Archive for the 'Leadership' Category
As this blog has addressed many times before, there are many ways people demonstrate their advocacy for a company or brand. They talk or act on its behalf and actively spread word of mouth. They may wear their causes on their clothes and discuss them in social networks. They might carry branded products. They will pay a premium price for brands they support. In doing so, these advocates can have a significant impact on a business’ success (or failure if the business does something to damage its advocates’ trust).
Consumers aren’t the only ones with the ability to influence company success. Employees have increasing influence (see my first post on The Employee Advocate) and more opportunities to advocate for their employers. They often set up fan or group pages on Facebook for example. Of growing importance is their ability to “vote” their companies onto acclaimed “best employers” lists. These lists, awards and rankings not only help to recruit more great talent but signify to the world that the company values employees and in turn the valued and proud employees work harder for their customers. A client once told us that her company’s salesforce uses these honors as a sales tool because their customers want to do business with a company that treats its employees well. Happy employees, happy customers.
As close observers of these rankings (Weber Shandwick’s SCOREBOXX™ database includes approximately 900 awards of all kinds, roughly 100 of which recognize companies for its employee satisfaction and/or training and development), we’re seeing the popularity of these rankings growing. Most glaring has been an increase, particularly in the past year, in the number of our clients who want to understand how their strengths can be recognized by their industry, talent prospects and other stakeholders through unbiased third party recognition. Aside from that anecdote, here are just a few facts…
- A Google search of “best companies to work for” generates 661,000 results for the 2009 time period, compared with 190,000 in 2007 and 309,000 in 2008. That’s a stunning 248% increase of the topic’s online visibility.
- 50% of chief communications officers at North American Fortune 500 companies told us in our annual The Rising CCO study that awards and recognition are an important way their company leadership measures communications effectiveness.
- CNBC dedicated a five-minute segment to this week’s release of the the Fortune Best Companies to Work For list. Perhaps one of the most well known of the best employer rankings, this list uses a rigorous method to identify the best place to work in the U.S. with employee ratings accounting for most of the score.
- Glassdoor.com’s annual Employees’ Choice Awards of the 50 Best Places to Work included reviews of 11,000 companies among nearly 75,000 employees in 2008 and 37,000 companies among nearly 100,000 employees in 2009.
Based on facts like those above, and by the growing demand from clients to better understand and leverage these lists, we think that ‘best employer’ awards will take on more significance for promoting and rewarding good corporate cultures. Companies with less than stellar environments may be pressured to listen much more closely to employee opinions.
Tags: Weber Shandwick
If this sounds familiar, well, it should. “The future ain’t what it used to be” is one of the all-time great malapropisms of the all-time baseball great Yogi Berra. Marketers should heed these words today, now more than ever, in light of the sustained global recession.
After all, Yogi knew something about challenging times: he not only was a member of 13 World Series championship teams between 1948-1962; he was part of the generation here in the US that grew up in the Great Depression. So today’s recession may just be “deja vu all over again” for this Yankee hall-of-famer. Just keep in mind that he also said things like “you should always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise, they won’t come to yours,” “when you come to a fork in the road, take it,” and “baseball is ninety percent mental; the other half is physical.” OK, Sun Tzu it’s not. But ignore him at your own risk.
Why? Because research continues to suggest the recession is having a deep impact on consumer behavior, creating what look to be long-term changes that affect everything from brand loyalty to the way marketers reach their audiences. This recent report from Initiative (our sister agency), based on a May survey of 3,200 consumers in the U.S., western Europe and China, provides more evidence why.
Of note, the study found a significant drop in trust in established marketing channels and a conversely sharp rise in people’s trust of individuals, including those who comment about brands online. For example, 43 percent reported far greater trust in online consumer content such as blogs, review sites and forums, while 48 percent said they trusted “expert opinion.” They also found that 76 percent of consumers said they trusted the opinions of those closest to them, the word of mouth of family and friends. Like the blog title says: it’s all about advocacy, now more than ever.
I like how Sue Moseley, who lead the study for Initiative, put it: That established brands can no longer rely on being accepted on faith because they’ve been around for a long time. Instead, they need to step up to the times to provide consumers with something authentic, tangible, transparent, real… and the means to evaluate it from independent sources online. The implication: the need for a new marketing model and approach to communications, on that puts igniting advocacy at the heart.
Yes, the future is certainly not what it used to be for marketing anymore. Come to think of it, it isn’t for baseball or music or the media business and I could go on. Maybe it’s just like the wise catcher said: “a nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.” But being an optimist by nature, I’d like to think this other cautionary Yogism is the one that applies for our field: “if you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.” True, so very very true. Thanks, Yogi.
Image source
OK, full disclosure. I probably have seen Zack Snyder’s “300″ approaching 300 times now (including last night when somehow I got my wife to watch). So I’m likely to jump at the chance to use a pic like this in a post no matter how threadbare the tie to advocacy.
But the Gods must have been smiling upon me this morning when I saw this just published article in the Journal of Marketing called “Are Women More Loyal Customers Than Men? Gender Differences in Loyalty to Firms and Individual Service Providers.” Now while that clearly sounds like it has a lot to do with advocacy, it doesn’t exactly scream “Thermopylae,” the ancient battle site where the Greeks, 300 Spartans and their allies, held off masses of invading Persians in 480 BC. Or does it?
What our present authors have seemed to confirm here is something I’m told is called the “male warrior hypothesis,” which states that men are actually more loyal to groups, an orientation shaped by evolution to increase a tribe’s chances of survival. Well, if the suicidal battle of King Leonidas and 300 Spartans against some 800,000 invaders of Xerxes’ armies isn’t the most epic case of ultimate group loyalty I don’t know what is. Especially when it looks so amazingly cool and vibrant thanks to the magic of CG technology. I don’t know about you, but I know lots of guys who would be OK with this kind of loyalty “hypothesis.”
So what about the other half, all those Xenas out there? Are women not the equivalent of a Lucy Lawless warrior princess when it comes to their customer loyalty? Apparently not, according to the authors, because women’s loyalty tends to take a more personal and less tribal form. More specifically, they found that women are more loyal to individuals as opposed to the collective. This is something of a reversal, as the conventional wisdom has held that women are more loyal customers in general than men. And, therefore, better advocates in turn perhaps.
So who do marketers want on their side? A customer phalanx of men or women? Who is more likely to “die for” their favorite brand or company? The answer not surprisingly is that it all depends. It also may matter whether you consider brand loyalty to be more akin to sticking by an entire group vs. by the side of an individual. On this question the authors are silent (for now). But one thing is for sure. The research is yet another example of how if you simply assume the conventional wisdom about loyalty is right you can get it heroically wrong. Herodotus and Hollywood notwithstanding.
Great article (A Stress Test for Good Intentions) about company CR or CSR (call it what you want!) commitments during these tough economic times. The big question that has been asked and written about over the past 12 to 18 months is what will happen to company’s sustainability and corporate responsibility initiatives? Will all the company advocates fade away? After all, the money spent on CR could come in handy when budgets are stripped.
My sense has been that companies have slowed down their CSR march but have not wiped the slate clean. The Economist article says that budgets have indeed been reduced but the mainstays of the programs are being kept. Additionally, cuts were mostly made to corporate philanthropy budgets. For example, they cite Citigroup’s charitable foundation which went from making $90m in grants last year to $63m this year. The article says that bankers “argue that scrapping such activities altogether would be extremely damaging to their reputations and profits—or, at least, what’s left of them.” Corporate advocacy for CR programs clearly remains strong and that’s good news. When the ashes are all cleared, we will be able to see who the true CR advocates are and I believe there will be plenty still standing. CSR is embedded in company strategy and values these days.
Another reason that CR will continue to be on CEO agendas is that consumers find corporate responsibility important and akin to their values and purchase decision-making. Plus no one should overlook a company’s CSR activities as a talent magnet for the best and brightest.
The Economist wraps up its piece on Corporate CR advocacy with the following insightful commentary:
“There is one other important reason for thinking that companies will maintain their commitments to sustainability through the downturn and beyond: the need to restore confidence in business. The financial crisis was triggered by a bout of corporate social irresponsibility on a massive scale that has tarnished the reputations of even the bluest of blue-chip companies. Now corporate leaders have a chance to show that they are not just motivated by short-termism after all.”
Tags: Advocacy, Citigroup, corporate responsibility, CR, CSR, Economist, reputation
How often can a senior executive say his or her biggest ally in the company is the CEO? Well, frankly, I don’t know what the average senior executive says, but I do know that the chief communications officer (CCO) can proudly make the claim.
We conducted our second annual study among CCOs at the world’s largest companies with Spencer Stuart and KRC Research - The Rising CCO II - and found that the CCO’s #1 organizational ally in both North America and Europe is the CEO. Investor Relations is a distant #2 (a predictable ranking given how closely corp comms and IR have had to work together in the tough economic climate).
Our survey asked about top organizational allies and rivals (respondents could choose just one department for each). As communications professionals, we were quite relieved that only 1 person in our sample said his or her biggest rival is the CEO. Worldwide, Marketing is the CCO’s stickiest thorn (as we saw last year) but in North America Human Resources is nearly tied with Marketing.
Why the admiration from the corner office? As our study partner George Jamison, who leads Spencer Stuart’s Corporate Communications and Investor Relations Practice, says, “When many organizations endure critical times, CEOs are increasingly looking to the CCO for their strategic crisis communications and ability to quickly react to a variety of scenarios.”
And Weber Shandwick’s Chief Reputation Strategist Leslie Gaines-Ross adds: “CEOs and boards are under tremendous pressure to navigate through the stormy seas of the current economic tsunami. Like never before, CEOs are depending on CCOs for crisis and issues counsel to steady their company reputations and calm stakeholders. CEOs who do not communicate using traditional and social media do so at their own peril.”
We’ll see when we do the same study next year if the love continues to flourish. But for now, if you’re going to have an advocate in your company, may it be the CEO!
I found this blog assessment flow chart from the Air Force from a Twitter alert. It is quite useful and speaks highly of the military’s ability to manage various types of posters. David Faggard who heads the public affairs division and is responsible for this tool is the head of its emerging technology division. His contact information is available on the tool. He is also a responder since I wrote him about something on the chart and whoa—heard back immediately. He must have followed his own advice. There are four types of negative posters:
Trolls – those dedicated to bashing and degrading others
Ragers—those whose posts are rants, rages, jokes, ridicules or satire
Misguided – those who make misstatements in their postings
Unhappy customers – those who post negative experiences from the pool of Air Force stakeholders
For the Advocates as we at Weber Shandwick call them, there are several choices in terms of response. The responder can concur and share a story or just let the post stand as is. The flow chart provides considerations for responding such as being transparent, sourcing your sources, timeliness, tone and influence.
Tags: advocates, Air Force, Badvocates, blog assessment, Weber Shandwick
We sometimes forget that Advocacy is also built via face to face (or F2F). Despite the awesome power of technology, nothing beats F2F communications and recommendations. That is why I was glad to find this article in last week’s New York Times. Researchers at The Media Lab working with Hitachi Data Systems discovered that F2F communications were far more important to an organization’s work than generally believed. In fact, the article noted that productivity improved 30% with an incremental increase in F2F communication. Apparently the results were so promising that Hitachi has established a consulting business based on the research.
This finding has plenty of application for CEOs and leaders who want to motivate their workforces and manage through this lingering recession. A little F2F will deliver valuable ROI. I am not sure if I mentioned on this blog the recent research we did at Weber Shandwick on how few leaders were communicating during these hard times and how much employees wanted to hear from them. F2F can cure many ills. CEOs and leaders should step outside their offices, wander the halls and just ask people how they are doing. Start a conversation and then everyone can get back to work with gusto.
Eliot Spitzer’s political career is likely over, but considering his personality (many have called it arrogance), he will certainly not fade into the sunset like so many other politicians brought down by personal misconduct scandal (a few examples: Gary Condit relocated to Arizona to open Baskin-Robbins stores and Mark Foley is selling real estate in Florida). It will be fascinating to see how Spitzer repairs his reputation. Unlike Bill Clinton, Spitzer seems to lack ADVOCATES. You can’t help but notice that no one has come forward publicly to support him or vouch for his record, a la “he’s a great guy who made some mistakes.” His base of badvocates may only grow as he prolongs his inevitable resignation.
I recently heard an interesting story that reminded me that advocacy for a brand, cause or reputation works best when it stems from the top. Dutch logistics company TNT CEO Peter Bakker traded in his Porsche for a hybrid car. As part of his company’s corporate responsibility program titled Planet ME which asks people to make choices at work and home to address global climate change, Bakker made his car switch to “walk the talk.” He states that corporate activities combined with individual actions will make the greatest difference in reducing carbon emissions and saving the planet. In addition, all staffs’ company-leased cars at TNT have to be “green.”
Advocacy that works has to stretch from top to bottom, from mailroom to boardroom, from A to Z. That is also one reason why we at Weber Shandwick call our initiative, Advocacy starts here.
As this blog has addressed many times before, there are many ways people demonstrate their advocacy for a company or brand. They talk or act on its behalf and actively spread word of mouth. They may wear their causes on their clothes and discuss them in social networks. They might carry branded products. They will pay a premium price for brands they support. In doing so, these advocates can have a significant impact on a business’ success (or failure if the business does something to damage its advocates’ trust).
