Nina Burokas on Better Living Through Brand

It's a Social Media World

In a social media world, rapid response is critical. A couple of recent examples of what works, what doesn’t and how to.

The overall perspective, from Ad:tech's Craig Peters: defensive branding is better titled "Crisis Communications In the Hyperlinked Era of Social Networking."

What works: Aggressively addressing negative brand perceptions – true or false
Example: Senator Hillary Clinton’s Fact Hub: “Cut through the noise and get the facts” (via The New York Times).

The context, from Clinton spokesman Phil Singer: “There’s just been a proliferation of news reporting on the Internet. As such, you’ve got a much faster echo effect when something hits the political zeitgeist, and it’s becoming increasingly urgent to have a mechanism in place that allows you to respond.”

What doesn’t: Going dark.
Example: Whole Foods Market’s Board decision to ban officials from posting messages about Whole Foods, its competitors or vendors on non-company-sponsored Internet forums (via The Wall Street Journal). As discussed during the Evangelism session at the Brand You World Personal Branding Summit, it’s absurd to pull the plug at a time when a company needs it’s greatest fans to speak out on it’s behalf.

How To:
Ad:tech's Defensive Branding 101 Session Summary
Japie Swanepoel’s takeaways from Ad:tech's Defensive Branding session

A closing reality check: from Anita Esterday, one of the waitresses in Clinton’s tipping brouhaha: “There’s kids dying in the war, the price of oil right now — there’s better things in this world to be thinking about than who served Hillary Clinton at Maid-Rite and who got a tip and who didn’t get a tip.”

Additional perspective or 411?

Every Video, Mashup, Comment Tells a Story

Three acts in an ongoing play (conversation). Credit to Pete Blackshaw's cgm for the original post, Selective & Arbitrary for a heads up on the riff and odd professor's comment, and BlogPulse for connecting the dots.

Act One: Onslaught ("Dove Self-Esteem")

Act Two: Dove/Axe Mashup (aka Talk to Your Daughter)

Act Three: A Conflicted Response with an interesting close: "which came first, the desire for ['X' (beauty or attraction, however defined)], or marketing creating a hitherto-absent desire for same?"

A 21st Century Executive Competency

In an age where you are your brand, your online identity plays heavily into the image of you as the perfect candidate. – ExecuNet

According to ExecNet’s “Dealing with Your Digital Dirt 2.5” (via Cindy Kraft’s CFO Coach), reputation management is a 21st Century executive competency. To quote Joe Meissner of Executive Capital Partners, “if you’re supposed to be world-class, I should be able to find something about you online. If I Google you and you’re not there, you’re invisible to the world and that tells me you’re not a player.”

Online Search Statistics:
* 83% of recruiters have used search engines to research candidates (up from 77% in 2006 and 75% in 2005)
* 43% of recruiters have eliminated candidates based on their findings (up from 35% in 2006 and 26% in 2005)

The awareness-action disconnect: although 76% of senior executives expect to be Googled, 22% haven’t done a baseline search on their name. This is particularly odd given a related statistic: 11% of executives fear that their online identity could impact their viability as a job candidate.

Denial is not a reasonable response to changing market dynamics. Especially given that online identity is built – or repaired – over time. Proactively managing your digital brand is a critical action item, regardless of rank, technical expertise or search status.

Gaming the Loser's Game

Directed to those charged with driving growth through innovation, The Economist’s "A Dark Art No More" article highlights emerging thought on innovation as a management practice. Like economics, innovation has traditionally been more art than science. The essential elusiveness of the concept is expressed by one senior executive who argues that it can’t be defined precisely, but “like pornography, I know it when I see it.”  Author (Jamming: The Art & Discipline of Business Creativity) John Kao’s jazz analogy is more useful: “there is no fixed score in any given improvisation, but that does not mean there are no underlying principles either.”

Opinions on the underlying principles - that is, how to nurture innovation - are predictably divergent, with P&G and GE pursuing an analytical approach and Google and IDEO endorsing a more fluid approach. To quote P&G Chairman, President & CEO A.G. Lafley: “It is possible to measure the yield of each process, the quality and the end product.” The counter, from IDEO President & CEO Tim Brown: “A lot of innovation is anti-Six Sigma. You want a lot of variance.”

Although both creativity and execution are essential ingredients, the focus is increasingly on the idea filtering process, or “fast failing.” To quote Insead’s Ron Adner, “Innovation is a loser’s game.” Given the pace of global innovation, failing fast and learning from those failures are critical competencies. Toyota’s Advanced Technology National Manager Bill Reinert captures the required mindset: “We are convinced that we are entering a disruptive future, and we want to be ready for it.”

A Dark Art No More is one of the articles in The Economist's October 13th Special Report on Innovation. Special Report content and reprints.

Related reading: IBM’s 2006 Global CEO Study: Expanding the Innovation Horizon
Business Week Get Creative! Special Report (August 2005)

Women's Networks that Work

Business Week’s article What Works in Women’s Networks is a must-read for anyone with a human resource, innovation or revenue mandate. The authors’ statement - that corporate women’s networks “rarely provide the skills or exposure that women need to rise in the ranks” - often applies to association and regional events, as well.

What’s at stake? Women represent the fastest growing segment of the labor market and are, potentially, the dominant economic and political force. A few U.S. statistics (1):
* Women account for over half of the gross domestic product
* Women make up over 50% of undergraduates, earn 50% of the bachelor's and master's degrees and over 40% of the doctoral degrees
* Women make up 50% of the workforce
* Women represent the majority of voters

In order to achieve their potential, women’s organizations and events must serve as more than social gatherings or PR - they must be designed, financed and managed as critical business initiatives.

Three practices that work:

1. Get customers in the act.
Case in point: GE Women’s Network
Key success factor: Using the network as a regional connection hub for key stakeholders

2. Tackle real business problems.
Case in point: Best Buy’s WOLF
Key success factor: Tapping the network to address core business issues such as women-centric innovation and the retention of women employees

3. Bridge the gender divide.
Case in point: Deloitte’s WIN
Key success factor: Provide a benefit to both women and men; for example, using "Women as Buyers" study results to improve internal communications and sales effectiveness

1 - Sources: Catalyst Research and Lusk-Moore & Associates