Forrester Research Confirms Value of Customer Advocates

Recently, Forrester Research embarked on a groundbreaking research project on transforming employees into brand advocates. As part of its due diligence, several company executives, academics, and industry thought leaders were interviewed. I was fortunate enough to be included and spent an hour with researchers over the phone. The results of the report are further proof and acknowledgment, through major case studies, that companies can successfully use employees as their brand advocates.

Forrester interviewed a number of experts besides me from consulting firms and academia as well as marketing executives from organizations representing telecommunications, hospitality, airlines and healthcare. The report said that "Marketers spend significant dollars to promote their brands. However, if employees aren't aligned with and rallied around that brand, then delivery of the brand promise is broken, leading to suboptimal customer experiences, missed opportunities for brand differentiation, and even customer defection. A first step in building internal brand advocacy is the assessment of the current level of brand engagement of employees. To help this assessment process, Forrester provides a framework to segment employees into four groups based on their level of brand advocacy: brand resisters, brand learners, brand believers, and brand advocates." ("Stimulate Employee Brand Advocacy", Forrester Research, Inc., April 2008).

Through its Leadership Board programs Forrester's clients leverage a combination of proprietary research, analyst expertise and the collective wisdom and experience of their executive peer group. Turning Employees into Brand Advocates is just one example of the ways in which senior marketers have benefited from their participation in these communities. To learn more about Forrester, the Leadership Boards and view some of our research briefs, please visit http://www.forrester.com/Leadershipboards/CMOGroup.

How Inward Can Help

The independent report from Forrester Research hit our sweet spot - at Inward, we are pioneers in creating successful programs that inspire employee brand advocacy and enable it to thrive and prosper. We'd welcome the opportunity to chat with you about your current issues and advance your plans for putting a proper employee brand advocate program in place. Let us share with you our internal-brand credentials presentation, and Change FX - our Employee Engagement Measurement tool, with a demonstration including several case histories and best practices.

If you would like to see either of these presentations created by Inward, please let us know and we can arrange an on-line demonstration for you and your staff.

Enjoy the rest of the Summer!

-Allan

Hard /Simple/Easy

Over the past few years I have talked with many CEOs, Marketing Directors and HR Directors regarding their greatest assets and challenge, their people. In each instance, I am told that all the process redesign, organizational transformations and technology innovations that were planned in the new millennium are nearly completed. But despite the monetary investments and the ensuing internal chaos created, the anticipated payoffs are not having the large payout everyone expected.

When their plans worked successfully, it was because their people, not software or technology that implemented the innovations, and embraced the change. People are making the difference.

They cite the critical factors to be:

• An effective understanding what the change is all about
• Communicating a relevant message explaining how employees should adjust their behavior
• Introducing new fresh experiential communication ideas for gaining their attention and buy-in

Sage advice; "Hard/Simple/Easy" - Paul Hingham, the retired CMO of Wal-Mart Stores once spoke at our regular Inward Breakfast Forum in Boston. In his talk to over 75 senior business executives from notable companies throughout New England, he said something very profound that has stayed with me ever since. He conveyed an idea he called "Hard/Simple/Easy."

He explained that Wal-Mart executives realized early on that they had to work "hard" to make complex concepts "simple" so that employees throughout the organization could understand what was expected of them and change their attitudes and behaviors accordingly to support an idea. He said getting processes to be simple may be very difficult at first and may take a long time. However, when they do get to where it becomes "Simple", everything gets "Easy". "People understand "Easy" a lot more than "hard"", Hingham says. "When it becomes "Easy", its like cheating!" Everything falls in place. The employees, the company and customers, through the employees, know what is expected of them and what to expect from others. Work happens faster. People know how they will be judged. Employees are happier and customers are more satisfied. Quality improves. Profits go up. It becomes a repeatable cycle that revolves and gains internal momentum with each turn.

Business executives have a responsibility to improve enterprise efficiency and effectiveness and grow revenue while reducing costs. (Sounds hard, right?) The complexity of attaining this goal can be extremely difficult for even the "best of the best" executive. All of us need to work "Hard" to make complex processes "Simple" so that all our efforts become "Easy". The first step in this formula is recognizing the importance and power of employees as important assets who need to get on board and support the strategy just as much as you do.

If you want the productivity and growth investments you have made to pay off, you need to combine the idea of recognizing the importance of your people as assets with the notion of Hard/Simple /Easy. Sometimes getting through the first step is also hard if you have never done it before and therefore many companies need help. If this is something you would like to learn more about, drop me a line and I'd be happy chat with you on how to get started.

Regards,

-Allan

India Vs. India

Last year we helped a major Indian conglomerate re-brand itself for a global launch. It involved multiple visits to on site locations in India, but with each trip comes a new learning lesson. Visits to exotic places are always full of intrigue and anticipation: But since I had been to the region before, I knew what to expect. Or so I thought.

But on this trip I was stunned by a dramatic integrated advertising campaign launched by the Times of India, called India vs. India. The Times kicked it off on New Year's Day, on the front page. That's right; no news appeared on that morning's front page. This was followed by major, spectacular billboards and posters, which appeared everywhere, arriving overnight as if by magic. Next came a parade of Indian celebrities who endorsed the "Anthem" (as they called this) on TV advertisements. This was a highly orchestrated campaign that quickly became celebrated, espousing the idea that there are two India's, working against one another and preventing India from being the global power that it ought to be. It was a call to arms to unite around the idea of one India, to be progressive, to heal the country's divisions, and to look toward the future. The thought was summarized with a tagline: India poised-Our time is now.

The copy reads like poetry. Here are a few lines.

There are two India's in this country. One India is straining at the leash, eager to spring forth and live up to all the adjectives that the world has been showering recently upon us. The other India is the leash. The other India says, give me a chance and I'll prove myself. The other India says, Prove yourself first and then maybe I'll give you a chance. One India lives in optimism of our hearts. The other India lurks in skepticism of our minds. One India wants. The other India hopes. One India leads. The other India follows.

It's powerful copy.

As an American, after seeing this campaign unfold, I couldn't keep myself from wondering whether this idea is just as relevant here. Do factions and discord within our political and business arenas hold us back from becoming even greater than we are now? Is it time for the marketing and media community to do something as dramatic as India vs. India to unite the country or its industry around a common purpose and a vision of the future?

My thoughts then wandered over to our marketing industry. Can we make an India vs. India comparison? Do we even have unity around the value of marketing? Are clients and agencies/PR firms on the same page? Who is the "leash" and who is "straining the leash" in our industry? Clients seem to concentrate on growth, attracting new customers and growing market share, while agencies and-yes--even consulting firms, frequently focus on creative ideas and new technologies. They often win awards, but do little to attract new clients. Some of them are fixed on the almighty 30-second TV commercial, while others on rely on interactive internet marketing. Are we suffering from Marketing vs. Marketing?

The answer, in my opinion, is marketing integration. Marketing should never be exclusively one thing or another. It should do whatever it takes to solve the client's problems and unite around that solution. Use all available techniques, media, creativity and technology to help the client's business grow and improve its market share. That does not mean simply doing what the client wants, but providing new ideas, insights and perspectives, no matter what creative medium might be used.

No more Marketing vs. Marketing. It's time for Marketing AND Marketing.

Is it time to examine America vs. America? Or marketing vs. marketing? Please send me your thoughts. Let me know your opinions on this topic and let's see if we can apply the same logic to our business and political culture.

Happy Spring!

-Allan