Do you love your own brand?  Are you your brand’s own biggest fan?  If not, then you should be. And your teams should be too!  How can you expect customers to love your brand if you don’t love it first?

A little brand narcissism is a good thing, and it starts at the top. When the leadership team actively loves the brand and freely expresses that love, it’s infectious to teams below. It’s not about indoctrination or mind-control.  You can’t tell your teams how and what they should feel, but when your employees hear the leaders actively and enthusiastically loving the brand, they’re more likely to jump on the bandwagon and love your brand too. 

A little brand self-love can go a long way toward internal-external marketing alignment. Building a culture within your organization that expresses that self-love can be an excellent first step toward aligning your internal messages with your external ones.

While it may feel like you’re asking your teams to drink the Kool-Aid, the other valuable point about brand self-love is that it can quickly weed out the people who aren’t on board with you.  Employees who are skeptical, cynical, or resistant are not the people you want on your team who might leak their feelings onto a customer. Figure out who your biggest cheerleaders are and then let them express their passion to their colleagues and to your customers.

Who are your brand’s biggest internal cheerleaders? How do they express their love of your brand?  Leave us your comments and share your story.

Effective onboarding goes beyond tactical training and integrates new employees in a brand-right, comprehensive, and strategic program.

Every new employee reflects time and money - not only in the recruiting and interviewing process but in the time it takes to bring them up to speed and make them productive.  Creating an engaging and comprehensive onboarding program will maximize your investment, reduce your overall training time, and generate motivated and enthusiastic new employees who are ready to help your company thrive.

How can Onboarding align your brand and marketing messages?

Many companies view onboarding as simply “orientation” - those first few days on the job where new hires learn how to use the phones, find the bathrooms, and fill out paperwork.  This completely misses the bigger picture.

Onboarding is an opportunity to immerse your new team member in every element of your company - from the basic and tactical to the strategic and cultural.  An effective program will help new employees become ambassadors of your brand and company, which is especially crucial if they have contact with customers, vendors, partners, or anyone outside the company. They will reflect and deliver your brand to the outside world so it’s imperative they do so in a brand-right way.

By integrating brand, culture, and marketing messages into your onboarding program, you will generate alignment and consistency throughout your organization and support the delivery of your brand.

Ten On-boarding Best Practices

1. Reflect the brand. The strength of your brand plays a huge role in recruiting and retaining top talent. The on-boarding process should reflect your brand seamlessly and consistently.
2. Reduce time to productivity. How fast can your new hire be up-to-speed? The sooner they’re productive, the sooner the company will benefit from their contributions.
3. Unify all on-boarding efforts.  There are multiple components and agendas that make up on-boarding - everything from payroll and benefits to security, IT, branding, customer service, and more. A unified and integrated program that covers all on-boarding elements will ensure each topic is trained consistently and according to company standards.
4. Introduce company culture. New employees can impact an organization’s culture. Now’s the time to introduce the company culture, and help new hires understand how they will be expected to meld into it.
5. Roll-out for maximum retention. Don’t overwhelm new hires by cramming all on-boarding into the first few days or weeks on the job. Spread it out to improve retention and provide on-the-job experience that can build better context.
6. Provide coaching & mentorship. It’s easy for new-hires to get frustrated, overwhelmed, and simply throw in the towel. If you lose them, you’ve also lost time and money. Give new employees an appropriate and safe outlet to vent, ask questions, and get coached.
7. Include evaluation and go/no-go checkpoints. Sometimes that person who shined in the hiring process turns out to be not the best fit after all. Build in checkpoints and measures for evaluation to help identify and de-select a poor fit early in the process, before you’ve invested a lot of time and money.
8. Involve managers. Don’t pass off on-boarding to the training or HR departments. Involve managers to establish rapport quicker and help them identify strengths and weaknesses, communication styles, motivation factors, growth opportunities, and more. 
9. Keep employees in the work environment. It’s tempting to ship your new employees off to a classroom for onboarding, but they’ll learn faster and retain more if you provide as much training as possible in the actual work environment.
10. Map to a larger plan. Onboarding should connect to and reflect your overall business objectives to support long-term company success. Also, development plans for each employee that are initiated in the onboarding process will improve motivation while building upon larger business goals.

Business Week recently released its annual list of the top 100 global brands. The accompanying article called “The Great Trust Offensive” focuses on how the brands that have survived our tough economic times, and even found a way to excel, are those that have built trust with their customers.

Consumers are more cautious about spending and want a larger return for their hard-earned dollars.  They’re more skeptical about what’s going on behind the curtain at large companies.  They want reasons to believe in brands before they offer over their loyalty. 

With trust on the line, it’s more important than ever to make sure that your brand is aligned and that you’re walking the walk of your marketing messages and brand promises. Stray too far, and you may go down in flames.

In any business, there will be problems.  A deadline will be missed, a product won’t function to the glory of its glossy advertising promise, a customer will have to wait in line longer than they should.  Problems will happen - they’re inevitable.  By training your employees how to react and respond when there’s a problem, you can minimize the damage ahead of time and help your brand be prepared to weather any storm.

Recently, my husband & I experienced a problem when we took a roadtrip to our old college town to attend a football game. After a hot day of traipsing around to visit our youthful haunts, we arrived at our hotel, ready to check in and freshen up before the big game.  It was nearly 90 minutes after check-in, and our room wasn’t ready. 

While the desk staff fumbled around trying to find a room that we could check into, several employees stood in front of us and had a conversation amongst themselves about why housekeeping was being so slow and that rooms were not being turned fast enough.

A problem was occurring for this hotel, which was threatening its brand - and the employees were making it even worse by engaging in idle banter and gossip about housekeeping in front of customers. 

When there are problems, your employees can be your best and your worst asset.  They’re the front-line to your customers and how they handle and manage problems can make or break your brand.

By empowering your employees with three simple steps, they can manage problems in the moment, helping to minimize any long term damage to your brand. 

1. Acknowledge your customer’s concern. When a customer is upset, it can really take the charge off of a situation when you “get” them - you let them know you understand why they’re upset. In my situation at the hotel, the manager could have said something like “I understand you must be tired and ready to check into your room, and that you were supposed to be able to check into your room over an hour ago.” 
2. Communicate your commitment to your customer, and let them know what you’re doing to fix the problem. At the hotel, the manager could have said “We are committed to getting you checked into a clean and comfortable room as quickly as possible so that you can make it to the game on time.”
3. Compensate by finding some way to make it up to your customer, no matter how small it may seem. Standing at the hotel desk while they tried to find us a room, it must have been pretty obvious that we were hot and tired. The manager could have found us a couple of cold bottles of water to drink while they found us a room. It would have been a small gesture, but one that would have gone a long way toward making me believe in their commitment to me - the customer.

Most importantly, when you’re having a problem, employees should know it’s not okay to engage in idle gossip in front of customers or complain about the problem to the customer or anyone else.  Your message to your customers should be one of accountability and confidence.  You’re taking accountability for the issue, and you’re displaying confidence in how you are responding to and correcting the issue.

How do you handle problems for your customers?  What problems have you run into as a customer yourself?  And how have they been handled?  Leave us your comments, and tell us about your experiences.

This was a big week for RadioShack as the 88-year old company announced that it’s reintroducing itself as simply “The Shack.”  According to an article in USA Today, the company is making the change in an effort to maintain its brand heritage while also attracting more tech-savvy shoppers. The article goes on to say that a new ad campaign will focus on the company’s knowledgeable sales staff and the idea that their small stores are easier to navigate than big-box competitors.

Bloggers and Twitterers buzzed about the change all week long - many were quite critical saying the name change doesn’t pull the company out of relative obscurity compared to sleeker rivals like Best Buy.  One blogger wrote that his impression of RadioShack is that it’s a brand that “never made the jump to the 21st Century” and that this re-name doesn’t do enough to give the brand a larger overhaul to make it relevant.

Any time you make a change to your brand, it’s perfectly natural to experience resistance, both from your customers and your employees. What will make this a win for RadioShack will be well-trained, engaged employees who are truly enrolled in and representing the fundamentals of the brand to customers.  This is the foundation of internal-external marketing alignment, and it can make or break a shift in your brand.

This is is critical in the face of competitor Best Buy who recently launched a new program on Twitter called Twelpforce: “A collective force of Best Buy technology pros offering tech advice in Tweet form.”

What do you think of RadioShack’s name change?  Does it impact whether or not you will shop at the store?  Leave us your comments and tell us what’s on your mind.

Taking on the world of social media can feel an awful lot like going to the gym when you’re really out of shape. You groan and moan, and it’s rather painful for the first few weeks.  Even the simplest tasks (like writing a single blog post) feel like they take forever, and you’re just not seeing the results you want. But - if you stick with it, it becomes easier, your muscles get toned, you feel better, and it becomes part of your routine.

Here’s a few ideas and resources to help you hit the social media gym, and start building your muscle today:

Want to know how social media guru Chris Brogan starts his day?  Here’s his five daily social media tasks.

If your company is starting a blog, and you’re wondering how to find a hook that will keep readers coming back, here’s some corporate blogs that are succeeding.

Need copywriting tips and ideas? Copyblogger is a favorite blog I follow for practical writing tips, tricks, and inspiration. A recent post called “how to kick ass as a freelance writer” has lots of great ideas on how to keep your readers coming back. Even though it’s written as tips for a freelance writer, there’s lots you can apply to writing your blog.

Still trying to get comfortable with Twitter?  Here’s some tips for new Twitter users from Mashable, and don’t miss the Mashable guide to Twitter.

No matter what you do — stick with it. Success in social media will happen as you build your muscle, make new connections, explore and experiment, and increase your confidence. Most of all - have fun with it!

“They’re throwing guitars out there!” exclaimed the astonished airline passenger as she watched United Airlines baggage handlers on the tarmac clumsily hucking guitar cases off the plane and onto the carts.

Musician Dave Carroll heard these words from his seatmate and braced himself for the worst.  While on tour with his band last year, Dave’s $3500 guitar was severely damaged by United Airlines baggage handlers in a story that makes the perfect case for the importance of internal-external marketing alignment. Dave went through an arduous process of trying to be compensated for the damage. He talked to person after person at United - finally to be told they would offer nothing more than some travel vouchers for his loss. You can read the complete customer service saga on Dave’s blog.

To make a point and tell the world that he was wronged by United, Dave proclaimed that he would write and produce three music videos illustrating his misadventures and post them on YouTube for voting by the general public.  The first video (see below) has recently been published and has become an overnight sensation on YouTube. It’s also being actively discussed in the blogosphere, on Twitter, and Dave’s story has been told through multiple media channels including the CBS Early Show, Rolling Stone, and more. His song is now available for download on iTunes.

Dave’s experience is a classic demonstration of how a company like United has a lot to lose by disregarding the importance of internal-external marketing alignment.  There are several issues at play that add up to Dave’s misaligned experience, which is ultimately doing damage to United’s brand:

Failure to live up to service promise.
A basic principle of internal-external marketing alignment is the expectation that you will deliver a service experience that aligns with your brand promise. United’s website offers a very detailed statement of the company’s customer commitment. Among other things, it asserts that United’s customers “have the right to expect - to demand - respect, courtesy, fairness and honesty from the airline they have selected for travel.” According to Dave’s story, he was continually given the runaround by multiple United personnel in several cities as he tried to receive compensation for his demolished $3500 guitar. It sounds like this was not just one poorly trained or disgruntled employee, but a general failure by multiple United personnel to take accountability for a mistake and try to live up to the customer service commitment by handling the issue with “courtesy, fairness, and honesty.” In an aligned company, employees would be given the tools, resources, and training they need to handle customer complaints in a way that lives up to the brand promise.

Cultural issues - “it’s not my problem.”
Dave claims he was repeatedly told by multiple United personnel that the issue “is not my problem” or that the paperwork he submitted was not received. This general lack of accountability can perpetuate an internal culture where employees feel powerless or unmotivated to handle customer concerns. Every time a customer encounters the fallout from this kind of culture, the brand will continue to erode.

The transparency of the social media world.
In the old days, it was easy for companies to sweep complaining customers under the rug. In today’s world of the social web, one irritated customer can quickly communicate to millions through Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, the blogosphere and more. For this reason, companies need to not only be prepared to engage with their customers in the social space before there’s an issue, but they need to react quickly when trouble arises to avoid a wildfire.

A customer’s heart was broken. 
If you believe that a brand is not what the execs in the marketing department say, but it’s an emotional connection that lives in the hearts and minds of customers - then you will understand the magnitude of Dave’s final verse in his song where he says United broke his heart. When he asks himself in the song if he’d ever fly United again, he said he might if saving the world were on the line, and then he goes on to say:

“…And if I did, I wouldn’t bring my luggage
‘Cause you’d just go and break it,
Into a thousand pieces,
Just like you broke my heart.”

When you break that emotional connection with your customer, you may never get them back again.

Dave’s story of the broken guitar ends on an upnote, although it certainly seems a bit too little too late. The damage has already been done - not just to Dave as a customer, but to the United Airlines brand.  Dave posted a subsequent response on YouTube where he says United is offering reimbursement for the guitar.  Although he says reimbursement is not the point anymore, and he’s encouraging United to donate the money to charity. He says “United has demonstrated they know how to keep their airline in the forefront of their customer’s minds, and I wanted this project to expand upon that satirically.” 

In fairness, I also have to point out that Dave is building his own brand as a musician through this tale. We’ll see what happens to his personal brand and to United when the second and third videos come out in the future.

Has a brand ever broken your heart? What did you do about it?  Leave us a comment and tell us about your experiences.

Still trying to wrap your head around the world of social media and what it means to you and your brand?  Or are you trying to make the case with your company for diving into the social space?  Here’s three helpful items we’ve found in the past week that might offer you some additional food for thought.

Digital Buzz has compiled the top 10 social media presentations. You might find some interesting ideas that can apply to your own situation.

From Harvard Business Publishing, here’s an article on Debunking Social Media Myths.  The main point author David Armano underscores is that there’s a common misperception that social media is “free,” and that technology just makes it happen for you.  David points out three general areas of social media that require ongoing strategy and management in order to be successful: seeding, feeding, and weeding.

Are you curious about how other companies allow their employees to Tweet and blog without letting things spin out of control?  Jeremiah Owyang has identified the five ways that companies are allowing employees to participate in the social web.

Any business leader accountable for management of their company’s employment brand, talent pipeline, or employee engagement should read a new article from Harvard Business Review (July-August 2009 issue) titled How Gen Y & Boomers Will Reshape Your Agenda. The subhead states that your oldest and youngest talent cohorts demand many of the same things in a workplace - and have the numbers to get their way. This article offers an interesting perspective on an issue we hear frequently discussed by major HR organizations as they work to create a compelling work experience that allows them to attract and retain the best talent.

In addition to detailing a vision of what the workplace should include to effectively retain Gen Y and Boomer talent the article provides this interesting portrait of each generation.

Portrait of Gen Y

Ambition
84% profess to be very ambitious

Loyalty vs. Quest
45% expect to work for their current employer for their entire career

Multicultural Ease
78% are comfortable working with people from different ethnicities and cultures

Healing the Planet
86% say it’s important that their work make a positive impact on the world

Networking by Nature
48% say having a network of friends at work is very important

Portrait of Baby Boomers

Staying in Harness
42% project they will continue working after age 65

Long Runways
47% see themselves as being in the middle of their careers

From “Me” to “We”
55% are members of external volunteer networks

Yearning for Flexibility
87% say being able to work flexibly is important

Familial Obligations
71% report having elder care responsibilities

What I find so interesting is that I often hear disparaging comments targeted at members of the Gen Y generation that are often leveled by Boomers. Perhaps, with a closer look, the distance between these groups is not that great.

So what do you think? What has your experience been navigating the generational divide in the workplace. Join the discussion. We would love to hear from you.

Recently we published a blog post telling the story about how a relatively innocent Tweet from the floor of a major tradeshow turned into threatening phone calls from the company who was the target of this Tweet.  Had this company approached this situation differently, the brand could have taken ground in establishing a positive engagement with customers in the social media space. Here’s a post from Mashables with great tips for managing social media damage control. Bottom line is the more involved you can be in the world of social media, the quicker you can respond and the less likely you are to be constantly putting out fires.

When was the last time you experienced delight as a customer? I’m not just talking ho-hum customer satisfaction (like the guy at the deli didn’t completely screw up your sandwich, but he also didn’t offer you a pickle on the side either).  I’m talking honest-to-goodness delight! Joy! Extreme fulfillment!

Was it last week at the coffee shop when the barista remembered your name and your favorite beverage and started firing up the espresso machine as soon as she saw your face in the window? Or two months ago when you called your cable company for technical support and they handled your problem with professionalism and rapid response?

For me, it was a few weeks ago at the cosmetics counter of a major department store. The clerk was so efficient in uncovering my needs that I ended up buying several things that I hadn’t intended to, but the items were sold to me in such a way that I couldn’t pass them up. I walked away feeling very satisfied with my experience and the value of the products I had purchased. I ended up spending far more than I had intended, but I felt great about it! Next time I need makeup, I’m going back to that clerk for her efficient and friendly manner. 

Out of curiosity, I visited the website for the cosmetics brand this clerk represented. I wanted to see what the brand says about the service experience they promise to customers.  The website talks about expert knowledge, friendly advice, and personalized service that’s defined as a “gold standard” in the industry. 

This clerk truly delivered that description to me - she’s representing her brand appropriately and expertly. Her brand is exhibiting internal-external marketing alignment by making sure the experience I have as a customer matches what the brand promises. The words on the brand’s website aren’t just lip service. The company is truly walking the walk and delivering upon their promise through helpful, well-trained employees who provide an expert and friendly experience.

Sure, we all expect to be delighted when we check into a Ritz Carlton or shop at a high end retailer like Saks, but delight doesn’t have to be limited to luxury brands. You can build delight into any brand and any customer experience. And when you delight your customers, you’re building excitement and passion for your brand. Your customers will probably buy more of your product or service and be willing to pay a higher price for it. They’ll probably think about your brand every time they use your product, and they may even tell their friends, family, colleagues, and the web about your brand.

Beyond the value you provide for your customers, you also have an opportunity to delight your employees. Setting a high bar for service is a rush for the right employee. It’s rewarding and energizing. Employees can feel excited about coming to work and delivering your brand, knowing they have an opportunity to make someone’s day. It starts with finding and hiring those brand-right people who can easily become natural advocates for your company. If you’re interviewing someone who doesn’t seem like they can truly deliver the promise of your brand - move on! You’ll be glad you did.

Delivering customer delight is a fun game to play.  It’s exciting to be the one delivering it - and it’s even more thrilling to be on the receiving end as a customer. What are some brands that represent true customer delight to you? In what ways do they deliver? Leave us a comment and tell us about your experiences.

The ever-expanding presence of the social web is changing how we communication folks are thinking about engaging and enrolling audiences. No matter how much time, effort, and money we put into crafting our campaigns and refining our messages, our audiences are having a bigger say in what our messages really are - or what they should be.  For internal-external marketing alignment, this puts even more pressure on the service experience you’re delivering to your customers. You’d better deliver what you promise or the messages generated by your audiences about your brand could get really out of control.

Here’s a few things I’ve run across this week that expand upon this notion.

The New Social Value Scale
An emerging site called the GoodGuide is creating an online resource for consumers to find information related to the health, environmental, and social impact of popular products. This powerful information will allow consumers to make informed choices about the everyday products they use.  If this site gains enough momentum, marketers may need to refine messages or even alter products to get a better score on the social value scale.

Every Web Page Will Become a Social Experience
The buzz from social web experts continues to imply that eventually every web page could be a social experience - whether it’s intended to be or not.  Jeremiah Owyang recently compiled a list of developing technologies and trends that are shifting us toward this reality.  His conclusion is that this shift will give customers the power to rely on friends, colleagues, and trusted social networks to make countless buying and brand-preference decisions.  As we move closer to this reality, the work of communicators becomes one of engaging, enrolling, and conversing rather than forcing messages that will be ignored.

Leveraging Customer Passion to Maximize Your Message
Finally, from Harvard Business Publishing, an article on leveraging your best customers as natural (and cheap!) spokespeople. Your customers have numerous opportunities through popular sites like YouTube and Facebook to express their passions for products and services. Why not leverage this passion and use it to your best advantage? You could even hire some of these people to sell for you!

In what ways are you changing your message in response to what your audiences are saying about your brand?  Tell us some of the new and unique ways you’re communicating with your audiences – and how you’re supporting those messages with service.

We have all experienced it. A slick new marketing campaign peaks our interest in a product or service. It’s usually a bold promise about what we can expect if we purchase a product or sign up for service. We take the chance, engage with the business, and immediately start seeing gaps between what they promised and the actual experience. What happened? Where did the promise go?

Companies that don’t pay attention to the gap between the brand promise and the actual customer experience risk creating a situation where the customer senses a bait and switch. This can quickly erode the integrity of your brand and take years - and millions of dollars - to correct. 

The practice of Internal-External Marketing Alignment can help ensure that your customer experience reflects the promise of your brand by building a strong culture, providing effective and practical training, and communicating consistently and powerfully to your teams. To get started on the right path, you should first identify the various conditions in your business that have a cumulative impact on your service culture.  Here are a few we commonly see.

Are you clear about your service goal?
This seems like an obvious question, yet it’s surprising how often I ask this question in consulting sessions and get an uncomfortable silence. It’s also surprising how many businesses immediately say they provide outstanding service, but when I dig a little deeper, it’s clear they’re not delivering anything more than the most elementary and basic customer experience. There’s simply no “delight” to be found anywhere. But maybe “delight” isn’t part of the experience you’re committed to providing. If your goal is to provide a solid, basic experience, then call it that. If it’s true delight you’re after, then the elements that make a delightful experience must be clear and tangible to everyone - most importantly your customer.

Are you putting money, and time, where your mouth is?
Here’s a simple question: is your company spending more time or less time on associate training and communication now than you did five years ago? If your answer is “more,” then good for you. Building a strong culture of exceptional service requires time and commitment. If you’re spending less than before, this could be a reason for declining service standards. Over the past few years, many businesses have gradually starved their communication, training, and cultural alignment and are now seeing a widening gap between the brand promise and the service reality.

What does your employee attraction program look like?
Many service businesses have relatively high turnover. Logic would tell you that these businesses should be masters at attracting great workers due to the fact that they are always recruiting. Often the opposite is true. Many service businesses have extremely primitive programs for attracting a workforce that is right for their brand and gifted at providing a great experience for customers. They rely on the most basic elements of recruiting, like posting a help wanted sign in the window or posting an ad on craigslist.  Instead, they could be building a network of qualified candidates who they’ve already determined are brand-right. Leading companies are now focusing on building the employment brand of their organizations to support the larger brand. This employment brand is what will attract the brand-right people into your company and entice them to stay for the long haul and perform to their highest potential.

Does your entire organization know how cool they are?
When working with an organization for the first time, I’m often amazed at how they do what they do, the beauty of their product, the complexity of their execution, and the innovation they foster. Yet, when I point this out to my client they often roll their eyes and shrug off the compliment. What makes their company amazing has become mundane and common in their eyes. Providing excitement and engagement for your customer starts with you being excited and engaged first. Does your organization truly celebrate what you do, what you provide, or how you provide it? Take a fresh look at what you do, how you talk about it, how you celebrate it. You might find that the secret to delighting your customer is first of all re-connecting your organization with a true passion for what you do.

Asking yourself these four questions is a great place to start in identifying where your opportunities may lie. In the second part of this post we will explore the various components of the ecosystem that all contribute to Internal-External Marketing Alignment.

15 Training Tips to Boost Your Retail Success

In the competitive world of retail, training your associates and managers is essential to building and maintaining the right customer experience that supports your brand. Kennedy Communications has had the privilege of working with a number of leading global retailers on a variety of training initiatives. We’ve developed a collection of best practices in retail training as a result of these programs. If you have any additions to this list, please leave us a comment and we’ll update as appropriate.

1. Simplify processes
Concept: Clearly define all processes and keep them simple.
Example: Process training can be overwhelming, and if the processes are too complicated they will not be followed. It is also useful to include memory devices such as acronyms or metaphors to assist retention.

2. Time-release learning
Concept: Break learning down into manageable chunks; spread information delivery over time to avoid bombarding associates with too much, too fast.
Example:  A series of short online learning sessions followed by defined exercises and manager/mentor check-in to reinforce and validate learning.

3. Evaluate ROI
Concept: Evaluate depth of training program by Return On Investment (ROI).
Example:  Base the investment in training on the predictable longevity of the associate and the ROI that will be realized from the cost of training. Also, deliver training in forms that require minimal involvement from other team members to decrease labor costs associated with training.

4. Keep associates on sales floor
Concept: Take associates out of the workspace for as little time as possible.
Example:  Design training that can be done in between regular work responsibilities on the sales floor or will only take the associate off the floor for short (15 minute) intervals.

5. Deliver training on demand
Concept: Deliver training using vehicles that are available on demand for immediate learning and usage of new tools.
Example:  Use video, computer-based training, and self-guided workbooks, as opposed to structured classes that may cause a delay in learning due to scheduling.

6. Align with advancement and competency models
Concept: Align training components with a model that reinforces and supports steps and stages.
Example: Associates will see that investing in their own training will better qualify them for future advancement.

7. Use job aids
Concept: Provide job aids in the work environment to the support concepts rolled out in training.
Example:  Provide workflow or process posters, flash cards,  and summary sheets for associates to use on the sales floor or in the back-of-store. 

8. Incentivize learning
Concept: Support learning culture by tying incentives to ongoing learning opportunities.
Example:  Create a points program or reward structure to motivate and encourage training program involvement. 

9. Follow up
Concept: Follow delivery of training content with exercises and evaluations to validate and reinforce learning.
Example:  Check back in with the  manager/mentor after a training session to review and support the learning. 

10. Provide mentoring
Concept: Offer structured communication and mentoring/coaching processes.
Example:  Many organizations find it useful to provide a mentor for a new associate that may not be their direct manager. 

11. Show commitment
Concept: Develop formalized (or branded) training program that clearly demonstrates the business commitment to training.
Example: A “corporate university” or other recognized program can effectively show a commitment to a strong learning culture. This can also be used as a recruiting tool for associates looking for a job that offers development opportunities. 

12. Communicate program goals
Concept: Develop and roll out company-wide communication about training programs, opportunities, changes, and announcements.
Example: Communicate with associates via learning portals, education update emails, and bulletin boards displaying training updates in stores. 

13. Track efforts
Concept: Track module/course completion.
Example: This can be as formal as a Web-based Learning Management System (LMS) or as simple as a checklist for associates and managers, but is very important in assuring compliance. 

14. Enable associates to hit the ground running
Concept: Focus training for new hires on being able to use tools and content immediately.
Example:  Within their first days on the job, associates should be able to see they can add value. 

15. Encourage self-assessment
Concept: Create and provide self-assessment tools to all associates so they can monitor their progress and choose ongoing training courses that fit their skill development needs.
Example: Assessing performance and skills at regular intervals can also trigger additional motivation to stay with the company, and to continue to develop professionally.

Dutch social networking site claims half the population has registered accounts.

The Dutch social networking site Hyves (hyves.nl) is getting remarkable attention in the international press. Business Week published about it,  and recently there was a post on Jeremiah Owyang’s Web Strategy blog on this Dutch phenomenon.  

Named after the idea of a buzzing beehive, Hyves boasts nearly 8 million accounts, meaning half of the Netherlands’ population of 16 million are using the tool.  Facebook is only a minor player on the Dutch social networking market, and MySpace was such a weak competitor that it closed its Amsterdam office a few months ago. Only LinkedIn seems to be a serious competitor and has grown in the Netherlands to more than a million users in the past year.

The Dutch seem to have a particular fondness for social networking on the web and have adopted the technologies at more than twice the rate of other Europeans.  Jeremiah Owyang’s blog post made some interesting points about this phenomenon that were fairly accurate:

1. The Netherlands has a strong web based infrastructure and easy availability of high speed networks and access to wireless.  This is true.  We rank highest in the world on these stats.
2. The Dutch have a mobile based culture where most citizens have smart phone devices with web surfing ability.  Not true.  This is not a factor in these statistics. Maybe in Asia or Silicon Valley, but not here yet. Over 90% of the people use their phones only for calling and texting.
3. The culture and government of the Netherlands encourages independent thought and freedom of expression. True.
4. There is a general social acceptance of sharing, learning, and collaboration. True.  To put it bluntly, the Dutch can be kind of nosey as a culture, and we like to show off our social talents (hence lots of Friends, Pals, Connections, etc).

Another big factor is our state of welfare in the Netherlands, which not only gives us high speed connections and many computers available at home, work, school, university or library, but also the free time to invest in these kinds of social activities.

Three out of four of Jeremiah’s observations about social networking in the Netherlands are true.  Not bad for a Silicon Valley resident.  Although this still does not fully explain the startling success of Hyves, which lacks the design qualities and features of similar sites like Facebook and MySpace.

Compared to the competition, Hyves looks like it was designed by a 12 year-old as a school project. (And not a “Harvard here I come” 12 year-old, but an average pre-teen who sees the project as an obstacle to more free time.) So why the huge success?

4 main reasons:

1. Many users have multiple accounts.  On Facebook and LinkedIn, most people have one account. Hyves is loaded with multiple accounts. People generate a new account every time they forget their password, and they open additional accounts for their child, pet, favorite bar, TV-series, sports team, car brand, or any other professional, social, or hobby related topic. And people have weird hobbies, believe me!
2. Being keen on free possibilities for partnerships, celeb endorsements and commercial activities. When Hyves started to get a lot of hype, popular DJ’s, singers, actors, and commercial brands were supported in getting their Hyves accounts to link with their fans. In certain age groups, this created some social pressure to get an account, or alternatively be without “real” friends.
3. The local competition was too technical. When Hyves started in 2004, Holland was ready for a good social networking site, but all the competitors seemed too technical for the masses.  This resulted in average users not being easily engaged.      
4. The global competition was too slow and not able to fight for market share. Once Hyves became locally accepted, competitors like MySpace and Facebook had to provide incentives for people to move and become a member.

The battle for Facebook in the Netherlands isn’t over yet, but it will take some strategic maneuvering to make it a viable competitor in the Dutch market.  LinkedIn has added value to Dutch professionals that make it stand apart from the others.  For now, the buzz about Hyves is extremely prevalent in the Netherlands, and the Dutch will likely continue swarming around it for the foreseeable future.

It’s been a busy week as we gear up for some exciting work with a new client - a major specialty retailer who needs to develop internal and external communication programs to support the brand, boost sales, and create a welcoming customer experience.

In the meantime, here’s a roundup of interesting articles & posts we’ve bumped into over the past week.

Employees can be incredible brand ambassadors.  Find out how some Fortune 500 companies are using high profile employees to call attention to their brands. click here

Jeremiah Owyang from Forrester Research regularly provides fascinating insight on the social web. His most recent post describes how top companies are embracing social technologies. click here

Are you afraid of giving away too much of your expertise? This blog post on the Golden Rule of Online Marketing describes how you can share your expertise and still make money. click here

Has your dog been trying to tell you for years that he wants bacon and eggs for breakfast? Del Monte leveraged a social media community for dog owners to create a new pet product. click here

Google uses an algorithm to analyze employee behavior. Wonder what ever happened to a good old conversation? click here

Last week, my colleague Dan Biesma in Europe, wrote a blog post saying the end is near – the end of the recession that is.  I keep waiting to see the headlines in the newspaper and on the Net:  “The Recession is Officially Over! Life Can Get Back to Normal.”  This recession may not have an official “end” - it’s more likely we will gradually shift to a new normal that’s ripe with opportunities for companies who are ready to play big.

The new normal will have some exciting innovations. To weather the recession, we’ve all been forced to be more resourceful, efficient, and creative, which has shifted the way many companies do business.  Companies have become lean and mean, and displaced workers with an entrepreneurial spirit have opened new businesses.

As we begin the new normal, it’s important to take stock of where you are and addresses any internal issues that could stunt your culture if left unattended. Here are three tips to help you get ready to play big in the new normal:

1. Reevaluate and reinvigorate your mission and vision. As you come out of a downturn, be sure that your mission and vision still apply to your business. Make any changes that need to be made, then re-enroll your teams. During the recession, there have likely been lots of distractions, stress, and gossip as layoffs have been made and people have been forced to do more with less. This is a golden opportunity to re-enroll and reenergize. This will also help it become clear who’s with you on your team and who might need to move on to other opportunities.
2. Reassess your marketing promise. Are you still fulfilling on the promise of your brand(s) and the promise to your customers? What needs a tune-up? Examine key processes. Take a hard look at your products and services. Companies who are promising one thing and delivering another quickly lose integrity with customers during a time they need it the most.
3. Re-hire for success. Now’s the time to be poised to hire the best people to support your mission and vision and bring them on-board in a way that empowers them for success. As you begin to add back to your team, make sure you have hiring, on-boarding, and training programs that support your brand and marketing promise.

Smart companies can leverage the end of the recession as a re-birth.  This is not the time to nurse your wounds and feel sorry for yourself but to re-build, re-energize, and recommit to your business in the new normal.  This begins with a clear vision, the right team, and the right communication with your customers and your employees.

We are pleased to welcome a first post to our blog from Dan Biesma, Managing Director for the European Office of Kennedy Communications in Hilversum, the Netherlands.

The global recession is still upon us. As an agency working for global brands we saw it happening last year in conversations with our clients, first in the US, then in Europe. In a few months the topics changed from projects aimed at building brands and people’s capabilities, to communications strategies and tools for change operations, cost cutting programs, and downsizing projects.

Luckily, history proves all recessions come to an end. And the media, as well as companies, governments, and consumers are looking for positive signs over recent weeks. Signs indicate the end of the economic downfall is near. The Fed and the ECB, its European equivalent, are sounding more optimistic than they have been in a long time and the stock markets seem quite stabilized or even trending upwards.

U.S. employers made 539,000 workers redundant in April. According to U.S. Labor Department statistics, this represents the fewest job cuts in six months and far better than the 620,000 reduction that economists had expected. But still the country’s unemployment rate hit a 25 year high.

However President Obama gave a positive interpretation of these figures when he said that America was showing signs of economic recovery.

Like the French say: ‘C’est le ton qui fait la musique’.

During the past 6 weeks, our team has heard a shift in the tone as well as the content in our conversations with clients, global market leaders who move quicker than their competition. The tone has become more positive and reflects the belief that their company and brands, their teams and they themselves will come out of this recession better and stronger. And they want creative, engaging, and solid solutions to make this happen.

As the tone of the conversations has shifted, so has the content. Our clients are showing they want programs in place to help align their companies for long-term, strategic growth. Conversations have centered around programs related to leadership development, on-boarding, diversity & inclusion, employment branding, customer service and sales training. 

Strategic thinking like this will help companies build strong cultures from within that will support their external marketing promise - the core of internal-external marketing alignment.  Leading companies are ready to refocus on creating and delivering value to their customers and developing their employees.

The end of the recession must be near, which means it’s time to focus on a new beginning. Now is the time to start rebuilding and refocusing on the next phase.  In an upcoming post, we will outline some considerations for business communicators that can help you emerge from a recession empowered and ready for action.  Are you ready for the end?  What’s happening in your company to prepare for your next chapter?

Who would have known that my new favorite rock star would be sporting a sweater vest and tie, accessorized with a big laminated name-badge on a lanyard? Meet Ajay Bhatt, co-inventor of the USB and the star of Intel’s newest ad campaign dubbed “Sponsors of Tomorrow.”  He can make even the geekiest geek swoon with admiration and a touch of envy.

According to an article on Forbes.com, Intel’s newest campaign is also its biggest in nearly three years and is a first to spotlight the promotion of the Intel brand instead of a processor product. 

The Forbes article quotes Deborah Conrad, Intel Vice President and General Manager of the Corporate Marketing Group.  She says “For more than 40 years, Intel has been delivering tomorrow’s ‘normal’, and our new marketing campaign is a way for the world to be made aware of this fact.  We’re hoping to convey that we’re not just a microprocessor company, but a move-society-forward-by-quantum-leaps company.” 

In essence, this new campaign is one that reflects the culture of Intel – not simply a product.  Having worked with Intel on numerous projects and programs over the past four years, it’s refreshing to see the company break away from “speeds and feeds” to focus on what’s really fabulous and fascinating about the company – its people, their innovation, their willingness to take calculated risks in the effort to push our world forward. 

The Sponsors of Tomorrow campaign is actively leveraging Intel’s company culture to build the Intel brand – a key component of internal-external marketing alignment.  Your company culture is the channel through which you deliver your brand to the world. It’s your people who bring it to life for your customers. 

In the case of Intel, it’s people like Ajay Bhatt.  He may have very few opportunities to interact with Intel customers, but he is a powerful contributor and ambassador of Intel’s culture, which ultimately shapes the brand.

Who are the unseen rock stars that shape your brand?  How do they contribute to the culture within your company?  We’d love to hear from you.

We spent the day yesterday with a favorite client, talking about how to leverage the input, expertise, and agendas of multiple departments to build a strong employment brand. For a variety of reasons, her company has resisted entering the social media space in any sort of official capacity, although it’s undeniable that employees within the company are already participating on their own.  We can see it’s on the horizon for her company, and we had some energizing discussions on how they can best prepare for this shift that will ultimately impact the brand and culture of the company.

Here are four things we’ve read in the past week that continue to fuel our thinking on the topic of brands and social media:

Jeremiah Owyang, a senior analyst at Forrester, has become a favorite expert who we follow on Twitter and in his blog posts. In a recent post on the Forrester Blog for Interactive Marketing Professionals, he outlines the five eras of the social web.  This is fascinating stuff.

From Business Week, read about “How Social Networks are Changing Everything.” This article gives some glimpses of how we might manage our on-line identities in the future.

You know lots of companies, both big and small, are launching into the social media world.  We enjoyed reviewing this list of Social Media Marketing examples from Peter Kim. 

Check out this video on YouTube that shows how Best Buy is building social media into the company culture - allowing employees to communicate freely with each other, share ideas, collaborate, and build company culture.