Crisis Marketing: On Service Strategy and Customer-Centricity (What Every CMO Should Act On.Now)
Alain Thys at Marketing & Strategy Innovation weblog on your TRUE core-business:
“no matter what books or gurus may say, customer-focus is a top-down game. from childhood we have learned to follow the example of those that lead us, and that means that customer-centricity should be mindset of all c-level executives. not in words, but in actions…”
“…of course, no self-respecting CEO will reorganise a business around the customer without a solid business case… …the CMO’s second step on the customer-centricity ladder is therefore to demonstrate the financial benefits of “happy customers” to the organisation…”
“to really focus on the customer, companies will need to… …tear up the detailed customer interaction and scripts. show staff and vendors how to listen and care. not only in the front lines, but at every level of the organisation. every department eventually affects the customer experience…”
He goes on to mention five steps to make your organization truly customer- (and prospect!)-centric:
- Step 1: start at the top
- Step 2. show them the money
- Step 3: start with the people
- Step 4: help them do the right thing
- Step 5: make it clear you mean business
Now, the real problem addressed here by Alan, of course, is “isle-thinking” or Department Silo Mentality SyndromeTM -a state of mind inherent to the way we humans are hardwired by evolution/mother nature, as any anthropologist worth his salt could tell you.
When bands of humans grow past the dunbar number, things (read: the consumer) tend to slip out of eye-sight or get dehumanized quickly; this is bad thing for your brand advocacy hopes, so this challenge requires a thorough rethinking of your Service Strategy and maybe even a restructuring of your organization chart…
The above is probably going to require some serious change management (skills) -see point 5 mainly-, effort and lots of lots of passion, training, coaching & patience. Lots. Of. Patience…
Read the whole post over at FUTURELAB: Future Marketing & Strategy Innovation Blog.
Branding The Obama Identity
Two short interviews with Sol Sender, the Design Strategist behind the excellent adaptable and strong brand identity of the US President-Elect Barack Obama, wherein he shares the history, strategic branding process and key take-aways thereof.
As stipulated by Karl Long in the original referring post over at FUTURELAB.net, this could become the most iconic brand identity of our time -even more so when we consider the various ways in which it was deployed: the ultimate contemporary case of product quality (the candidate AND his message) first and marketing perfection second in a sweet marriage with The Crowds if we ever saw one.
Bonus: For the nitpickers out there: In part 1, pause at 06:46 to see a screenshot of an Outdoor Dummy on a Dutch Public Transport Company bus stop , taken in the city of Amsterdam! [hometown of yours truly ;) ]
Sol Sender – Obama Logo Design Part 1 of 2
Sol Sender – Obama Logo Design Part 2 of 2
Here’s the teams blog post
Original Post: http://experiencecurve.com/archives/new-rules-implied-for-developing-brand-identity-for-social-media
