BCA

In tough and uncertain times, many of us look for leaders to point the way. We hope someone in the organization can offer clarity and direction.

In response, many leaders feel the need to create and communicate next steps, a new plan, the key priorities. But this impulse for clear direction can actually undermine your progress. “Do not assume just because you have provided clear direction that anything is going to happen,” says CCL’s Bill Pasmore. “It’s the people, not the plan.”

If you’re like most executives, you’ve got plans — strategies, tactics, priorities — and you’re ready for action. But what about your people? Are your people aligned to your vision? Is your culture prepared to accept change, embrace your goals and execute collaboratively? Without effective leadership to drive direction, alignment and commitment, plans grind to a halt.

Too many priorities can be a problem

Pasmore likes to tell the story of the CEO of a large defense contractor who was a good strategist and a clear communicator of plans and priorities. As a result, the senior team knew what needed to be accomplished, and they developed objectives for their departments.

“The CEO had been reiterating priorities for months, so imagine his surprise to hear that at the level below his direct reports, there was confusion about the company’s priorities. They insisted that too many things were important. In fact, everything was important,” says Pasmore. “When they looked to their bosses to arbitrate, everything seemed important to the members of the senior team as well. They, in turn, kept asking the CEO to tell them what to do first, second and third. How did this happen?”

As plans and ideas get put into action, they take on a life of their own. “The teams started working on their objectives, but often they needed help from the other departments to get their work done,” explains Pasmore. “But those objectives weren’t on the priority list for the other departments. People did their best to help their colleagues, but they didn’t have the time and resources to do all that everyone was asking them to do. And, since the senior team members knew all of the CEO’s priorities, they found it impossible to say no.”

The problem was that the CEO believed that giving clear direction would empower people to do their jobs and foster ownership of the outcomes. In fact, giving clear direction often creates less ownership, according to Pasmore. If the top provides absolute clarity, others will continue to look to the top for clarity. If answers, direction and plans are handed down, the people who do the work won’t be able to adjust, accommodate and collaborate.

Trying to manage from the top can halt the project

“The top can’t direct all of the things that emerge and have to be dealt with for the change to happen. Much of this work is spontaneous, unplanned, interdependent and emergent,” he says. “Trying to manage it at the top slows it down or brings it to a halt altogether.”

To prevent overload and non-alignment during execution, try these suggestions from Pasmore:

• Insist on feedback loops from the bottom up, or you’ll never know what’s going on. Strategy execution isn’t a top-down process. Find ways to consistently understand the reality throughout the system. And don’t shoot the messenger; placing blame will kill upward feedback.
• If the project is really important, spend the time and money to get all the key players together in the same room (or on the same videoconference) to iron out priorities every two to three months for the first year, and as needed thereafter. Take note: “key players” include those below the senior team who know firsthand what is actually happening in the work.
• When planning the project, agree on observable measures of progress and timetables rather than just setting priorities. For example: “Sales, research and manufacturing will have signed off on the design for the new product by the end of Q4.” This helps everyone understand when work is on track (or not).
• Build a “cooperation cost” into your planning. Add between 25 and 100 percent (depending on project complexity) to project costs and timelines to allow for emergent cooperative work as people learn what needs to get done. Be realistic; if the added costs make the project untenable, do not proceed on the assumption that cooperation won’t be necessary.

Reprinted with permission from Leading Effectively newsletter, Center for Creative Leadership

From World Advertising Research Center

 A majority of marketers around the world do not believe that their agencies are sufficiently “results driven”, a new market survey has revealed.

 The Fournaise Marketing Group, a consulting group, interviewed 1,000 executives in various markets, and discovered that 65% thought their agencies were not paying enough attention to return on investment. Such a perception reached a peak of 70% in developed markets including the US, Western Europe and Australia.

 More specifically, 74% of participants argued that agencies did not have the tools and insights in place that would enable them to focus their campaigns on the right target audience.  A further 71% of contributors suggested that their creative partners were too “awards driven”, and more interested in improving their portfolios than boosting brand sales.

Agencies need capability to produce comprehensive tracking studies

 Seven out of ten respondents similarly believed that the inability to produce comprehensive tracking studies and other such data limited the effectiveness of the strategies formulated by agencies.

 Over 35% of agencies were described as being “result drivers” which emphasized improving their client’s  revenues and pursued whatever approach ultimately achieved that aim. A further 43% were “result pretenders” that presented themselves as being committed to proving the payback on marketing expenditures, but did not have the processes in place to support these claims.

There are still ‘dreamers’ out there

 Finally, some 22% of agencies were depicted as “dreamers” who lived in the old Adland” and had completely failed to adapt to the demands of the new media age

How your employees can make or break a brand relationship

By William J . McEwen

In today’s volatile economic environment, companies are understandably worried about their customers. Will they stay or will they leave? After all, customers have options, and they certainly know it. Competitive overtures, often trumpeting lower prices and intriguing promotional offers, have intensified. The Internet beckons, with its impressive array of available alternatives. And so, as many company CEOs have attested, it appears that today’s customer is indeed king.

But in focusing on maintaining the continuing patronage of their customers, too many companies appear to be ignoring their potentially most powerful marketing weapon. In their attempts to build stronger customer relationships, many companies emphasize managing the traditional “four Ps” of marketing — Product, Price, Place and Promotion — while appearing to overlook an essential fifth P: People. Admittedly, most organizations that have employees who touch customers will at least give lip service to the critical importance of their human resources.

Empty promises

Their websites proudly proclaim “our people are our most important product”; “our people make the difference.” But these can be empty promises, representing nothing more than meaningless puffery. Corporate mantras don’t always translate to where it really matters: the “moment of truth” when the customer actually comes in contact with the employee who has been challenged to “live” the company’s brand promise.

For the complete story, go to:  www.gallup.com ,  Gallup Management Journal.

By Brice Alvord

Many experts are still predicting gloom and doom for the economy, and many business leaders are falling victim to their prognosis, which is fast becoming a self fulfilling prophecy for those companies who are unfortunate enough to be lead by those leaders. They seem to be waiting for government to bail them out or just wringing their hands in utter despair. We will only rise out of this recession when individual leaders become committed to re-invigorating their companies.

The reinvigoration process stems from business process reengineering (BPR), which began as a private sector technique to help organizations fundamentally rethink how they do their work in order to dramatically improve customer service, cut operational costs, and become world-class competitors. Business everywhere have lost sight of the need for the continuing development and deployment of business process reengineering and improved organizational structures to support new and innovative process improvements. 

Business process reengineering is an effective approach for redesigning the way work is done to better support the organization’s mission and reduce costs. Reengineering starts with a high-level assessment of the organization’s mission, strategic goals, and customer needs. Basic questions must be asked, such as:

• “Does our mission need to be redefined?
• Are our strategic goals aligned with our mission?
• Who are our customers?”

(more…)

One-half use the site more than they did a year ago

Business-to-business (B2B) sales cycles are longer than a year ago, but pipelines are growing, according to the “B2B SalesPulse Survey” from business information company OneSource.

Traditional outbound prospecting still produces the most qualified leads for US B2B sales representatives, but companies are relying more on their corporate Website to help bring in customers. Social networking sites were rated toward the low end of the scale, though they were as helpful in lead generation as direct mail.

The most effective social network for prospecting was LinkedIn, by a wide margin. The business-oriented site was rated 3.1 out of 5, compared with ratings of 2 for blogs, 1.9 for Facebook and 1.8 for Twitter.

LinkedIn’s effectiveness in this area has translated into significant increases in usage. Nearly one-half of respondents said they were using the site more for prospecting and research than a year before. Around one-fifth of those polled were also upping their prospecting efforts on blogs, Facebook and Twitter, but majorities of B2B sales professionals did not use those sites for research at all.

January 2010 data from HubSpot showed 45% of North American B2B companies using LinkedIn for marketing had acquired a customer through the site. Company blogs were effective for 43% of respondents, while 38% and 33%, respectively, got customers from Twitter and Facebook.

In contrast, research firm Outsell found that US B2B marketers considered Facebook the most effective social media site, at 51%, followed by LinkedIn (45%) and Twitter (35%). That poll focused on effectiveness in general, not necessarily lead generation.

For complete story and data charts go to eMarketer.com

From World Advertising Research Center

Brands managers must become “generalists” who are able to deal with the wide range of challenges that characterise the digital and global age, McKinsey has argued.

The consultancy said brand and category managers have long been the “star players” in consumer packaged goods companies, responsible for ”pulling the levers at the center of complicated businesses.”

Such was their success that the top ten corporations in the sector saw their average annual revenues climb from $13bn  in 1990 to $47bn in 2009.

However, the trading climate has become much more complex, partly because these firms increased the size of their product portfolios from a norm of 46 brands to 153 brands over the last two decades.

These organisations also currently have a presence in around 160 countries compared with just 112 in 1990, accessing new target audiences and demographics as a consequence.

Marketers control of communications has been undermined

More broadly, the “explosion” of digital and social media has undermined marketers’ control of communications at a time when retailers are demanding customised campaigns.

A global poll of senior executives by McKinsey revealed that 55% of corporations were seeking to improve their brand management at present, but many have failed to effectively realise this goal.

One reason for this is that attempts to cut costs and standardise procedures mean brand managers often have to “cede advertising authority to a global campaign” and surrender control of the supply chain.

Moreover, many companies have added layers of management, divided up their operations into units focused on specific categories and countries, and built departments focusing on digital media.

Brand managers now report to a number of different superiors

As such, 81% of CPG firms now employ “matrix” structures which involve brand managers reporting to a number of different superiors, a figure that falls to 59% in other sectors.

Many brand managers are thus required to spend 80% of their time in meetings in a bid to coordinate and direct the variety of activities in which they are engaged.

According to McKinsey, this total can be reduced to 54% when more efficient processes are put in place, such as the clear identification of overall objectives and who has ultimate power to make decisions.

Reckitt Benckiser, the household goods firm, has achieved this aim by prioritising the 17 “power brands” that deliver 60% of its sales.

It also charges staff with global marketing duties to plan worldwide initiatives covering three year periods, while their local counterparts are made responsible for implementing these schemes.

“[Reckitt's] structure is kept flat, streamlined, and nonbureaucratic, all of which foster speed in making decisions and responding to changing consumer and market conditions,” McKinsey added.

Generalist organizations deliver 2-3% higher organic growth

Elsewhere, it suggested that companies which favour “generalist marketing functions” typically enjoy between 2% and 3% higher organic growth rates than those promoting “specialist groups”.

Procter & Gamble was named as having equipped its employees with the necessary skills in this area, not least because 95% of its brand managers have worked their way up the ranks.

“To reinforce this apprenticeship model, P&G has developed a common marketing language, established an internal marketing ‘university’,” McKinsey said.

“It has also created centers of expertise through global networks of experts with shared competencies, and redefined brand management as a career, extending the time horizons of people in these roles.”

Demographic Shifts Online 

Change is happening within the US Internet population on many levels. The average age of Internet users is rising in tandem with that of the general population, for example, and racial and ethnic characteristics are more closely mirroring those in the offline population.

eMarketer predicts that in 2010, 221 million people in the US will be online, about 71% of the total population. Their numbers will continue to grow, reaching 250 million in 2014—more than 77% of the population.

“Marketers already know they are navigating a dynamic digital landscape in 2010,” said Lisa E. Phillips, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, “US Internet Users, 2010.” “In five years, the results of some demographic shifts now taking place will become more evident. Internet users will be older, and many will have lower levels of education and annual income.

“One thing is certain,” she said. “They will be more diverse racially and ethnically and expect marketing messages to appeal to them.”

Growth is still occurring among all races and ethnicities of Internet users. eMarketer estimates the Internet population will increase 13.4% between 2010 and 2014, compared with 3.9% for the general population. Despite their already high Internet use, non-Hispanic whites and Asians will see further penetration by 2014, to 81.2% and 81%, respectively. Blacks and Hispanics, while still underrepresented online, will see steady growth in penetration rates, to 72.3% of the black population and 70% of Hispanics.

“Marketers should use multicultural marketing campaigns to target Asian, blacks and Hispanic audiences, because most are proud of their heritage and appreciate marketers who reach out to them with cultural messages,” said Ms. Phillips. “But keep in mind that all these groups are blending into the American population and do not want to feel separate from the mainstream.”

Printed with permission of E-marketer…for complete data charts go to emarketer.com

Share / Save E-mail Add to Favorites   Amazon Wish List   n     Send from any other e-mail address or e-mail program: Any e-mail Powered by AddToAny

Four in five have no mobile presence

Website redesigns are in the cards for about two-thirds of multichannel retailers, according to the “Outlook 2010: E-Commerce” survey from Multichannel Merchant. Online retailers are looking to refresh their look and improve search engine optimization, navigation and conversion rates.

Thy are also looking to add more advanced features, such as social media tools, video, forums and personalized recommendations. Mobile, though, is barely on the horizon for most survey respondents.

Four in five US multichannel retailers polled said they were not using any mobile commerce functionality in February 2010. The most common m-commerce application in use was mobile advertising, and just 6.5% of respondents had a mobile site. Slightly fewer had an iPhone app.

The report suggested that retailers could be put off investing in mobile by carriers’ failure to keep up with consumer demand for mobile data service.

Consumers, though they are avid cross-channel shoppers, have only embraced mobile browsing and purchasing on a small scale. Three-quarters of respondents to ATG’s “Cross-Channel Commerce: The Consumer View” survey said they never researched products on their handsets in Q4 2009.

According to Forrester Research, 25% of US online retailers are planning at least some mobile features for 2010, compared with just 4% in 2009. North American retail executives told RIS in January 2010 that they hoped to increase customer engagement through m-commerce by serving consumers the way they want to be served.

Printed with permission of E-marketer. For full story and data charts go to e-marketer.com.

The Path to Growth Comes From Leveraging your Assets

By John Riley

 In the rush to get on the social media bandwagon, it appears a number of companies have been satisfied to simply post a note inviting visitors coming from Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to follow their company or brand. With that non-engaging message, the result is a lost opportunity and the likelihood the visitor won’t return. 

 The benefit of social media is to build relationships and that means there needs to be a dialog between the visitor and the website host. Because of the immediacy of these social media tools, it’s essential the website has a mechanism in place to respond in kind so the dialog can be initiated. When that happens, the response is an opportunity to influence visitors to later communicate their endorsement of the company or product to their friends and associates directly or through social channels.

 For the website host, a ‘what is’ analysis of the state of the company’s current website capabilities accompanied by a projection of ‘what the capabilities should be’, that is based on the company’s vision, needs to be prepared. Also prepare a clear and concise brand positioning statement designed to attract the maximum  number of your target audience. Then, implement the steps necessary to make it all happen.  Recognize that as the level of sophistication increases, so will the need for resources and management support.

 You have to start with a strategy

 Start with a social media strategy that takes into account all of the company’s assets that can be leveraged to help build the brand. Study the website and either incorporate with or link to a company blog. While the website provides company and product information that can be assimilated and digested, the blog is ideally suited for interaction with visitors on any number of issues important to the host or visitors.  

 Access to the blog can be handled in two ways. First, allow visitors to use their existing login.  The disadvantage of this option is the inability to capture the visitor’s e-mail. Second, use a sign-in process to capture the visitors’ information. This option usually provides more complete and accurate information, but its’ the less desirable choice because of the inconvenience.

 Keeping the visitor on site once he’s there requires an attractive website/blog with compelling content. The challenge is to know who the target audience is so the content can be designed to satisfy their curiosity and stimulate interest. Most important is the need to refresh the blog content at least once or twice a week to sustain visitor interest. This is where a social experience needs to occur so the visitor can interact with the brand or socialize with the host, both of which will keep the visitor on site longer. When the experience is positive, that person becomes an ambassador for the company or brand within the social network fraternity/sorority.

 Participate in conversations anywhere

 When the coordination between website, blog and social media is functioning, customers, employees and prospects can interact as a community. However, that will take more time.

But don’t overlook the importance to the brand of taking part in conversations wherever they take place, i.e. blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or forums.

 An essential element in strategy is brand tracking. That requires tracking the brand’s progress continually. The obvious reason is to detect any negative results so corrective action can be taken promptly and avoid any long term damage to the brand. If progress is positive, further upgrading of the social structure can take place to accelerate the progress. Listening to customers and prospects is the most important part of this process and the social interface should take precedence over the automated data collection systems although ideally, both should be used.

 Social media can be an important asset for any company, but like any tool, it needs to be used properly. To do that requires a strategy that links all the resources to a common goal or vision. Otherwise, the time and money spent on these tools won’t help drive your marketing plan.