by Miriam Hara | Jul 18, 2023 | Business Success, Communications, Content, Marketing, Social Media
Ah, social media – the double-edged sword of our time for individuals and brands alike! On the upside, it serves as a potent platform to engage audiences, enhance visibility, and cultivate loyalty. Yet, it also conceals a complex maze of potential hazards that can rapidly tarnish a brand’s reputation. Let’s dive into the ways social media can elevate or damage brands, and share some thoughts on navigating this ever-changing landscape effectively.
The Upside: Social Media’s Power to Elevate Brands
Unprecedented Visibility
Utilizing the power of social media, your brand now has the potential to reach and engage with your target audience in unprecedented ways. Share valuable, relevant, and engaging content to amplify your brand’s visibility, extend its reach, and attract new customers.
Building a Community
Social media creates a space for people to connect, share, and interact with brands and one another. Actively participating in these online communities, fostering meaningful relationships, and nurturing a loyal following can work wonders for your brand’s long-term success.
Real-Time Customer Service
Providing real-time customer service via social media allows brands to address concerns and resolve issues promptly. This proactive approach to customer care not only enhances your brand’s reputation but also demonstrates your commitment to customer satisfaction.
Influencer Collaborations
Partnering with influencers can help your brand tap into new audiences, boost credibility, and generate buzz. By aligning with the right influencers, your brand can leverage their existing followers and create a strong, authentic endorsement.
The Downside: The Perils of Social Media for Brands
Negative Publicity
A single negative news story, review, or incident can quickly spiral out of control on social media. If not addressed promptly and effectively, this negative publicity can leave a lasting impact on your brand’s reputation and how customers perceive it.
Inconsistent Messaging
In the fast-paced world of social media, it’s easy for brands to lose sight of their messaging. Inconsistent or off-brand content can dilute your brand identity, confuse your audience, and ultimately harm your brand’s image.
Crisis Management Gone Wrong
Crisis events can quickly intensify on social media, potentially putting your brand’s reputation at risk. Ineffective crisis management can lead to a loss of trust, credibility, and customer loyalty.
Ignoring Feedback
Failing to engage with or address customer feedback on social media can result in a damaged brand reputation. Brands need to actively listen and respond to feedback, showing their customers that their opinions matter.
To effectively harness the power of social media while sidestepping potential pitfalls, it’s imperative for brands to craft a robust and detailed strategy. Additionally, investing in captivating content, maintaining vigilant oversight of their online presence, and fostering active dialogue with audiences is key. By managing social media effectively, your brand can leverage its power to connect with customers, build loyalty, and drive growth. For a quick and easy reference, you can download our Social Media Understood ebook here.
I’d love to hear your thoughts or experiences on how social media can make or break brands. Please share your insights by leaving a comment below.
by Miriam Hara | Jun 1, 2023 | Agency, Business Success, Marketing
We’ve all shared the collective exhaustion of discussing a post-COVID world ad nauseam, and yet, it remains an unavoidable topic. The pandemic’s sweeping effects have transformed our lives drastically and, indeed, irreversibly. The old marketing playbook was thrown out of the window overnight, and we had to quickly adapt to an unprecedented environment. So what does post-pandemic marketing look like?
We’ve all witnessed and experienced how a global pandemic has reshaped our reality and , we’ve all witnessed how a global pandemic has reshaped our reality. Now as we’re gradually moving towards the tail end of this crisis, a pressing question emerges: What’s next for marketing in the post-pandemic world?
The first thing we all need to realize is that the need for post-pandemic marketing ..is here and now. And the what’s next, is not next month or tomorrow it’s today.
For one, we can’t expect to go back to the way things were. The pandemic has undeniably accelerated certain trends and created new ones. It has transformed consumer behaviour, purchasing habits, and engagement preferences. We’ve seen a greater reliance on digital platforms, an increased demand for authenticity and value, and a heightened focus on social responsibility. These are not just temporary shifts; they’re here to stay.
The digital revolution has taken centre stage during the pandemic, fast-forwarding us into the future. As we embrace the post-pandemic world, we can expect even more digital disruptions. From virtual reality shopping experiences to AI-powered customer service, technology will continue to reshape the marketing landscape. This is what post-pandemic marketing looks like and will will continue to gain traction, ex·po·nen·tial·ly!
Simultaneously, the demand for authenticity and value has never been higher. Consumers, having faced a crisis of global proportions, are now more discerning about where they spend their money. They seek brands that not only provide high-quality products or services but also align with their values and contribute positively to society.
In this scenario, brand storytelling will play a pivotal role. It’s no longer about selling a product; it’s about conveying your brand’s purpose, the ‘why’ behind what you do. How does your brand make a difference in the world? How do you add value to your customers’ lives? Answering these questions authentically will be key to resonating with the post-pandemic consumer.
Furthermore, the concept of community has been redefined during the pandemic. Now, it’s not just about geographical proximity but shared experiences, values, and interests. Marketers will need to tap into these digital communities, fostering relationships and engaging in meaningful conversations.
Finally, let’s not forget the increased focus on social responsibility. The post-pandemic consumer is socially conscious, seeking brands that not only do no harm but actively work towards creating a positive impact. Sustainability, ethical practices, and social justice will be front and center in the consumers’ minds, and brands will need to step up.
So, what’s the next step for marketers in the post-pandemic world? It’s time to revisit your marketing strategy, align it with these new trends, and prepare for a future that’s already here. Remember, it’s not just about surviving; it’s about thriving and leading the way forward.
Now, I turn the conversation over to you. How have you prepared for the post-pandemic world? What strategies are you implementing to stay ahead of the curve? I look forward to hearing your insights and experiences.
by Miriam Hara | Jul 20, 2015 | Advertising, Agency, Creative, Latest, Management
To understand why I need what I need in a new hire, you have to understand the business. [inlinetweet prefix=””Do what you love.” – Steve Jobs” tweeter=”” suffix=”#NewHireWishList #SharedWisdom”]The advertising business isn’t just a job, it’s a way of life.[/inlinetweet] Take it from me, it’s like no other business in the world. It’s not a tap you turn on and off. You don’t (in fact, you can’t) turn on at 8:30 a.m. and turn off at 4:30 p.m., particularly if you’re leading a team. I think people who are really good at what they do (in any industry) are always thinking about what they do: how they can do it better; how they can do it differently for better results; how they can streamline the process to get where they’re going more effectively and yes, get there faster. They’re always thinking about “ideas” and marketing and advertising is all about ideas.
A platitude that’s a bit overused maybe, but there’s still plenty of truth in it: “Work smarter, not harder”
Work smarter, not harder: I want people who really believe that. You’ve seen the posters. But there’s plenty of truth in those four little words.
I never know what will spark the idea, or when it will come, I just trust, from experience, that it will come. I want that characteristic in a new hire.
It’s a Saturday morning, my business hat is off. It’s summer, I might be having a coffee on a patio, at the farmer’s market, anywhere; but I’m probably thinking about a new client, a client presentation, or an idea for a new campaign. It’s the middle of the week, I could be in an airport, a cab, at a restaurant, or just taking a walk down by the lake with my husband after dinner. Maybe I’m in the middle of a presentation for clients, totally focused and an idea pops up, completely unrelated to what I’m doing. Everywhere I am, anything can spark an idea. This might sound like I never stop working and in a way, I don’t.
It’s partly the business and partly me. [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=”-Miriam Hara, CCO, 3H #ExceedBeyond #SharedWisdom”]I’m still excited about what I do, even after 27 years.[/inlinetweet] I still get up in the morning passionate about our projects. It’s not that I’m always consciously thinking about work, it’s that I can’t help not thinking about it. I want people around me like that.
The business is not just me – I rely on my team. Most of them have been with 3H a long time. All of them have passion. And I want people with passion. I need them:
7 THINGS I ABSOLUTELY NEED IN A NEW CREATIVE HIRE
- Passion for the industry and the creative process.
- The desire to win!
- Willingness to learn and the ability to wear many hats.
- Someone who adds value to the process, who is flexible and won’t freeze when things go wrong, because in our business, like in life, something always does!
- Someone who isn’t afraid of ‘working without a net’; meaning that it’s okay if they don’t know the total background and details of a job, they run with the things and know it will work it out and they’ll eventually catch on. Being okay with not knowing is really important!
- Someone who is thick skinned and doesn’t take things too personally.
- No overblown egos. Confidence is what I want and it’s not the same thing. Egos make life difficult for everyone else. Strangely, it’s the kind of business where ego doesn’t belong, although we don’t think of the advertising and marketing business that way. Ego is insignificant to clients — it would be troublesome. They hire you because they already know you’re good at what you do.
There’s a number 8, but the heading says 7 so I’ll just say that for number 8 a sense of humour is hugely important. I want someone who finds things funny, can see humour where it’s sometimes hard to see it. There’s more to hiring the right person. Things that maybe you don’t often think about when you’re hiring; quirky characteristics that can enrich company culture on a day to day basis. (I’ll talk about them in an upcoming blog.)
It’s such an important aspect of business, finding the right people because it affects so many aspects of the business.
Send me your thoughts on what you look for in a new hire. #NewHireWishList #SharedWisdom #ExceedBeyond
by Joyce Turner-Gionet | Jul 17, 2015 | Business Success, Latest, Management
Your company’s struggling financially and you’re going to have to lay off staff. How you do it is important. In Canada, there are labour laws (Canada Labour Code) that employers must follow during a layoff. This blog isn’t about laws, it’s about love.
In most layoffs, if we’re honest, a little deadwood leaves; employees who perennially didn’t pull their weight despite being coached and encouraged, perhaps even warned, multiple times. But we lose valuable assets too, people who practice business love. These are smart, capable, motivated employees who cheerfully showed up each day willing to go that extra mile to get a job done. I’ll call them business lovers.
“It’s never a good moment, but it’s a better moment when done with love”
6,500 Canadians lost their jobs last month, according to Stats Canada. When I read that stat in the paper, I thought about the 6,500 conversations it involved. How many of those termination conversations were politely informal, cold and loveless? It got me thinking about the way people are laid off. I thought about talks I’d had with friends recently. Over the past year, a few of them, all business lovers, have been laid off. All were long-time employees, all valuable contributing team players at different companies. Each of them had a slightly different experience. I thought of my own experience. The #1 takeaway from my conversations: “It’s never a good moment, but it’s a better moment when done with love.” It’s better at the time and strange as it seems, better when that ex-employee looks back and there was a compassionate, human face on the experience.
[inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=”#DoitwithLove #ExceedBeyond”]In our society, jobs still define us. We are what we do.[/inlinetweet]
What’s the number one question people ask each other at dinners or parties when they meet for the first time: “What do you do?” When you take the ‘what I do’ away from someone, especially when it comes out of the blue, it’s a shocking experience for them. They think (although in the moment it’s probably never framed quite so coherently): “[sinking feeling in stomach] that’s what I did [panic], what do I do now [more panic]?” Dismissal from work ranks high on the famous Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale, a report from the late 1960s, still valid today, which studied the top 43 most stressful life events that can contribute to illness.
Business owners, managers, HR: If it’s part of your job description to hire, fire and also lay off in troubled times, you need to own it. If you haven’t had any formal training in letting people go, try to get some. It can be emotional on both sides; yours and the employee you have to let go. Wear your big girl or big boy pants and take the time, be respectful, show the love. Sure, it can get a little tricky, but it’s a lot trickier for the employee whose entire life changes dramatically in the 15 seconds it takes you to say: “We have to lay you off.”
Understand the impact you’re going to have on a person’s life in those few seconds. In planning for the layoff, while preparing documentation, take a moment to ask yourself: “If I were to be laid off, how would I want it to be done?” Think about the tone of the conversation you will have. Here’s my take:
- Make sure the location you choose is a place where the conversation cannot be overheard, a place that also allows that person freedom of emotion. It’s an emotional time.
- Don’t simply show up at an employee’s desk with the proverbial pink slip, HR package and a rehearsed HR spiel. Make your words heartfelt and personal.
- Especially in the case of a business lover, that person did nothing wrong, they’re a victim of financial circumstances. Focus on that. Tell them they were valued and appreciated. Emphasize and reiterate.
- Expect anger or grief, or even a complete absence of both, everyone’s emotional makeup is different.
- Don’t get try to get the conversation over as quickly as possible.
- Give them a chance to speak, an opportunity to let out emotions and ask questions about anything they want to ask.
- Let them know they can contact you if there’s something they’ve forgotten to ask.
- Follow up! If you’ve promised a reference letter or the services of a placement firm to help them transition to a new job or learn a new skill set, provide the letter and the firm’s contact information the same day. If you can’t do it the same day, do it in the week immediately following. Don’t wait for the ex-employee to be forced to follow-up with you.
- Give them an opportunity to say goodbye to their colleagues, if they wish. Many people never go back to their place of employment after a layoff, so this allows for a little closure. The hugs, handshakes and the “I can’t believe this is happening and I’m really going to miss you” comments from colleagues (and yes, even the tears) are surprisingly comforting to many people who have just been laid off.
- Speak to the people who are still there. There’s nothing like losing your colleague in a layoff to start the rumour mill: Am I gonna be next?
And finally … DON’T show the cheese video!
Who Moved My Cheese? is an allegorical video about reinventing yourself. It’s often shown to employees who are going to be laid off. Two little mice — Sniff and Scurry — and two tiny humans — Hem and Haw — live in a maze. For years, they’ve relied on a seemingly never-ending pile of cheese. The pile dwindles, until one day it’s gone. The characters’ names give you a good idea of what they do next … it’s time for all four to get motivated and find a new cheese pile. If you’re going to show that cheesy video, make sure you explain why you’re showing it, otherwise you cause panic in the minds of the watchers. You provoke tense conversations later around the water cooler or in the kitchen or during after-hours phone calls, texts and emails between employees: “What is the company saying to us?” “What do you think that movie meant?” “Are we going to lose our jobs?” “Do they see us as mice?
Who moved my Cheese? The Movie by Dr. Spencer Johnson
Yes, it is a lousy job laying someone of; nobody wants to do it, but somebody’s gotta do it. If you’re the one who draws the short straw by virtue of your position, make sure you do it right. [inlinetweet prefix=”Food for thought” tweeter=”” suffix=”#DoitwithLove #ExceedBeyond”]Forced to lay off employees: do it with love.[/inlinetweet]
Been laid off? Was it done with love, let me know? [inlinetweet prefix=”We love lists” tweeter=”” suffix=”#DoitwithLove #ListChallenge #ExceedBeyond”]Have additional ideas for the ‘How to do it with love’ list?[/inlinetweet] Send them to me. #DoitwithLove
A unique approach to laying people off:
Is it possible to lay people off nicely. One company’s quest to blend rejection and kindness
by Miriam Hara | Mar 29, 2014 | Branding, Latest
Brand value is based upon the sum of all its parts. Those parts are: a brand name, its marketing, the relationship the brand has with its target base, its intent and its history. Additionally, to a large degree brand value or brand equity is based on its level of endurance. A brand’s stamina and staying power are as important as its ability to stay true to its original intention.
In short, brand value is tied to its originality.
At the risk of sounding a tad too “mature”, I remember when marketing meant not only advertising the benefits of a brand, but communicating those benefits to the consumer in an original way. This allowed the brand to own its entire messaging, from the logo to the colour and tone used and of course, the imagery.
Today, I feel that some creative has become lazy – reaching for the low hanging fruit. This may be the result of less time and lower budgets, however the drawbacks to brand value by creating “me too” creative are significant.
Brand creative should be a significant contributor to brand value. Here are a few tips to flexing creative to become more original for your brand creative:
1. Start your brainstorming session with a brief. It should outline what the objectives are, who the competition is and what they have done in the market place.
2. Don’t build your creative around a royalty free stock image. It’s important that you completely own your visual identity. Have you ever seen an ad for a technology brand with the exact photo as an ad for an insurance service provider? It’s quite alarming. Today, many print ads and digital creative ads are based on the use of stock imagery – ugh!
3. Go for substance, not flash, unless you can achieve both without alienating your target group. The use of flash and pop up mechanisms on websites intrude rather than captivate attention.
4. Always be clever with the creative for your concept and your approach to copy and headlines. Often headlines are too tactile and lack playfulness and originality.
If the strategy is on point and implemented properly, creative will add considerably to brand value. Brand creative should be based on brand persona. And brand persona should be based on a unique set of characteristics that give it… well a personality. How else will a brand resonate with its consumers? It needs to be attractive and speak to consumers in a way that forms a true connection.
In today’s environment, the brand persona has taken on an even more prominent role. There is another dimension to develop brand personality: its voice and tone. Like every person is an original, to be a successful brand and create brand value, originality is essential.
