Thursday, May 9, 2013

Who should be Involved in Branding your Institution?

By Clive Siachiyako
Branding is about creating an identity associated with a set of values valuable to the consumer; a process by which a sustainable relationship is built between the customer and the organisation – based upon a deep understanding of customer needs, motivations, perceptions and values. It is also a promise that creates a bond of trust between the brand owner and the user of the brand. Thus, the institution Chief Executive Officer (CEO) should spearhead it. 

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
WHY the CEO? Corporate branding is a strong tool for aligning (and realigning) a corporate strategy. It ensures that the institution is leveraging adequately on the untapped internal and external resources to position your institution where it visible and memorable. Therefore, a strong CEO and a dedicated management team are always essential in raising their own bar and be change agents for their institutions backed by a strong corporate branding strategy. A well-drafted and professionally managed corporate branding strategy and implementation plan can be a powerful component of the board room work.

Secondly, the CEO needs to lead the branding of your institution because the starting point for corporate branding is from the board room. The CEO must be personally involved in the brand strategy work. S/he must be passionate and fully buy into the idea of branding. To ensure success, despite the daily and stressful routine involving multiple duties; the CEO must be backed by a strong brand management team of senior contributors, who can facilitate continuous development and integration of the new strategy. It is for these reasons that for decades CEOs have been allocated resources to manage the corporate brands which are one intangible marketing asset that drive billions associate with a product/service.

MANAGEMENT
Decisions made in management meetings have a telling on the image of the institution. They either improve it or damage it. The decision on delivery, service provision, payments of clients, handling of queries, the appearance of the building and its surrounding, decisions on the kind of furniture you use, the receptionist you employ and how your reception looks etc. have a bearing on your corporate standing in the eyes of your stakeholders. Thus management is part of branding an institution from decision making point of view to pioneering delivery and efficiency of the institutional operations.

OTHER STAFF/EMPLOYEES
Your staff carries your institution on their shoulders. What they do outside the office have an effect on the institution and its standing before the public. They are your vision careers; they carry the image of your institution everywhere they go. Their good and bad deeds positively or negatively affect the standing of your institution.

For instance, when your staff does something, be it bad or good; the media will trace them to their place of work. They will relate their action to WHAT they do and WHERE they do it from. In the process, your institution gets a good or bad name depending on the type of news about your staff. That is why some institutions write disclaimers to disassociate themselves with staff involved in some ‘damaging activities’ because such actions affect their reputation and their ‘sales’. A staff involved in criminal activities may make your customers associate your institution to some similar vices. This shows the gravity of your staff’s role in institution branding.

Your staff should support your values and principles in the way they conduct their daily work. Their attitude towards work and clients should be resonating with your values and principles. Motivating them, walking the talk with them is thus very pertinent in corporate branding. They are your brand managers; you should thus walk the journey with them. Your staff should put into practice your vision, mission and business philosophy. If you say; “we offer quality training” but your staff’s culture is negating your promise; then you are failing placing your institution where you want it to be. Your words; your promise should be matched by action by your staff.

HOW TO WALK THE TALK OF CORPORATE BRANDING
Develop your own branding model.
Build your own model of branding. Not Every Model Suits All. You need your own specific requirements, set your own business values and a unique way of doing things. The CEO, management and staff should be vision carriers of those requirements, values and ways of doing things. They should interpret them to their personal, divisional/departmental work which should reflect your identity in your area of ‘business.’ Without the support of your staff on the good corporate brand you want to be identified with, you may remain in the ‘dust’ of others’ successful foothold in their specialty.

Therefore, even the best and most comprehensive branding models have to be tailored to these needs (your business values and way of doing things) and requirements. You can make necessary adjustments with other similar business models and strategies in the company to create a simplified toolbox for corporate branding. i.e. you can align your Client Charter to your delivery systems of services or products. If you promise clients that you offer “quality skills training;” then the quality of your graduates should have characteristics of that quality. They are the yardstick of what you promised your clients.

Remember that branding is the face of a business strategy so these two areas must go together. You cannot successfully implement a business strategy without a viable corporate branding because your public standing has a bearing on the viability of your business.

Exploit New Technology

Modern technology plays a part in a successful corporate branding strategy. Technology helps to gain effectiveness and improve the competitive edge of the corporation. A company website is not only a MUST, but rather a vital channel for any modern corporation regardless of size. “If your institution is not accessible on the Internet, it does not exist!” it is said. The more professional the website, the better the perception among the Internet savvy modern customer. With the advances in social media, it is also a must that your company has a strategy for how to utilise the huge number of tools and resources.

Remember that ignoring social media makes you mute – not invisible. Facebook alone hosts about 1.0 billion people. You can benefit from that population and sell your products/services at a much cheaper rate. You can tell this audience who you are, what you do, where you do it from and put testimonies (mini-videos) from graduates as market points on the video window on the social media.

Create the right delivery system.
The corporate brand is the face of the business strategy and basically it promises what all stakeholders should expect from you. Therefore, the delivery system of the right products/services should be carefully scrutinised and evaluated. Deliver effectively and efficiently on what you promise your clients. They become your life long clients, they will become loyal customers. They are your word of mouth marketing agents. Thus, the way you treat them when they are in contact with you affects your relationship and it affects how they treat your products/services.

Communicate
Bring the corporate brand to life through a range of well-planned and well-executed communication activities. The overall messages should be consistent, clear and relevant to the target audiences. The various messages should be concise and easy to comprehend. Using complicated jargon will just confuse your audience and they may miss your main message. Use simple words, straight forward sentences and precise grammar. Go straight to the point.

Adjust relentlessly and be ready to raise your own bar all the times
The business landscape is changing almost every day in every industry. Hence you need to evaluate and possibly adjust on how you do things on a regular basis. Such changes are part of corporate branding. You are fitting into the needs of the modern market. Your corporate brand should thus stay relevant, distinguished and always consistent. Do not be overtaken by events; move with time. Change your corporate branding according to what is relevant to your clientele. 

The basic parts of the corporate branding strategy like vision, identity, personality and values are not to be changed often as they are the basic components. The changes may rather involve the thousands of daily actions and interpersonal behaviors, which you employ as part of the brand marketing efforts. Do not complacent. Strong brands are those driven forward by owners whom never get tired of raising their own bars.

21 Ways Rich People Think Differently

By Mandi Woodruff | Business Insider – Tue, Sep 4, 2012 10:50 AM EDT

Steve Siebold, author of "How Rich People Think," spent nearly three decades interviewing millionaires around the world to find out what separates them from everyone else. It had little to do with money itself, he told Business Insider. It was about their mentality. "The middle class tells people to be happy with what they have," he said. "And on the whole, most people are steeped in fear when it comes to money."

1. Average people think MONEY is the root of all evil. Rich people believe POVERTY is the root of all evil.
"The average person has been brainwashed to believe rich people are lucky or dishonest," Siebold writes. That's why there's a certain shame that comes along with "getting rich" in lower-income communities. "The world class knows that while having money doesn't guarantee happiness, it does make your life easier and more enjoyable."

2. Average people think selfishness is a vice. Rich people think selfishness is a virtue.
"The rich go out there and try to make themselves happy. They don't try to pretend to save the world," Siebold told Business Insider. The problem is that middle class people see that as a negative––and it's keeping them poor, he writes. "If you're not taking care of you, you're not in a position to help anyone else. You can't give what you don't have."

3. Average people have a lottery mentality. Rich people have an action mentality.
"While the masses are waiting to pick the right numbers and praying for prosperity, the great ones are solving problems," Siebold writes. "The hero [middle class people] are waiting for may be God, government, their boss or their spouse. It's the average person's level of thinking that breeds this approach to life and living while the clock keeps ticking away."

4. Average people think the road to riches is paved with formal education. Rich people believe in acquiring specific knowledge.
"Many world-class performers have little formal education, and have amassed their wealth through the acquisition and subsequent sale of specific knowledge," he writes. "Meanwhile, the masses are convinced that master's degrees and doctorates are the way to wealth, mostly because they are trapped in the linear line of thought that holds them back from higher levels of consciousness...The wealthy aren't interested in the means, only the end."

5. Average people long for the good old days. Rich people dream of the future.
"Self-made millionaires get rich because they're willing to bet on themselves and project their dreams, goals and ideas into an unknown future," Siebold writes. "People who believe their best days are behind them rarely get rich, and often struggle with unhappiness and depression."

6. Average people see money through the eyes of emotion. Rich people think about money logically.
"An ordinarily smart, well-educated and otherwise successful person can be instantly transformed into a fear-based, scarcity driven thinker whose greatest financial aspiration is to retire comfortably," he writes. "The world class sees money for what it is and what it's not, through the eyes of logic. The great ones know money is a critical tool that presents options and opportunities."

7. Average people earn money doing things they don't love. Rich people follow their passion.
"To the average person, it looks like the rich are working all the time," Siebold says. "But one of the smartest strategies of the world class is doing what they love and finding a way to get paid for it." On the other hand, middle class take jobs they don't enjoy "because they need the money and they've been trained in school and conditioned by society to live in a linear thinking world that equates earning money with physical or mental effort."

8. Average people set low expectations so they're never disappointed. Rich people are up for the challenge.
"Psychologists and other mental health experts often advise people to set low expectations for their life to ensure they are not disappointed," Siebold writes. "No one would ever strike it rich and live their dreams without huge expectations."

9. Average people believe you have to DO something to get rich. Rich people believe you have to BE something to get rich.
"That's why people like Donald Trump go from millionaire to nine billion dollars in debt and come back richer than ever," he writes.  "While the masses are fixated on the doing and the immediate results of their actions, the great ones are learning and growing from every experience, whether it's a success or a failure, knowing their true reward is becoming a human success machine that eventually produces outstanding results."

10. Average people believe you need money to make money. Rich people use other people's money.
Linear thought might tell people to make money in order to earn more, but Siebold says the rich aren't afraid to fund their future from other people's pockets.  "Rich people know not being solvent enough to personally afford something is not relevant. The real question is, 'Is this worth buying, investing in, or pursuing?'" he writes.

11. Average people believe the markets are driven by logic and strategy. Rich people know they're driven by emotion and greed.
Investing successfully in the stock market isn't just about a fancy math formula. "The rich know that the primary emotions that drive financial markets are fear and greed, and they factor this into all trades and trends they observe," Siebold writes. "This knowledge of human nature and its overlapping impact on trading give them strategic advantage in building greater wealth through leverage."

12. Average people live beyond their means. Rich people live below theirs.
"Here's how to live below your means and tap into the secret wealthy people have used for centuries: Get rich so you can afford to," he writes.  "The rich live below their means, not because they're so savvy, but because they make so much money that they can afford to live like royalty while still having a king's ransom socked away for the future."

13. Average people teach their children how to survive. Rich people teach their kids to get rich.
Rich parents teach their kids from an early age about the world of "haves" and "have-nots," Siebold says. Even he admits many people have argued that he's supporting the idea of elitism.

He disagrees. "[People] say parents are teaching their kids to look down on the masses because they're poor. This isn't true," he writes. "What they're teaching their kids is to see the world through the eyes of objective reality––the way society really is."

If children understand wealth early on, they'll be more likely to strive for it later in life.

14. Average people let money stress them out. Rich people find peace of mind in wealth.
The reason wealthy people earn more wealth is that they're not afraid to admit that money can solve most problems, Siebold says.  "[The middle class] sees money as a never-ending necessary evil that must be endured as part of life. The world class sees money as the great liberator, and with enough of it, they are able to purchase financial peace of mind."

15. Average people would rather be entertained than educated. Rich people would rather be educated than entertained.
While the rich don't put much stock in furthering wealth through formal education, they appreciate the power of learning long after college is over, Siebold says. "Walk into a wealthy person's home and one of the first things you'll see is an extensive library of books they've used to educate themselves on how to become more successful," he writes. "The middle class reads novels, tabloids and entertainment magazines."

16. Average people think rich people are snobs. Rich people just want to surround themselves with like-minded people.
The negative money mentality poisoning the middle class is what keeps the rich hanging out with the rich, he says. "[Rich people] can't afford the messages of doom and gloom," he writes. "This is often misinterpreted by the masses as snobbery. Labeling the world class as snobs is another way the middle class finds to feel better bout themselves and their chosen path of mediocrity."
 
17. Average people focus on saving. Rich people focus on earning.
Siebold theorizes that the wealthy focus on what they'll gain by taking risks, rather than how to save what they have. "The masses are so focused on clipping coupons and living frugally they miss major opportunities," he writes.  "Even in the midst of a cash flow crisis, the rich reject the nickle and dime thinking of the masses. They are the masters of focusing their mental energy where it belongs: on the big money."

18. Average people play it safe with money. Rich people know when to take risks.
"Leverage is the watchword of the rich," Siebold writes. "Every investor loses money on occasion, but the world class knows no matter what happens, they will aways be able to earn more."

19. Average people love to be comfortable. Rich people find comfort in uncertainty.
For the most part, it takes guts to take the risks necessary to make it as a millionaire––a challenge most middle class thinkers aren't comfortable living with. "Physical, psychological, and emotional comfort is the primary goal of the middle class mindset," Siebold writes.

World class thinkers learn early on that becoming a millionaire isn't easy and the need for comfort can be devastating. They learn to be comfortable while operating in a state of ongoing uncertainty."

20. Average people never make the connection between money and health. Rich people know money can save your life.
While the middle class squabbles over the virtues of Obamacare and their company's health plan, the super wealthy are enrolled in a super elite "boutique medical care" association, Siebold says. "They pay a substantial yearly membership fee that guarantees them 24-hour access to a private physician who only serves a small group of members," he writes. "Some wealthy neighborhoods have implemented this strategy and even require the physician to live in the neighborhood."

21. Average people believe they must choose between a great family and being rich. Rich people know you can have it all.
The idea the wealth must come at the expense of family time is nothing but a "cop-out", Siebold says. "The masses have been brainwashed to believe it's an either/or equation," he writes. "The rich know you can have anything you want if you approach the challenge with a mindset rooted in love and abundance."

World's richest woman Gina Rinehart is enduring a media firestorm over an article in which she takes the "jealous" middle class to task for "drinking, or smoking and socializing" rather than working to earn their own fortune.