The Jordan Philips Marketing Blog - Internal Branding - Employee Engagement

A Word On Leadership

I attended a speech this week at the Indiana State SHRM that really made me think about something. I have a lot of experience sitting across from senior level executives, and truth be told, the levels of their leadership varied quite a bit. I have seen the best and the worst.

At the speech, the presenter, said "don't focus on being right all of the time, because every time you are right, you have to make someone else a loser, and nobody wants to feel like a loser". He also did a wonderful job of tying this into your personal life. If, perhaps, you are married and you always have to be "right" to prove something to your spouse, like that you are smarter than them, what you are really doing is making them feel like the loser; and this can really wear them down over time.

So when I thought back to the many leaders I have met over the years, in comparison to this little tid-bit, I had a small Ah-Ha moment. It got me thinking about how leaders who focus more on "always having the RIGHT answer" instead of focusing on "leading" always had workforces who were less engaged. Less engaged workers mean higher turnover, lower profits and unhappy customers. There is nothing "right" about that and it all starts with leadership.

We have all seen them. The type of leader who doesn't want ideas, who doesn't want input, who micromanages, who "tells" you what to do, and of course the leader who is infinitely "smarter" than you. They have to prove their wisdom to you, they have to show you who is in charge.  You know the type.

Now compare that to a "servant leader" who coaches you to the answers...your answers. Who lets you find your way through success and failure, who supports you along the way, but also keeps you in the boundaries of whats acceptable. They do also keep you accountable but more so accountable to yourself and to the values of the organization. It makes you work harder, it makes  you more engaged.

And after all, thats what leadership is all about...leading instead of "always being right".

Breaking away with segmentation

I talk to a lot of companies who just don't seem to really grasp the opportunity with segmentation so I thought that I would share a great example of what Sherwood Oaks Community Church is doing in Bloomington, IN. with their Pour House coffee shop. BTW I highly recommend visiting their website and spending some time in their media section. In a word...WOW (they did this whole Superbowl event that you have to see).

I have to be honest. I use this church as an example quite often because they "get" marketing; probably more so than a lot of small companies. They have a great brandcentric sense about them and a lot of companies should watch what they are doing.

So what is so special about the opening of another coffee shop? Nothing special, right? Wrong! By using a well crafted segmentation strategy they opened up a coffee shop in the heart of Bloomington University a.k.a. Hoosierville to target young college age students who are faith based (but not required). This gives them the perfect vehicle to create a gathering place for young Christians, as well as creating a new revenue stream for the church. Not to mention, it makes religion look a little less stuffy and a little less brimstone. it allows them to reach into a demographic where their competition (other churches) isn't. It also is going to give them a great opportunity to reach out to their target market.

One of the other things they are doing is donating a portion of the proceeds to various charities. The current featured charity is Africa. I mean...come on. They are promoting this brilliantly. I wish there were a lot of small companies who could get this. Trust me, if you are thinking that you don't have enough of a marketing budget to pull something like this off, ask yourself this...do you have more money than your local church.

Is lonely America looking to brands as friends?

I think that America is getting more and more lonely. As this happens, people as consumers are being starved for experiences. This starvation is making people seek out brands as friends. Kevin Roberts may even go as far to say people are looking for an intimate relationship with brands they love. Guess what, he is right.

Mark Driscoll writes in The Radical Reformission:

• Playing cards as a social activity is down 25%.
• The number of full-service restaurants is down 25%, but fast-food outlets have increased by 100%, as more people eat alone and in cars.
• Family dinners are down 33%.
• Having friends over for dinner is down 45%.
• The amount of time spent caring for a pet is up 15%.
• The amount of time spent on personal grooming is up 7%.
• From 1980 to 1993, participation in America’s #1 participant sport, bowling, was up 10%, but the number of bowling leagues decreased 40%, as more people bowled alone.

Driscoll adds, “Isn’t it odd that we are apparently becoming a nation of attractive people who sit at home alone at night with our pets, watching TV shows about relationships and taking medication for the depression brought on by our loneliness? Meanwhile, our neighbors, whom we do not know, are spending their evenings in much the same way.”

So here is my question. In what ways do you think your brand is filling this void in your customer's lives? If you could somehow tap into this, how would you approach it and what do you think the end result would look like?

A special thanks to Tom Ellsworth from Sherwood Oaks for providing me with his notes on this.   

Reinventing the Cinema

About a year ago I was brought into Marcus Theaters (Milwaukee, WI) to talk to their executive team about "experiential marketing" as they were beginning construction on a multi-million dollar complex called the Majestic. Getting people to come to the movies has been a challenge for most theater chains in recent years as the movie going audience seems to be declining. Two big reasons for dwindling attendance are poor theater experiences and the ease of setting up your own home theater. If I can throw in a DVD and watch it on my state of the art 60" Plasma and BOSE surround sound why would I want to go to a theater and have people talk all through the movie, have my chair kicked from behind, pay $30 for a coke and popcorn and have to miss 10 minutes of the move as I have to go to the bathroom. Then lets talk about the 30 minutes of ads I have to watch before my movie even begins.

Am I starting to paint a pretty good picture of what we were facing? Marcus new that if they wanted to increase attendance they would have to improve the entire movie going experience. Here is how they did it:

• Multiple theaters with state of the art equipment plus 2 HUGE ULTRA Screen theaters
• Super comfortable seats (rockers and folding arms)
• Ice Cream shop
• Pizza and sandwich shop
• Valet parking
• Child care
• Hot menu items
• Live entertainment performance area in lobby
• Martini lounge with alcohol
• Dine in theater which can also accommodate comedians, business speakers, corporate events and sport event viewing

The entire premise for Marcus's Majestic is to create a large and all encompassing "entertainment venue". It is important for Marcus to move "beyond" the movie screen and create an experience. Instead of just being a place to escape into Hollywood's best for 2 hours, now you can take a date there for an evening, or bring friends for alternative entertainment, or even make business connections.

Opening day was May 4th 2007 to coincide with the release of Spiderman 3. While the paint isn't dry yet and it is too early to make a judgment as to its success, I am sure that their competition is more than a little concerned.

This is the value of understanding experiential marketing. You can clearly see how marketing affected the product design (in this case the new venues), as well as how marketing influenced the facility design, the training of the staff and how all of this has resulted in a ton of BUZZ in the marketplace.

With any project, especially one this young, there is always room to take it to the next level. Here are some of the things I would like to add into this already great experience:

• Movie memorabilia: I think it would be a great touch for movie-goers to get up close and personal with props that were actually used in the movies. I would imagine two large display cases at either end of the lobby with rotating items to keep it fresh. The actual Superman costume, Indiana Jones's leather jacket, and Darth Vader's costume as examples.
• Stronger visual ques in the lobby area to envelop movie-goers into the movie experience. Popular movie scenes and actors should be adorned everywhere.
• Maybe add on a gift shop that would make current movie merchandise readily available. Note that this is yet another revenue stream.
• Big name speakers, comedians with a large display calendaring the events. Maybe even a marquee outside the theater that showcases upcoming talent. I would love to come to the theater and be able to decide between a movie, a business speaker and a comedian. Maybe I would even choose all three.
• I know its a long shot, but what about having celebrities on premise. I thought it would have been a great idea to have Owen Wilson, Jackie Chan and Ben Stiller working the concession line. How amazingly awesome would that be...can you imagine the BUZZ that would create? At the very least what about a red premier?
• Wild and crazy live entertainment in the lobby For the grand opening, they had a piano player, but I would have really liked to have seen something more along the line of street performers (with talent). Afterall this is the entertainment industry. Piano players belong in Jazz Bars. I travel a lot and I have seen a lot of very interesting street performers who could easily pull this off. I am willing to bet that they cost about the same as a piano player. The most important thing with this is generate BUZZ. What we want is people to talk about something amazing that they saw. Nobody is going to enthusiastically tell their friends, "I saw a piano player".
• Interactive activities would be nice too. Maybe something quick where you could take a picture with you in a scene or something. Maybe a movie trivia thing...I don't know...something that you can touch and interact with. What about acting out a scene or doing a script reading on camera?
• Pre and post show events of some sort.
• Proactive marketing and data collection (Marcus knows nothing about me right now other that what the MPAA tells them about my habits). I have never thought that movie theater industry does a good job at marketing. How could they if they don't have any data on me? Lets face it, they are a long way away from being Amazonized. Typically movie theatres have very little data on their customers and they hardly ever "push" out any information. That's a lot of missed marketing opportunity.

One thing is certain...Marucs is serious about changing the movie going experience.

Speaking at The James

Recently Linda Dausend and I had the distinct pleasure of speaking at the James Hotel in Chicago. In case you have never been there you really should check it out. It is perhaps the world's best boutique hotel. A flair of contemporary design, a classy upscale environment and excellent customer service is always abundant.

We were there talking to their executive group about the value of Coaching. As an executive, coaching is perhaps one of the most valuable skills I could recommend to anyone. It gives you the opportunity to transfer ownership of ideas and actions to those around you without you "telling" them the answers. It is an art-form in itself and it takes a little bit of practice to get the hang of but when you develop this skill you will quickly realize the benefits. Helping people come up with the answers to their biggest challenges on their own is very rewarding as well.

My background is rooted in 12 and a half years of being in the US Army. When I left the service and entered corporate America I thought that I was a leader, capable of leading anyone to anything and everything. I was a take control, hard-charging accomplish the mission at all costs kind of guy. I received multiple awards, commendations, certificates and I was highly respected in the reconnaissance community. A leader in all senses of the word.

Guess what...that didn't transfer over so well. When you order your VP of sales to do push-ups for screwing something up that doesn't tend to go over well...For the record I never did that but the point is valid.

Coaching was very valuable to me...both ways...as a coach and a coachee. I am still working out a few old Army kinks, but learning how to coach has made me much more effective as a leader. It has improved my personal life as well.

If you would be interested in learning how to be coach at the executive or manager levels let me know. 

Interview with Paul Bennett (IDEO)

Design & Emotion recently did an interesting interview with Paul Bennett from IDEO. It is worth checking out. It covers a lot of ground on innovation, branding and experience.

The BIG CMO Question

So much of what I do as a consultant is all about asking good questions. As executives, if we don't have the "right" questions, how can we possibly come up with the "right" answers? All too often, in my line of work I run across executives who simply aren't asking themselves enough "hard" questions; ones where it takes a healthy dose of honesty to answer. For example: is our product broke? Are our people dropping the ball? Is our presentation and experience falling short? and my favorite question of them all: As a customer, is this really worth telling my friends about?

If there is one killer question out there right now that all CMOs and CEOs need to be asking, it is this: Are we impressing our customers enough that they are willing to go out there and be our brand advocates? Are they willing to share our story and create evangelists because they love us?

Now, take this simple question and really hold your feet to the fire. How many referrals are you getting? How much buzz is there about you in the market and do your customers really love you?

Why is this so important? BECAUSE ADVERTISING DOESN'T CREATE TRUE BUZZ, CUSTOMERS DO. If you don't have remarkable product, remarkable people and a remarkable presentation, you can't have a remarkable brand.

I see companies all the time try to solve this question by creating a wonderful and creative advertising campaign, usually with a 30 second TV spot and some direct mail. Look how great we are! Where this breaks down is often at the point of delivery or in the product itself.

Great brands come from asking the hard questions, not by covering them up with a creative 30 second TV spot. Customers are much more savvy than you think and they know excatly what question to ask themselves and they will make a decision in less than 30 seconds. Is this worth sharing?

How comfortable are you with their answer? 

The concept of "Status Skills"

This quarters trendwatching, is very interesting, as it outlines a trend where companies are sharing their skills so you can take their experience and knowledge and put it to your own use, or better yet, share it with your friends. Just as certain items have become status symbols, now having a particular skill or having participated in a special event are becoming status symbols as well.

Imagine the status power you could have telling your friends that you just attended a private cooking class with Wolfgang Puck, or that you passed your Land Rover driving course in Africa. This is very powerful stuff.

The article cites numerous companies like Porsche, Corvette, Sony, Apple, Kodak, Viking, etc. Each of these companies offer up an educational experience where you learn a specific status skill that you can brag about. I would look at it like experience meets training meets word of mouth marketing.

How you can apply it. Well...what if you were to hold an educational seminar on a regular basis where you could teach your customers something valuable and do it in an environment that made them feel special. Would they be inclined to come? Would they be inclined to invite a friend along? Would they be inclined to share their experience? Would they be inclined to buy more of your products or services? Would they be inclined to be more loyal to your brand? That answer should be easy.

Learn more about the concepts of:

InfoLust and TryVertising at trendwatching. You will be glad that you did.

Draw The Experience

One of the things I love most about doing what I do is to get in front of executive teams and have them participate in activities. No, I am not talking about rope courses or falling off of a table into the waiting (sometimes) arms of their cohorts. I am talking about exercises that help them look at things differently.

On one such recent occasion, I asked a group of executives to draw the customer experience on a piece of paper. Just for fun I had them use crayons. Think for a moment about the smell of crayons and see if that takes you back in time. Anyways, there were a few things that always happen which I love to point out.

1) Executives can't draw, or at least very well. As executives, we don't visualize enough. I often see executives struggle with the concept of drawing the experience their customers have. Even in abstract terms with no boundaries. This is a skill set that executives simply don't use. As executives we need to communicate with our people and customers visually. If we don't practice this skill then how good do you think we can really be at it? Maybe this is why many C-level folks struggle with marketing concepts.

2) Many executives who go through this exercise struggle, which leads me to believe that too many executives out there don't have a strong grasp of the experience they are delivering to their customers.

3) After I have the executives go through this exercise and we talk about the things above I usually have them do one more step. I ask them to circle in red crayon everything in their drawing that they would consider to be "WOW" and only unique to their company. I usually see very few circles and the ones that I do are usually sketchy at best. What does this mean. Well, I think that is obvious. Companies need lots of little red circles. These are the things that make them unique. They are the things that make them remarkable and get them remarked about.

Go ahead and try it yourself. How many little red circles did you end up with?