Business Strategy

Every single day, people, at the top or who are responsible to make a brand name, wish that the world out there is not staring at them or taking a dig at their brand’s inconsistencies.

For them, there’s a never ending tussle ensuring their employees, existing and potential customers and partners, investors, and influencers are getting one impression about the brand. And there is no brand confusion or conflict, arising from how few things turn up.

And, with millions and billions of people across the world connected via social media, words spread like a wildfire.

Brands Are Not Built Overnight

Brands, are not built overnight, nor are they built by the effort of a few people; it’s built by the efforts of every individual, as an on-going process.

If you, as an employee, want to convince me to something then you ought to believe in it before you can sell the idea to me, a customer.

Imagine you working for an airline or restaurant brand which puts customers first, but you, as an individual employee, fail to keep the customer happy either by providing the best possible service or by not listening to what the customer is asking for, then you have failed not only the customer but the brand as well.

Well, the customer would think the policies to be contentious and feel cheated by the company/brand. And, with the access to smart phones and social media, we all know what can happen next.

ONE Brand, ONE Journey

A brand experience should be like a process, a bond, a commitment across the organization which every individual must invest in and live up to.

Irrespective of there being multiple divisions, subsidiaries, acquired or merged business units, the primal focus should be to integrate this to form ONE brand.

The joining of forces should mean defining everything for that ONE brand – the vision, the organizational structure and its diverse culture, the brand values and market positioning.

One should understand that the company’s ultimate goal is to grow and fulfil customers’ expectations, as one entity.

If the business units continue working as individuals then the first and foremost challenge would be the management of cross multi-functional units, which could and, to some extent, would result in confusions, miscommunications/overlapping roles & responsibilities, and unnecessary hold-ups – not only for employees but for the customers as well.

To enable business units to deliver unique brand experiences, which is aligned with the stake-holders’ demands and expectations, it’s imperative to have a command centre or a centralised controlling unit which manages and directs every other business unit.

What Do We Do Now?

Well done! All you have managed to do by now is put together the engine from a Ferrari, tyres from Michelin, seats from a Mercedes, body from Rolls Royce, and similar things.

The restructuring was like putting all the part together for a concept car. However, the test drive and customers reviews is what you need to fine tune your car, before you can mass produce it or call yourself a premium brand, and be really proud of what you’ve created.

You get the idea, don’t you?

Oh silly! You need the customer feedback and success stories from each of the units integrated and then use them to define the common policies and work culture which will drive your business.

While you’re at it, don’t forget to reassure your stakeholders that the combined entity will only work towards improving the collective strengths and will focus on reducing the pain areas.

“Remember that customers are like audience members at a show. They don’t see the lighting director or the makeup artist at work behind the scenes; they only see the performance on stage. Processes and procedures are just as integral a component of brand experience as the final product.” ~ Jason Cieslak

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It’s funny, how small things in life don’t make any sense when they happen, but you could relate them, years later.

My younger brother learnt playing games and counting number even before he went to school.

In those days, gaming was not as popular and a limited number of companies manufactured such units.

Era Old Gaming…

If I remember correctly, it was a stiff competition between Atari and Nintendo. Atari being famous for their joystick controller and Nintendo for better graphics.

Anyways, the crust of the matter is that my brother would play these games or watch me play, and then learn where things needed to progress were, try to find different things he could do, and learn alphabets and numbers to track game progress and password to continue from a saved timeline.

Considering the age, less than 3 years, no one actually thought it was that important or was helping his growth. In fact, we were scolded for spending too much time playing video games.

Fast forward x 20, to this day. Thinking, out of the blue, I realised the impact those games had and can have. A little more analysis, and I was quick to spot the visual aid in learning.

Do You See The Connection?

Don’t worry, you will, soon.

Rather than going through the books or listening to someone telling you, a person is able to grab things when assisted with visuals. The vision, through eyes, gets registered in the mind, faster than we know. Weird, ehh?

Adding Life To These Visuals…

I wouldn’t even ask you to select between a series of print outs and a video, to present something. Guess, you know which is better.

The idea of watching something as against images, is always luring.

The voice, the tone, the music in the background – could be used to create a situation, relevant to the content. The voices, indicate our mind to put more focus, and can pump the heart rate – think of a horror movie or an action sequence.

Ever watched a drama or an intense movie?

The voice and the way in which the actor delivers the speech, gets us involved and we feel we are part of the happiness or the sorrow that actor is going through. It hits our emotional chords.

Tell Me A Story…

That’s the power, you can create with a video.

The content, the sound, the linking – the broader story; that’s what gets to your customers.

There is so much you can say and tell, with advancement in technology – you can use various graphics and sounds.

The same video can be transmitted over multiple channels to reach millions of people out there, worldwide.

To connect with customers and to create an impact – create an awesome video. But first, create a story to show in that video! ~ P.R.