If you look back at the ways major global brands were built, you
might ask yourself whether we will ever see such created here. I mean a
brand that offers and keeps a promise over an extended period of time,
centuries even.
A brand that means the same thing to
its customers in every region of the world, from Austria to Zimbabwe,
and connects with them on both an emotional and rational level.
Brand
schizophrenia is endemic in Kenya today and its spread is hastened by
the rise of social media specifically and digital communication in
general. As long as we have old doyens of industry controlling the purse
strings, who are quick to confess that they know absolutely nothing
about new media and don’t have the slightest incline to learn about it,
then the status quo will prevail.
Social media accounts are thus handed over to millennials, who were practically born with smartphones in their hands.
They work without establishing structure and strategy aligned to
the business priorities and therefore the digital brand voice sounds
one way today, and entirely differently tomorrow.
Without
consistency it is difficult to build trust in the marketplace, but
those young ones have taken control of the social media accounts and are
using a voice that comes to them naturally and then they create content
that is appreciated mostly by their peers.
Alternatively,
a well defined brand structure dictates that a voice that is relevant
to the target audience and developing content around their interests
should be paramount.
The other problem that brands
face today is the high turnover of marketing staff. Gone are the days
that executives stayed in companies for 15 years of more, after which
they would receive a wheelbarrow and a fine wrist watch for their long
service.
Executives go into companies knowing that
they’ll only be there for a short stint, and where there are no solid
brand guidelines they will blaze their own trail. The result is a brand
that keeps changing its focus every few years, and once again
diminishing the trust among its consumer universe.
These
modern day executives also engage in another selfish activity which is
personal brand building at the expense of the brand that they are
working for.
Its not just about going for the low
hanging fruit, but more about focusing on the short term gains so that
they come out smelling like roses, even if those gains will have
negative effects for the brand in future.
Phil Jackson,
the Chicago Bulls coach during their championship wins in the 90s,
shares some wisdom in his book titled Eleven Rings. He says that there
is a difference between serving a ‘goal’ and serving the ‘craft’.
When
you serve the goal, you spend your time focused on the outcome, mostly
looking at reducing cost, increasing speed, and doing it better than the
competition. In this mode, the end justifies the means, even if it
means taking shortcuts.
On the other hand, when you
serve the craft, you dedicate yourself to doing the best in the task at
hand, with the resources and skills that are available to you, and
therefore compete against yourself, or your best. Serving the craft may
take longer, and cost more, but the final result is usually sustained
success.
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