by Miriam Hara | May 11, 2015 | Business Success, Latest
To achieve success in business today, you need to know what to do. However, it’s equally as important to know what not to do. Over the years I have had the privilege of working in a number of different industries for many different brands. I’ve also worked within both business to business and business to consumer marketplaces. It may sound like business 101, but essentially business is business. In other words, what works to make a business or brand successful, is pretty much the same in both marketplaces.
Business 101: Here’s my accumulated list of what not to do (or pet peeves), from over 25 years in business.
1. Change for the sake of change: I’ll be the first to say that complacency in business is a sure way of not being in business very long. The inverse is also true. Change for the sake of change, is equally as disruptive. Changing styles, personas, logos or strategic directions must all be evaluated carefully. It’s not like changing the layout of furniture or a paint colour – these components of a business or brand are elemental. Assessment is key.
2. Assumption that once tried, to never try it again: I’ve seen this over and over throughout my career. Just because something has been done before, and not reaped the expected results, doesn’t mean that the strategy is a dud. Many times it’s the execution of the initiative, timing or follow-through that are the reasons for it going astray and missing the mark on ROI. It is important to keep an open mind and reevaluate the premise, especially in business. Change is a constant.
3. Doing it right, the second time: This only begs the question: Why not do it right the first time? Why is it okay to redo, reinvest, go back to the drawing board or push back the launch? All that was necessary was looking at the project realistically from the first place in order to make the appropriate decisions. That way, you wouldn’t be in the position of doing the project a second time. Hurdling towards a deadline and taking short cuts, whether it’s to save on time or money, never pans out. Breathe.
4. Not assessing true costs: In my business, there’s always someone that can do the work for less. In advertising and graphics, there are freelancers galore. However, when it comes to time and effort spent, I’ve seen how expensive that cost savings truly is. When assessing anything that is being outsourced, don’t forget to take into consideration the internal time that is not a “direct outside cost” into consideration.
5. Going with the flow… even though it’s counter productive: If you’re not speaking your mind, your assessment of any situation will only come back to haunt you. You’re in business. Your thoughts and feelings are important. Placed in perspective, it’s important to voice them. It’s your job to voice them – even though they may be set aside. This is important in building your own business confidence as well as the confidence your colleagues have in you.
7. Not researching: Assumptions are never good in business. Seeing things through your eyes only is not a valid or qualified basis for making a decision. You’re not an unbiased potential buyer/customer/client of your product or services. If business has taught me anything, it’s that there is a quite a difference between my perspective versus the perspective my client has. Gain perspective through research. Your business will flourish and you’ll have a little less stress in your life!
Are there any other business pet peeves that I haven’t listed in my Business 101 short list? I bet there are! I’d like to hear yours.
by Miriam Hara | May 7, 2015 | Business Success, Latest, Marketing
I love Einstein – so much so that I have a sculpture of his face hanging on the wall in my office. Beyond his obvious legacy of scientific knowledge and forward thinking, I believe that he had a keen ability to zero in on the obvious about the human condition. Einstein’s observations (which I have interpreted as business insights), have helped me to make key business decisions many times. I believe he understood that common sense is not so common. He very eloquently provided perspective on the most common human habits and conditions. These perspectives are also key business insights that can be used on a daily basis.
Here’s the best of his business insight:
Einstein has been quoted many times for a variety of topics, many of which I have referred to in my day-to-day business life. My all time favourite is his definition of insanity: “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. My team hears me quote this often.
If something doesn’t work, continuing to do it makes absolutely no sense. I challenge you to think about your business environment. I am sure you can identify processes, relationships or situations that no longer work yet are still are part of the structure. Whether it’s changing business relationships, developing product and marketing initiatives or creating a new dynamic – if something isn’t garnering the ROI required, it needs to change. However, it often doesn’t change. Why is that? How does that make business sense?
Here’s how you can adjust your perspective:
Be open to new ideas. If that sounds too “yogi” for you, just try being positive towards new ideas. In business, it’s so easy to say “no”. Why not give a new idea a chance? By that I mean, do your homework. Don’t say “It can’t be done”. Move away from that perspective. If you approach a new idea with “What if?”, any issue that may arise can be resolved more easily.
I have found in many business situations I’ve faced, this business insight has given me the courage needed to move forward and make calculated risks. It has allowed me to take leaps of faith in order to try things that haven’t been the norm in business. In business you must move forward. Doing the same old thing over again doesn’t make good business sense. Don’t be afraid to try something new. Take it from Einstein, if you keep approaching a situation or a problem in the same way, how can you expect a different outcome?
Are there any situations you’ve encountered in your business environment that could take a page out of Einstein’s business insights?
by Miriam Hara | May 4, 2015 | Advertising, Business Success, Latest, Management
We’ve all heard it before: The sign of a good manager is someone who surrounds themselves with stronger people. This business strategy can be employed in all aspects of business. Ultimately, by hiring people that are stronger, it implies that the manager understands what they don’t know. In other words, they know what they’re not good at and hire people to fit the missing requirements. It seems simple, even logical and it has proven to be effective in many managers’ careers. So why don’t more businesses employ this same business strategy for marketing their business and brands?
Consider this, with the business world rapidly evolving and with the introduction of new channels in marketing, how ‘on top’ of all the new technologies can an internal marketing department be? After all, it still has the business of brand to be responsible for. The brand strategy, the brand plan, the brand market share: All of this is the marketing team’s responsibility – and rightly so.
Too often in business, corporate marketing departments put their internal design and creative team at the helm of packaging design. Sometimes they are even sanctioned to develop their own ‘branding’ ads and even book their own media. Many think of design and media as an extension of marketing, and it is. What it shouldn’t be though, is part of the internal marketing department. If a successful business strategy is to populate the team with stronger talent, shouldn’t that same model apply when developing and working on brand initiatives?
Outsourcing is a solid business strategy. Here’s why:
An internal creative team is limited to what they can work on. They are limited to the company that employs them. Some of them have little exposure to other creative talents and rely on themselves for inspiration. Regardless of this fact, it’s true that creative departments in agencies have taken a huge hit from the expanded roles of in-house creative departments in corporations. For the most part, in-house creative staff are not skilled to be specialists like those from an agency – through no fault of their own.
An agency’s business is creative. It’s not a vertical offshoot or an ‘additional’ support service to the core marketing team. When you consider that an outside agency works on many different businesses in many different industries, they inevitably foster a creative environment for their creative department to learn and grown in a way that in-house creative departments can’t.
With so many lines being blurred, many media representatives will go directly to the client who is advertising – selling marketing brand managers on their specific type of media. Of course they will, however they’re selling only one media property. There’s nothing objective about that. An agency’s business revolves around the media and its applications. It is the agency’s responsibility to stay on top of the latest trends and to objectively assess how those trends can be integrated with brand strategies. Let a seasoned media strategist do the work. It’s their job is to know what’s out there, what’s new and how to properly assess the media and develop a plan that garners results.
An effective business strategy is one that delivers not only on projects but on results. Outsourcing brand initiatives to develop stronger strategies in innovative ways makes all the sense in the business world. Don’t you agree?
by Miriam Hara | Apr 30, 2015 | Business Success, Latest, Management
There used to be a time when you wouldn’t think of going to the office without wearing a jacket or a suit. Adding structure to your stature was a definite requirement. Business casual used to mean dressing down only on Fridays. I remember when ‘Casual Fridays’ first came about, people couldn’t wait for Friday! As long as what you chose to wear was neat and clean, anything was acceptable, (except jeans and flip-flops at most places). At some organizations, you had to pay for the privilege by offering a $1 or $5 donation to the corporation’s preferred charity. Regardless of having to make a donation, we couldn’t wait for Friday! All kidding aside, Casual Friday was highly anticipated.
Now business casual means something much more than simply relaxed attire. The business work ethic has also taken a hit with the adoption of a business casual culture.
Now it seems everyday is business casual. Gone are the starched shirts as well as the ‘starchiness’ of business. But, have you noticed that many in business are now casual in the way they communicate via email or within presentations to colleagues or bosses? Beyond a manner of speech, business casual has also infiltrated people’s attitudes and behaviours. In short, work dedication and commitment have also become casual.
You may be thinking that I am not a proponent of business casual. Although, you’d be wrong, business casual has always been the norm in my environment. In fact, I believe the casual agency environment was the model that corporate followed. However, the dynamics of the ‘casualness’ were and still are different in an agency. The environment, the clothes, the offbeat cast of characters – that’s what agency business casual is all about. The working attitude and work ethic were never affected by dressing business casual.
In corporations and businesses that were once very dependent on structure and uniform, the business casual movement has impacted the attitudinal quality and level of work. Along with shredding the professional (and often confining) business suits, business casual has actually created an altered environment. I for one am all for a relaxed environment in order to promote creativity, but not to the detriment of the work being done. Business operations still need to happen in a timely fashion, using streamlined processes achieving more than ‘good enough’ results.
What is your perspective on business casual? What do you think it is has meant to the business world?
by Miriam Hara | Apr 28, 2015 | Branding, Business Success, Creative, Latest, Marketing
There was a time when brand logos were only associated with a business or product. Enter the age of social media and marketing opportunities have opened up. The popularity and ease of use of social media have not only created the option of having a personal brand, but it’s almost a necessity in order to stand apart from the crowd. In the age of personal branding, why not have a personal brand logo? Now, it’s totally cool to even have your own business card – even if you’re not part of a business. Developing an iconic brand logo, may make perfect sense for you.
So why shouldn’t a personal brand reach the next level? Following in the footsteps of President Obama (with the creation of his iconic “O” logo), Hillary Clinton has created her very own Personal (and Presidential) brand logo. The backlash to her logo has been immediate and the criticism has been intense. As with everything visual and open to social media, everyone has an opinion – and wants to share it! Especially if it’s negative. That’s how social media operates.
Sadly, it seems that the business of marketing has gone the way of photography, writing and graphic design. Being armed with a computer, the right software and ‘belonging’ to the right social media platforms have taken precedence over these professions. Although, just because you own a digital camera, doesn’t make you a photographer and just because you can navigate InDesign or Illustrator, doesn’t make you a designer. Common sense is a necessary skill for marketing, although it takes more than common sense to become a marketer.
Still, if you are really serious about developing your own personal brand logo, (and with all the tools at your fingertips why not?). Here’s a how-to process you should consider in creating a personal brand logo:
What are 3 keywords that represent you?
In order to develop a personal brand logo, you must determine how you want to be represented. These words will help build the framework in establishing the type of impact the logo needs to achieve. Is it ‘hard-working’? Is it ‘relaxed’, or maybe ‘approachable’?
What 3 colours do you feel best reflect you and your personality?
A personal brand logo is about you. Your personal brand logo must be a natural extension of you. It should reflect your aspiration of how you want others to see you. Just like for a business, your logo will likely be the first impression people will have of you. Be sure it is accurate.
How do you want your logo to impact those who see it?
What’s the reaction you hope to get when you offer your business card with your personal brand logo on it? How does it need to communicate? This is in close association with the three words that you chose to represent you, but takes one step further. Do you want your brand logo to ‘excite’, to ‘intimidate’, to be assertive, ‘friendly’ or even be ‘controversial’? When designing a brand logo, the desired “initial emotive impact” is essential to establish before you even start. An iconic logo rests heavily on keywords to determine the symbol, colour and font selection.
What do you want your logo to say about you?
The tone of a logo is equally important. Is it bold, ‘professional’, ‘grassroots’ or perhaps ‘fashionable’? The tone of a logo is often delivered by font selection and the weight or strength of the letters. Working with colour and your keywords, a good designer will take all this information and create a few brand logo options that visually interpret what you are all about.
Develop a few options and test them.
Don’t ask friends for their opinions. You need to do research. Depending on your budget, SurveyMonkey is an online option available to use. However, just because you can use SurveyMonkey, doesn’t mean you can write an unbiased questionnaire like a seasoned researcher. But at least you will have attempted to quantify the likability of your logo.
I wonder if Hillary Clinton and her team of experts thought to research her new “personal brand logo”? If they did, did they do it professionally? I believe that Hillary missed a huge opportunity to affirm herself politically in a very different way than her competition. Her personal logo could have broken down some of the inherent barriers the Clinton legacy has developed – most notably with Gen Y voters. It could have established a new dimension of her personality, a new attitude and perhaps also a more approachable persona.
Instead, she’s left with a brand logo identity that really misses the mark.
by Miriam Hara | Apr 24, 2015 | Advertising, Agency, Business Success, Latest, Management, Marketing
For those of us in the service industry, we know too well the ins and outs of a request for proposal (RFP) – and what it really means for an agency. I have come to view an RFP as comparable to entering a beauty contest. The potential client asks multiple agencies to show them what they can produce – then they’ll think about it.
From experience, when first invited to be part of an RFP, the immediate feeling is exhilaration – this is quickly followed by dread. The amount of work required to develop a quality RFP is phenomenal. The time and energy that is devoted to this non-profitable account adds an unnatural amount of stress to the agency business. Gone are the days when companies would compensate businesses to be included in an RFP – long gone!
What is the real purpose of an RFP?
Having worked in agencies for over a quarter of a century, I have often seen RFPs go out in an effort to simply validate the client’s current agency. In my opinion, this is quite disrespectful. It takes away valuable hours from the agencies invited to participate. Hours are what service agencies base their profitably on. Asking outside agencies to be part of an RFP, when there is actually no intent to change the current agency, is unethical.
If the RFP is genuinely for the purpose of garnering a new agency, why is this approach taken? Is it to determine “the fit” of the team within the group? If that’s the case, why not simply meet up over a series of dinners or lunches? Law firms hire interns this way. The potential intern is taken to dinner and interviewed in a group setting. It works and it’s fun. More importantly it allows the team players on both sides to get to know one another. The client/agency partnership needs to be based on positive relationships in order to achieve a successful collaboration.
What if the request for proposal is to determine how creative an agency can be? For those of us in the world of branding and advertising, clients can determine this from viewing our previous work and hearing about what was given as the brief. If that isn’t sufficient, perhaps it would be more advantageous to provide the agency with an actual project, complete with delivery requirements and timelines? This would allow the business team to assess how the agency actually works – if the agency is able to deliver on time and provide the necessary added value required by the team and the brand. This approach can be implemented by asking two or three chosen agencies to each complete a different project.
In recent years, procurement has often spearheaded the RFP process – assessing services similar to securing a print provider. The amount of input they have in the final selection is not always clear or consistent. However, the services provided by an agency cannot be compared to printing. Therefore, nothing is equal. It’s not about the hourly rate, it’s about the idea, the strategy, the commitment, and the partnership the agency can provide. No two agencies are alike. Service businesses often build their model on value. The value agencies deliver is quite different, making it difficult to assess them in equal terms.
What are you thoughts on the RFP process? Any idea how businesses can move away from this model of assessing agencies? I’d like to hear about them.
