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"Part 1 of this series explored the inefficacy of 'Big Idea' campaign marketing and noted the success of brands practicing the contrary, described as a process of nurturing the character of an organization. Part 2 is presented as a manifesto to marketers and brand strategists to STOP Branding, to stop trying to create demand, to adopt a different frame of mind, to think in terms of relationship activation by being true to a set of principles that will connect them to existing, latent demand.
Marketers don't generate demand. Great companies spend their time understanding what and where latent demand exists and build the products, services, and user experiences that connect to that demand. They delve into their founding principles and develop, invent, or innovate goods and services specifically driven and defined by those principles. Don't misinterpret this effort. It's not a matter of chasing market opportunity. It's as much an inward journey as it is recognition of the current state of any given market. This is where the mental shift is happening among great companies that are attracting incredibly loyal customer bases. They are thinking about markets and the competitive environment they reside in terms of user experience design."
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"Far too many corporate social responsibility statements and annual reports claim, 'Our employees are our most important asset.' Is that what we are? Assets? No, we are not assets. We are not human capital. We are not headcount. You cannot count me.
We are the individuals who make up our organizations. We are team members. We are co-workers. We are colleagues. We are individuals. We are both leaders and followers. We strive for purpose in our lives, and in the organizations that we work for.
It matters not what level we reside on in the corporate hierarchy. We are all on the same team in defining and enacting that purpose. Team members are not an asset, but rather the key link to improving society.
The importance of purpose on the lives of employees, and for the betterment of society, has become table stakes. Indeed, the individuals that make up the organization are its most important advantage."
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"As venture capitalist Marc Andreessen has said, 'Software is eating the world.' We live in an age in which every aspect of our lives from physical devices to offline services is being digitized; the impact of social media on consumers and business alike today is as profound as the rise of Google 15 years ago. Yet, many business leaders and CEOs are thinking about what I call Social Business in exactly the WRONG ways.
The mistake leaders make is over-delegating social and digital efforts to fairly entry-level marketing and customer service teams. Senior executives then confuse having a social media team with having a social business, and have a detrimental misconception that these efforts are far from the business's core initiatives. In reality, business leaders need to personally own and drive these digital and social initiatives. To fully become a Social Business, an organization must truly embrace digital opportunities on every platform; and this transformation must be led by C-Suite Executives."
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"When you get accountability wrong, don't expect anything else to go right in your job, on your team, or in the organization as a whole. Treating only the symptoms of dysfunction that stem from poor accountability practices will cause you to lose time and miss opportunities to get real traction towards the results you want.
When you get accountability right, everything else will go right as you execute, overcome obstacles, and work to get results."
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"Erase everything you've been taught about negotiation. You are not rational; there is no such thing as 'fair'; compromise is the worst thing you can do; the real art of negotiation lies in mastering the intricacies of No, not Yes. I guarantee if erase everything you think you know about negotiation and apply these methods in your next conversation, you'll walk away surprised at what you achieved."
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