Jet Star is struggling to get off the ground. It is hard to believe an airline with the experience and resource such as Qantas could get it so terribly wrong. While they may put it down to ‘teething problems’ the New Zealand public are unlikely to be as dismissive. The current global economic predicament seems to be completely lost on Jet Star and their advisors. This is no time to ‘get it wrong’.
Not only are they off to a bad start but their response suggests they are hell bent on making things worse. Full page apologies might make the advertising agency happy but it cuts no ice with today’s consumer. It is possible to make a mistake and enjoy a great recovery. In fact there are some great cases of businesses that have turned a ‘screw-up’ into an opportunity to engage with customers; because mistakes can happen. As Alan Martin famously said, “it’s the putting right that counts”. He didn’t say, “An ad in the paper will put it right”
Come on guys this is pathetic, you are well on the way to becoming the 'Skoda of the sky'.
Something truly frightening is happening in the corporate world right now. These businesses are either being run by ‘unqualified communications executives’ or they are getting atrocious advice (or perhaps both).
Jet Star are not alone in the dunces corner. With them stand Cadbury who have recently tried to slip passed their trusting customers a shrunken chocolate block full of Palm oil. Whittakers, the eagle eyed competitor, spotted the sleight of hand and ratted on them. (Good honest Whittakers); this only weeks out from Readers Digest announcing Cadbury’s as our most trusted brand (yeah right).
Joining the duo is Methven, New Zealand’s iconic tap ware manufacturer. They have come to the attention of the Commerce Commission (once again courtesy of a helpful competitor) for allegedly ‘telling porkies’ in their ads about one of their showerhead’s ability to deliver savings to consumers.
At a time when businesses are trying to make efficiencies (and need to get it right) we instead are witnessing horrendously expensive screw-ups. These mistakes are costing business hundreds of thousand of dollars in unnecessary expenditure, lost sales and long term ‘brand damage’.
Sure strong brand reputations can weather storms better than the also-rans but having a reputation also means it can sustain damage; damage that could take years to repair.
Now if anyone from Jet Star, Cadbury or Methven are reading this, then here is the best advice you will ever get and it won’t cost you a cent.
A brand is simply a reputation that resides in the minds of others. Like any reputation it can sustain damaged. Human nature demonstrates that you can get ‘it’ right a thousand times and do yourselves proud; but get it wrong once and you will get a caning.
But if you do get it wrong please don’t apologise; simply get some grown up help and put it right.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
To hell and back
This is the best news I've heard for a long time. Callum Davies and his mates at Hell have bought back their baby. The Tasman Pacific Foods Group purchase three years ago was a disaster. It was fifteen million dollars the boys needed to take Hell to the rest of the world but they also now know that large corporates are not the best custodians of boutique brands (see my last blog). In just three years Tasman Pacific succeeded in getting seriously offside with the franchisees, they tried to lift sales by slashing costs, they showed a complete lack of understanding of what they had bought.
Fontera’s purchase of Kapiti has all the hallmarks of a similar fate. The only difference is that Fontera will know how to milk the brand dry before they destroy it’s ‘heart’.
It took Ross McCallum twenty plus years to create Kapiti (Callum has worked in Hell for a similar time period). Brand bashing corporates can bleed delicate brands dry in only a couple of years.
Lane Walker Rudkin has gone down the toilet along a frightening number of other one hundred plus year old companies in the last few years. These iconic brands are worth fortunes and large corporates are seriously mismanaging the brand equity that has been built up over years of investment, toil and sweat. It is a form of asset stripping gone mad. It is also at the crux of this so called global recession. Mass destruction of trust, value and quality.
I’m sure businesses would protect their investment if they knew how but the problem highlights the fact that major companies, their legal, financial and marketing advisers know next to nothing about brands. They think brand is something they own and bleed rather than something thay should nuture and ‘garden’.
So here is my advice to all big corporations. Watch carefully the road to Hell and learn. Callum and his team will get things back on track I know. They are very clever people. They understand the essence of a brand. They understand Hell connects with franchisees and customers alike. They understand that Hell is more than fast food. They treat it with care, they love it to bits and they will stay with the game plan.
Callum's road to Hell has always been paved with good intentions. He now sits on a well deserved wad of cash in his back pocket after buying back the franchise for a fraction of the original sale price but a devil of a job in front of him.
Bring on the resurrection.
Fontera’s purchase of Kapiti has all the hallmarks of a similar fate. The only difference is that Fontera will know how to milk the brand dry before they destroy it’s ‘heart’.
It took Ross McCallum twenty plus years to create Kapiti (Callum has worked in Hell for a similar time period). Brand bashing corporates can bleed delicate brands dry in only a couple of years.
Lane Walker Rudkin has gone down the toilet along a frightening number of other one hundred plus year old companies in the last few years. These iconic brands are worth fortunes and large corporates are seriously mismanaging the brand equity that has been built up over years of investment, toil and sweat. It is a form of asset stripping gone mad. It is also at the crux of this so called global recession. Mass destruction of trust, value and quality.
I’m sure businesses would protect their investment if they knew how but the problem highlights the fact that major companies, their legal, financial and marketing advisers know next to nothing about brands. They think brand is something they own and bleed rather than something thay should nuture and ‘garden’.
So here is my advice to all big corporations. Watch carefully the road to Hell and learn. Callum and his team will get things back on track I know. They are very clever people. They understand the essence of a brand. They understand Hell connects with franchisees and customers alike. They understand that Hell is more than fast food. They treat it with care, they love it to bits and they will stay with the game plan.
Callum's road to Hell has always been paved with good intentions. He now sits on a well deserved wad of cash in his back pocket after buying back the franchise for a fraction of the original sale price but a devil of a job in front of him.
Bring on the resurrection.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Let's play telephone tag
Just because you are the biggest doesn’t mean you’re the best.
In fact market leadership until recently has often occurred by default. Big organisations, first to market gain a size and momentum that is almost impossible to stop. Telecom, Vodafone, ANZ, BNZ and TVNZ are good examples. With their market dominance often comes market arrogance, what I call ‘business chauvinism’.
These businesses are often run by accountants and financiers who know the cost of everything and the value of nothing. They become skilled at the end game of economic chess to a point where winning (or making a profit) becomes their reason for being. They lose sight of what being in business is all about (looking after the customer).
Throwing your weight around is no longer a valid strategy for maintaining leadership (as the American auto industry is learning).
So when businesses such as Telecom and the ANZ decide to take their call centres offshore as a way of slashing even more costs they expose themselves to ridicule. I’m not talking about robbing New Zealanders of jobs; that’s another story in itself, I’m talking about turning an already shocking service into a farce.
Taking call centres to countries where English is a poor second language, where the people probably don’t even know where New Zealand is on the map is tantamount to telling customers “we’d rather you didn’t call at all. You won’t understand a word we are saying and we have no idea who you are or where you live anyway.”
The phone is the front gate for many of these businesses and ‘dumbing down’ the service to save costs will come back to bite them in their rears big time. The only good news is that it opens the door to competitors who understand that delighting customers is the key to business success. Energy, telecommunications and banking services have become commodities because the big businesses that dominate these sectors haven’t figured out that they could add value (answer phones quickly and intelligently) and make even more money.
But hold the phone folks. AXA is out of the blocks with an advertising campaign promising to answer the phones locally. Good on ya AXA. It appears some of the big guys can eventually figure it out
In fact market leadership until recently has often occurred by default. Big organisations, first to market gain a size and momentum that is almost impossible to stop. Telecom, Vodafone, ANZ, BNZ and TVNZ are good examples. With their market dominance often comes market arrogance, what I call ‘business chauvinism’.
These businesses are often run by accountants and financiers who know the cost of everything and the value of nothing. They become skilled at the end game of economic chess to a point where winning (or making a profit) becomes their reason for being. They lose sight of what being in business is all about (looking after the customer).
Throwing your weight around is no longer a valid strategy for maintaining leadership (as the American auto industry is learning).
So when businesses such as Telecom and the ANZ decide to take their call centres offshore as a way of slashing even more costs they expose themselves to ridicule. I’m not talking about robbing New Zealanders of jobs; that’s another story in itself, I’m talking about turning an already shocking service into a farce.
Taking call centres to countries where English is a poor second language, where the people probably don’t even know where New Zealand is on the map is tantamount to telling customers “we’d rather you didn’t call at all. You won’t understand a word we are saying and we have no idea who you are or where you live anyway.”
The phone is the front gate for many of these businesses and ‘dumbing down’ the service to save costs will come back to bite them in their rears big time. The only good news is that it opens the door to competitors who understand that delighting customers is the key to business success. Energy, telecommunications and banking services have become commodities because the big businesses that dominate these sectors haven’t figured out that they could add value (answer phones quickly and intelligently) and make even more money.
But hold the phone folks. AXA is out of the blocks with an advertising campaign promising to answer the phones locally. Good on ya AXA. It appears some of the big guys can eventually figure it out
Sunday, April 19, 2009
What's wong with Wanganui?
Michael Laws is the one throwing hissy fits now. At a time when the world is losing stuff the mayor of the city is rejecting the New Zealand Geographic Board’s kind offer of an ‘h’. Adding a letter to the city’s name aligns it with the correctly spelt Maori name of the river Whanganui that flows through the city. It is claimed to have been named by the legendary chief Haunui (spelt with an H) who arrived on the Aotea waka over six hundred years ago.
Now I can sympathise with some aspects of Michael's reluctance to change. The name Whanganui means ‘great harbour' and clearly the city can not claim this. But once again is this another example of just how intransigent the brain is to change especially an aging male brain or are there really major problems with undergoing a name change process?
Most women in this country change their names when they marry and it is usually requires more than adding a letter. They seem to cope with it Michael.
The name is not offensive, in fact it could be argued Whanganui is more flattering. I hear some business owners claiming the cost of changing signage and stationery will send them broke. Manage the change folks.
Now Mr Laws has in the past had no end of trouble with some of the local Maori camping on his flower gardens so perhaps he is taking this opportunity to tell them ‘to stick their name in a pipe and smoke it’.
What ever his gripe surely his emotional state is diverting his attention from the city’s 'opportunity of the century'. Most businesses seize on the renaming process as a way of reconnecting with key markets. They usually beat up a real song and dance, proclaiming to the world what a change means.
What an opportunity this could be to put this town on the map, change some old paradigms, focus on what the city has to offer.
Come on Michael, don’t be such an old stick in the river mud. Embrace the change, add value to the city; the promotional opportunities are boundless.
This is something to celebrate. Welcome home your prodigal ‘h’.
Now I can sympathise with some aspects of Michael's reluctance to change. The name Whanganui means ‘great harbour' and clearly the city can not claim this. But once again is this another example of just how intransigent the brain is to change especially an aging male brain or are there really major problems with undergoing a name change process?
Most women in this country change their names when they marry and it is usually requires more than adding a letter. They seem to cope with it Michael.
The name is not offensive, in fact it could be argued Whanganui is more flattering. I hear some business owners claiming the cost of changing signage and stationery will send them broke. Manage the change folks.
Now Mr Laws has in the past had no end of trouble with some of the local Maori camping on his flower gardens so perhaps he is taking this opportunity to tell them ‘to stick their name in a pipe and smoke it’.
What ever his gripe surely his emotional state is diverting his attention from the city’s 'opportunity of the century'. Most businesses seize on the renaming process as a way of reconnecting with key markets. They usually beat up a real song and dance, proclaiming to the world what a change means.
What an opportunity this could be to put this town on the map, change some old paradigms, focus on what the city has to offer.
Come on Michael, don’t be such an old stick in the river mud. Embrace the change, add value to the city; the promotional opportunities are boundless.
This is something to celebrate. Welcome home your prodigal ‘h’.
Monday, April 13, 2009
The pigs are fed but unlikely to fly
At a recent conference in Auckland I was addressing a group of mainly marketing executives representing national and international cosmetics brands. I wanted to reassure them that the current economic climate should not be viewed as a recession. If you are unwilling to change the way you do business and continue to play by the old rules then I guess you could be excused from seeing it that way. This is not a recession; it is a tectonic shift in the way business is conducted. There is no point in battening down and waiting for this to pass. This is not a storm you can ride out; it is a change to completely new ways of working.
There is no point in trying to read the tea-leaves down at the stock exchange or listening to the hand wringing gnomes of finance. These people are merely historians, forensic accountants raking over the smoldering coals trying to make sense of the global melt down. They have no view of the future worth considering.
You see balance sheets merely reflect the results of our behaviour, the red figures are what is or is not left when the job is done.
What they can confirm is that business has not been delivering value, the world has been caught up in paper investments, creative accounting and misguided loyalty. We have created a climate of distrust. We have been busy doing nothing other than creating an illusion
We are now painfully aware that business relies completely on trust. If we don’t trust each other then our sphincter muscles cramp; nothing goes in and nothing comes out. Business stops.
There are plenty of examples of old world behemoths. The BNZ, antiquated and lost, their new identity is devoid of any of the three new building blocks. They waste millions of dollars on billboards and TV ads that show us their cartoon, coloured pigs, old world creativity rather than meaningful value. Go into a bank and pick up an empty cardboard box instead of a helpful brochure (another example of creativity gone mad). Ask to talk to a business manager, as I did recently and you will quickly find they know nothing about business and what advice they offer is worse than unhelpful. They will probably blunder on because of their sheer size but sharper, faster and better banking models will overtake them in time.
The news however is good.
In the new environment the three most crucial issues will be common sense, trust and value. If you can provide all of these then you will do extraordinarily well.
The future is about smart long term strategies rather than desperate short term (colourful pigs) tactics.
Not only will you need to deliver but you will also need to communicate these. There will be no point hiding what will set you apart from others.
Do such businesses exist, absolutely?
Kiwibank and ASB are at the front of this new change process. But there are others out there, smaller businesses that are founded on the three platforms and they are doing extremely well right now.
I am impressed with the clever folk Trilogy ( www.trilogy.com ) who have embarked on a campaign requesting that businesses sign up to ‘not using the R word.
Equally I suggest everyone sign up to the concept of delivering commonsense, trust and value
There is no point in trying to read the tea-leaves down at the stock exchange or listening to the hand wringing gnomes of finance. These people are merely historians, forensic accountants raking over the smoldering coals trying to make sense of the global melt down. They have no view of the future worth considering.
You see balance sheets merely reflect the results of our behaviour, the red figures are what is or is not left when the job is done.
What they can confirm is that business has not been delivering value, the world has been caught up in paper investments, creative accounting and misguided loyalty. We have created a climate of distrust. We have been busy doing nothing other than creating an illusion
We are now painfully aware that business relies completely on trust. If we don’t trust each other then our sphincter muscles cramp; nothing goes in and nothing comes out. Business stops.
There are plenty of examples of old world behemoths. The BNZ, antiquated and lost, their new identity is devoid of any of the three new building blocks. They waste millions of dollars on billboards and TV ads that show us their cartoon, coloured pigs, old world creativity rather than meaningful value. Go into a bank and pick up an empty cardboard box instead of a helpful brochure (another example of creativity gone mad). Ask to talk to a business manager, as I did recently and you will quickly find they know nothing about business and what advice they offer is worse than unhelpful. They will probably blunder on because of their sheer size but sharper, faster and better banking models will overtake them in time.
The news however is good.
In the new environment the three most crucial issues will be common sense, trust and value. If you can provide all of these then you will do extraordinarily well.
The future is about smart long term strategies rather than desperate short term (colourful pigs) tactics.
Not only will you need to deliver but you will also need to communicate these. There will be no point hiding what will set you apart from others.
Do such businesses exist, absolutely?
Kiwibank and ASB are at the front of this new change process. But there are others out there, smaller businesses that are founded on the three platforms and they are doing extremely well right now.
I am impressed with the clever folk Trilogy ( www.trilogy.com ) who have embarked on a campaign requesting that businesses sign up to ‘not using the R word.
Equally I suggest everyone sign up to the concept of delivering commonsense, trust and value
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Yes Sir; no Sir
The gongs are back and thank God, or should we thank the National Party? Having our own New Zealand titles is an admirable idea and while shrugging off another vestige of colonialism appeals, how often do we cut off our nose to spite our face?
There are two sides to every coin. While the queen has her place on one face we are still able to make our Kiwi mark on the other.
What was the point of having New Zealand titles and the recipients receiving no recognition at a public level? If someone has earned a knighthood then we are duty bound to give them the respect they deserve and address them as Sir or Dame. While any titled individual may feel they would prefer you call them by their Christian name; then that’s their call. But as a society we owe it to them to let them know they have earned our respect. We lift their personal brand status.
It was who removed the titles in the first place, and why, that suggests something far more sinister was afoot. I have been told by a friend within government (and I suggest she would know), that a group of high ranking women members of parliament wanted to dismantle New Zealand’s male dominated elite. They believed an effective way to neuter them was to abolish their titles.
Some of you will have read my article in the DomPost last year about collapsing communities. Communities need structure and hierarchies; they are essential for community survival. Now I’m not saying that these politicians were trying to erode our fragile communities but that was the result. Like lowering the age of drinking what appeals to the intellect can have disastrous social consequences.
These experiments in social re-engineering must stop. They create more problems than they solve and they are usually promoted by people with highly questionable motives
Before we improve anything we need to understand the ramifications of the change; yes sir!
There are two sides to every coin. While the queen has her place on one face we are still able to make our Kiwi mark on the other.
What was the point of having New Zealand titles and the recipients receiving no recognition at a public level? If someone has earned a knighthood then we are duty bound to give them the respect they deserve and address them as Sir or Dame. While any titled individual may feel they would prefer you call them by their Christian name; then that’s their call. But as a society we owe it to them to let them know they have earned our respect. We lift their personal brand status.
It was who removed the titles in the first place, and why, that suggests something far more sinister was afoot. I have been told by a friend within government (and I suggest she would know), that a group of high ranking women members of parliament wanted to dismantle New Zealand’s male dominated elite. They believed an effective way to neuter them was to abolish their titles.
Some of you will have read my article in the DomPost last year about collapsing communities. Communities need structure and hierarchies; they are essential for community survival. Now I’m not saying that these politicians were trying to erode our fragile communities but that was the result. Like lowering the age of drinking what appeals to the intellect can have disastrous social consequences.
These experiments in social re-engineering must stop. They create more problems than they solve and they are usually promoted by people with highly questionable motives
Before we improve anything we need to understand the ramifications of the change; yes sir!
Saturday, February 14, 2009
The euphemistic Claytons still lives
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I stumbled across a bottle of the infamous Claytons in an Ausralian supermarket recently. Appologies to any youngsters who are none the wiser but you would need to be over thirty to remember this one.
This was ‘the drink you had when you weren’t having a drink’.
The beverage originated in London in 1880 and is reputed to be a blend of Kola nuts and citrus essence although like the Coke recipe the makers still aren’t letting on. I’m sure the recipe will remain a well kept secret because I don’t imagine anyone will be beating the doors down to discover how it is made. The drink proved so unpopular that Beecham the New Zealand distributor withdrew it from the market mid 1980’s having spent a small fortune on television advertising.
The TV ads became the talk of the nation but for all the wrong reasons. In fact the term Claytons is still a part of Australian and Kiwi vocab. If something pretends to be something it is not then it is commonly called a ‘Claytons’.
The commercial finished with the line; “The drink you have when you’re not having a drink.”
I guess New Zealand wasn’t ready to become a nation of wowsers or more to the point if it was it didn’t want to draw attention to the fact by being seen with a glass of Claytons in hand.
Why the ad agency had to showcase the conncoction as something it wasn’t, turned out to be a very serious mistake, especially around a product (alcohol) that is so much a part of national folklore. The bottle was even designed with a label to look like a whiskey bottle.
The advert opened with a character (Jack) in a bar obviously enjoying a joke with his mates. We hear him deliver the punch line “…and then this guy says, ‘Now we can all get some sleep’” to which his mates unable to contain themselves burst into laughter. Not only did the drink become a joke but the joke’s punch line also became about as popular as Tui’s ‘Yeah right’.
Unfortunately the joke backfired on Beechams but not before they left our language a little richer for the experience. Claytons reluctantly joined the advertsisng ‘hall of shame’ alongside other notables of the day such as Skoda but that is another story for another day.
This was ‘the drink you had when you weren’t having a drink’.
The beverage originated in London in 1880 and is reputed to be a blend of Kola nuts and citrus essence although like the Coke recipe the makers still aren’t letting on. I’m sure the recipe will remain a well kept secret because I don’t imagine anyone will be beating the doors down to discover how it is made. The drink proved so unpopular that Beecham the New Zealand distributor withdrew it from the market mid 1980’s having spent a small fortune on television advertising.
The TV ads became the talk of the nation but for all the wrong reasons. In fact the term Claytons is still a part of Australian and Kiwi vocab. If something pretends to be something it is not then it is commonly called a ‘Claytons’.
The commercial finished with the line; “The drink you have when you’re not having a drink.”
I guess New Zealand wasn’t ready to become a nation of wowsers or more to the point if it was it didn’t want to draw attention to the fact by being seen with a glass of Claytons in hand.
Why the ad agency had to showcase the conncoction as something it wasn’t, turned out to be a very serious mistake, especially around a product (alcohol) that is so much a part of national folklore. The bottle was even designed with a label to look like a whiskey bottle.
The advert opened with a character (Jack) in a bar obviously enjoying a joke with his mates. We hear him deliver the punch line “…and then this guy says, ‘Now we can all get some sleep’” to which his mates unable to contain themselves burst into laughter. Not only did the drink become a joke but the joke’s punch line also became about as popular as Tui’s ‘Yeah right’.
Unfortunately the joke backfired on Beechams but not before they left our language a little richer for the experience. Claytons reluctantly joined the advertsisng ‘hall of shame’ alongside other notables of the day such as Skoda but that is another story for another day.
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