share or ROI.

There’s more than the bottom line. There’s more than the marketing. There’s more than 60-hour workweek. There’s more than the executive washroom. There’s more than accounting or sales. More than copier paper, toner, staples… There’s simply more, and it’s called character. While it shouldn’t be confused with your company brand, good character and a TRUE brand should go hand-in-hand.

Can British Petroleum (BP) say they’ve got a good character? If you evaluate the company character based on the simple six criteria listed above, they’re failing miserably! They’ve broken our trust, shown absolutely NO respect, taken no responsibility for their actions and have been deplorable in their dealings since the spill (can we even call it a spill any more?). And let’s not even talk about caring and citizenship. It’s a perfect case study in complete corporate character implosion. Even based on the TRUE branding criteria, I’d say their brand (and company) is in a world of hurt.

I love the recent statement by Laura Ries when she identified BP’s “brand problem.”

“The spill in the Gulf has pulled the curtain off of a company that has been blowing smoke up our butts for years. No consumer, regulator or politician will soon forget this tragedy”

And she concludes with,

“Strong brands with a reputation for quality, safety and honesty are able to survive even the worst tragedies and negative PR stories. Toyota, Tylenol and Goldman Sachs have faced some dark days recently, but for them the future is still bright because the brands are strong. For BP, not so much. A brand with a poor reputation facing one of the worst oil spills ever is damaged goods. No amount of advertising can fix this. Anything BP says will no longer be believed. You can fool us once, but never again.”

Because of recent events, BP is the obvious example, but what other companies have been branding themselves as the “community company” when its character, deep down, is flawed, selfish, myopic and detrimental to the community in which they serve? Finding the truth within your brand is imperative. It’s the foundation on which all else is built. Ironically, truth is a core component for good character as well.

I can’t emphasize the importance of the correlation here.  There’s an important connection. When the two support each other, everyone wins!

What has your company done to educate and foster good character? Does good character start in the corner office and spread on down through the ranks or is it simply a happy face panted over oil slicks, smoke screens and broken promises?

Food for thought…

Keep Cooking! (TRUE character-driven business)
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

For more information on the six pillars of character, check out these links:

http://www.charactercountsiniowa.blogspot.com/
http://charactercounts.org/sixpillars.html
http://www.drake.edu/icd/
http://josephsoninstitute.org/business/

I don’t mean to fire another shot at the marketing community in the U.K., but…

What the heck are the marketers for the London 2012 Olympics committee smoking?

VIDEO:

Sorry about the auto play… (Notice the kids giving the Nazi salute to them? WTH?)

To have such a prestigious organization adorn your city would be an honor to last a lifetime. But it seems like the folks marketing for the occasion have taken the opportunity and turned it into a Duran Duran meets The TeleTubbies on LSD experience.

Let me back up about four years… If you haven’t read it yet, I did a blog post (June 2006) about the incredibly ill-conceived logo designed for the London 2012 Olympics. Saying:

“I’m saddened when I think of the world’s athletes that have put so much effort and time into achieving the honor of competing in the Olympics having to walk around the Olympic Village slathered with a logo that looks like they just got back from a Duran Duran concert.”

And now the marketers have launched a campaign to show off the new mascots. All I can say for them is at least they’re consistent.

Good Lord, They look like the love child of Timothy Leary and TinkyWinkie! I’m thinking the Aztecs saw this for 2012 and just decided to end it all there. What the heck would be the point of living after that?

Marketing in a Vacuum?

Normally, in these horribly off-the-mark situations, I’d point my finger at some self indulgent agency or myopic company trying to be “cutting edge” without the first hint of research or understanding of the target market. But according to The Telegraph UK, the chairman of the London Organizing Committee, Lord Coe and his marketing group spent 18 months and did over 40 focus groups in preparation and development of these atrocities!

40 FOCUS GROUPS?!?

What did they do, design them AND THEN hold focus groups until they found someone to say they liked them?

Here are a couple more images that come to mind when I see these mascots:

At least Vancouver 2010 Mascots related to the region and didn’t scare the hell out of people…

Also from The Telegraph UK:

Stephen Bayley, the prominent design critic, said: “What is it about these Games which seems to drive the organisers into this cretinous infantilism?

“Why can’t we have something that makes us sing with pride, instead of these appalling computerised Smurfs for the iPhone generation?”

“If the Games are going to be remembered by their art then we can declare them a calamitous failure already.”

I mean c’mon, if one of the biggest design critics in your country says they suck, shouldn’t you reflect on the direction you’ve taken?

So, what is the London 2012 Olympic committee to do? It’s too late to start over. It’s too ugly to ignore. Is this a public relations issue now? Can they make this all make sense somehow?

I’d love to know what you think. And for a little fun, here’s a little spoof from Gawker…

Keep Cooking! (at least tasteful branding decisions)
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

Assassins. Espionage artists. Spies. Mercenaries. Survivalists. Turtles? Whatever you call them, the Ninjas’ brand is simply cool as hell! They have an aura of overwhelming power, intelligence, stealth and magic that no other warring agent can touch.  Sure, the “Ninja” brand has been copied, stolen and spoofed, but it just can not be duplicated. Now THAT’S a strong brand…

So, when it comes to really stepping up and differentiating your product or service from your competition, why not pull some hints from the code of the Ninja into your branding?

Follow The Code Of The Branding Ninja:

A Branding Ninja must…

1. Never betray the clan.
Truth and honor are the core of the ninja brand. If your ninja brand can’t be trustworthy and loyal, then you have no foundation for the relationship (in business or life).

2. Accomplish the mission; failure is not an option.
Ninja branding is all about making the mission successful at virtually any cost. So what do you do when the challenges become overwhelming? Go into ninja-mode and kick some brand arse!

3. Put the clan and the mission before himself.
When working in a team environment, focus on the brand mission over your personal needs. Rogue ninjas are simply a detriment to themselves and the overall brand mission. It’s called teamwork, ninjas!

4. Escape if captured (no excuses).
Stealth. Speed. Nimble action. They’re all actions of the brand ninja. If you get stuck in you mission or captured by adversity, reject, re-focus, re-purpose and re-launch! A ninja held prisoner is soon a dead ninja!

5. Kill only when necessary for survival.
If threatened by conflict, competition or failure the ninja will always strive to redirect the end to his favor through any means necessary. And only as a last resort, he go for the death blow.

6. Avoid striking a member of the same ry (school).
This discipline should go without saying, but it goes back to working within a team. A team of brand ninjas all tirelessly work toward the same mission. To have infighting and dissension amongst its ranks would doom the brand mission.

7. Strive for peace, harmony and enlightenment in all things.
Once you have a TRUE brand mission on hand, the direction to take should be one of serene discovery. If your brand mission is on path, resistance will be futile.

8. Aid a genin (fellow ninja) from the same ry.
If one ninja should stumble or fall, the genin to his sides will pick him up and correct the course. Mentoring and unfaltering support within the branding ninja ranks is imperative for mission success.

9. Never use the terms “ninja”, “shinobi”, or “assassin” when speaking in public.
The branding ninja shouldn’t need to overtly reveal his brand mission objective or tactics. The mission will speak for itself and the actions of the individual will be irrelevant to its success.

10. Always observe others and know your surroundings.
This is the external version of #9. If you observe with sharp diligence and objectivity, the scope of your branding territory (target market, niche mission, competitors’ flaws, etc.) will be revealed.

10.5 Understand you are always being observed. Always.
Just as you are watching others, they are watching you. Always protect your brand, your mission and be prepared to react with lightening speed and power!

The above list was taken from the Ninja Code of Honor during Japan’s Sengoku period, when, according to reports, the ninja discipline was born and developed between the 15th and 17th centuries.

Of course, I edited and kept the disciplines that spoke directly to branding and teamwork, but can you see the correlation?

SO… Which of the above codes can you work on to keep your brand TRUE? Is your brand ninja-like or do you need to go back and do a little TRUE ninja branding boot camp?

Keep Cooking! (with stealth, power and mystery in your brand)
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

What’s that behind you!

There are a lot of positive signs that small businesses are starting to adopt social media marketing as an integrated component of their overall business plans.  One significant change, based on a February 2010 Small Business Success Index report, is the fact that social media usage among small business jumped from a meager 12% in 2008 to 24% in the following year (Yes, doubled).

Of those using social media, 69% post regular updates / articles of relevance to sites like FaceBook and LinkedIn. Two additional stats that made me smile were: 54% monitor positive / negative feedback via social networks, and almost 40% of the small businesses author a blog pertaining to their field of expertise.

OUTSTANDING!

But hold on, that’s still only 1-in-5 of those surveyed.

So, let’s address some of the restraints keeping small businesses form jumping on board?

According to the report, 50% of the users say it takes more time than they expected.

This is a surprise? Okay, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt, but the reason they may have been caught off guard is a result of one or a combination of following:

1. Some “Social Media Expert” duped them with dollar signs and drummed up statistics, set up a Twitter account and a FaceBook page and then ran off with  little to no strategy or support.
2. They took it on by themselves with little to no understanding of building a social media community or marketing.
3. They underestimated how little they knew about their brand, the audience and the business.

Of course social media marketing takes time! Just like scheduling  time to check voice-mail or email, small business owners need to adapt to make time for a little proactive community engagement. It pays off in the end.

Then there’s the statistic that made me laugh the hardest.  17% expressed that social media gives people a chance to criticize their business on the Internet.

Do they actually think criticism won’t happen if they stay away?  Go ahead, try it.  Then, call me when the business folds.  I know Realtors that need the square footage.

***

Come on, folks, this should stand as a call to action for all small business owners (as well as those that market to/for them).  Social media is not going away any time soon.  And the quicker you figure out how to use it to your advantage, the better chances you’ll have for surviving the years to come.

Here are 10 starting questions I like to ask those looking into social media for marketing.

1. What will make you stand out among the others “yelling into the chasm?”
2. Who is your target audience?
3. Who are your direct competitors?
4. What could be some indirect inhibitors?
5. Do you have a marketing plan – written down with goals, strategies, tactics and a reasonable budget?
6. Is there a strategy or tactic within your marketing plan that social media could compliment / support (Public Relations, etc.)?
7. Do you have the manpower/ time for social media marketing?
8. (If not) Do you have the budget to outsource components of social media marketing?
9. Do you know how to carry on an engaging conversation?
10. Do you have patience?

As with any marketing tool, social media has a unique profile in each company’s marketing plan. While a blog is a great core component to a social media marketing strategy, Twitter, YouTube and FaceBook may not always apply. Heck, If your target audience isn’t active online, don’t be a fool and put your time into broad social media integration. Just make sure to do a little research before jumping in and you’ll know what’s right for you / your company.

Where does your small business stand when it comes to integrating social media into your marketing plan?  Is it an add-on that will eventually fade away?  Or do you have the plan and vision to make social media work for you?

If you’re a small business that hasn’t embraced social media as a marketing tool, then I have two things to say:

1. You’re losing out on a fantastic way to extend your marketing message as well as build brand equity.
2. You’re probably not reading this and I’m writing for my already savvy followers and this is pointless.

Food for thought.

Keep Cooking! (Purposeful, results-oriented decisions)
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef