Why Brands Lie

I have always been a great believer in brands and not surprisingly I have chosen it as a career. I always thought that I was in the business of helping companies profit from building great brands. But after much reflection, I am really in the business of authentic transformations. My goal is not to promise profits for my customers but rather the promise of a journey of transformation that if followed through, will lead to profits. It is not an easy journey and demands much courage and tenacity from the brand owners, but the pay-off is highly rewarding in more ones than one.

Many companies in Malaysia see brand building as a good to have, but only if budget permits. For them it is very much - lets get our operation and process right first, lets design that great store, lets get a great advertising campaign to bring people to our store and then when the money comes in, then we will invest in branding. Now this may have worked for some companies, it has also been the stumbling block for sustained growth. How do I know this, because many of my clients from traditional industries are coming to me to help them cross a crucial threshold from local to world brand and they know that great process and ads alone are not enough.

When I commence any project, I always begin with a question - what business are you in?

The Great Let Go

I just watched a TED talk by Jessi Arrington who makes it a point never to buy new clothes. So travelling to LA for TED, the only thing she packed where her undies and proceeded to buy everything else when she landed. I thought that was such a cool idea but alas, I don't live in America the land of rampant consumerism and subsequently full of great discards. Here in KL, we have to import other people's rejects from places like Japan and the US. But beyond the point of mindful consumerism which she was promoting, what struck a chord was the idea of letting go. Before she left LA, she proceeded to donate all the clothes she had bought in an effort to not hold on to things and to revel in the wonder of her next buying jaunt.

How many of us are hanging on to things or issues that no longer serve us?

You had me at Hello Kitty

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Hello

Hold that thought. I'll come back to Kitty in a bit

The story actually begins with my truly amazing helper, Hils, I am one of the few people that have been blessed with someone, who, for the past eight years, has helped keep me sane by making sure my place is spotless and tidy. There are days when things don't go too well in the office. I drive home dejectedly, put my key in the lock, open the door and immediately my senses are assailed with the fresh smell of pine and lemon. I look up and the place is spotless - all is right with the world again.

What Now Brown Cow?

Lately I have been observing the advertising industry and discussing it with my business coach. He laments that the industry has disempowered itself by letting Clients dictate timelines. ‘Where has all the professionalism expounded by David Ogilvy gone?’ he vents. What has happened to times when Agencies had the power to say ‘I respect your decision but this is not something I can do and good luck with your campaign’? Has the industry lost all its integrity?

Is the world that David Ogilvy once knew gone forever?

I have been in and out of the advertising industry for the last 20 years and I see both sides of the coin. There really is no clear or easy solution as to regaining their foothold as trusted brand custodians rather than just providers of brand support. Agency leaders have to constantly juggle professional integrity with the ability to keep cash flow up. Then there is the Asian context – clients range from being highly sophisticated to naïve. There are also those who don't know what they don't know. 

Brand Masterclass

Last Wednesday the 20th of April marked a historic day for me and The Listening Tree. We conducted our first Brand Masterclass for 12 visionary CEOs and Business Owners. I introduced this new service to enable small companies and start-up to create the right foundation for their brand. Business owners of smaller companies often tell me that branding is the last thing on their minds when trying to juggle HR, delivery, payroll and new business development. But for me this is the ideal time to brand.

Brand Courage

Yesterday I was on bfm as a speaker for The Resource Centre at 1pm. I spoke about the importance of performing brand audits and for some reason this word kept popping up - Courage. I had never used it before with my clients but pondering on it now, it seems to be one of the most important pre-requisite for great brands.

Do KPIs spell the death of brands?

Over the last two years or so, there has been increasing talk about accountability in the public and private sector. This backlash from the economic crisis has generated huge outcry for transparency and honesty.

Many local companies and public offices in Malaysia have over the last few years been adopting KPIs as a move towards greater accountability and performance. While I laud these organizations for the move, I must also express some concern over the ways that this has been done.

Delayed Brandification

Starting up a business is a time of heady excitement. Everything is fresh and new and so full of promise. With the mantra ‘time is money’ going over and over in your head, your first job as CEO is to get your company up and running in order to get the money rolling in. You’ve hired all the people you need, paid them the right amount according to market rates to put all the processes in place, and you are now busy with trying to get business in.

So three years down the road, you’ve got business coming in but something is not quite right.