Brands + Business x Christine Moody*

In The Huffington Post article, ’10 Ways to Make Customers Fall in Love with Your Business’, Brian Honigman presents some interesting data about customer service:

• Only 37 percent of brands received good or excellent customer experience index scores in 2012. Whereas, 64 percent of brands got a rating of “OK,” “poor” or “very poor” from their customers. Source: Forrester Research
• As many as 89 percent of consumers began doing business with a competitor following a poor customer experience. Source: RightNow
• Up to 60 percent of consumers will pay more for a better customer experience. Source: Desk
• Average annual value of each customer relationship lost to a competitor or abandoned -289. Source: Genesys Report

This data shows how important customer services is to your brand and your business. The worst case scenario is when your customer move onto your competition. Many organisations are confused about what customer service actually is. Customer service is so much more than being friendly to your customers. It is about understanding your customers and building a relationship with them—it is about your developing your Brand Promise and then delivering that every single time and from every aspect of your organisation—from website to sales to delivery of the product. It must be ‘on brand’ and there must be an understanding of customer service across the organisation—not just within brand’s marketing department.

…and don’t forget to say “Thank You”!

Honigman suggests there are 10 ways to ensure your customers stay in love with your brand:

1. Treat your Customers Right—Genuinely Interact
2. Don’t Come on Too Strong—Respect Your Customers
3. Always Listen—Hear What Your Customers Are Saying
4. Continue to Satisfy—Offer Ongoing Support and Specials
5. Treat a Customer Like a Valued Partner—Communication is Two Way
6. Build Trust—Alert Customer to Large Scale Changes, Good or Bad
7. Be Transparent—Honesty is Crucial When it comes to Mistakes
8. Follow Through on Your Word—Follow Up on Promises
9. Recognise Responsibility—The Customer is Always Right
10. Always say “Thank You”—Kindness and Gratitude will Take You Far.

From the list you can see that they ’10 Ways’ are really common sense but clearly the data shows that organisations are not following them. The number of times I have personally experienced a mismatch between the brand’s advertising and the actual delivery of the product or service. The more we create digital platforms the more we need to move closer to the customer and get out there and observe and listen to what they are doing and saying.

So you want to know why customers walk away from your brand? Just ask them. Oh yes…and don’t forget to say “Thank You”!

*Christine Moody is one of Australia’s leading brand strategists and the founder brand management consultancy, Brand Audits. With more than 30 years’ professional experience, Christine has helped a diverse client base of local and international brands, including Gold Coast City Council, Hilton Hotels, and Wrigleys USA, to develop, protect and achieve brand differentiation. Her particular interest is personal brand audits to assist executives realise their full potential.

For more information: chris.moody@brandaudits.com.au or +61 419 888 468.

Brand + Business x Christine Moody*

In the excitement of starting a business—and then surviving the first few years—trademarking the brand’s identity (the logo/symbol) is often forgotten or seen as an unnecessary expense. But the important process of trademarking—what protects your valuable asset—needs to be included in your start-up or expansion plans. Where I have seen it being a  problem is when the lack of protection is revealed during the due diligence process of the sale of the business. When the organisation goes to register it, it is may not be able to secure the trademark. This occurs for various reasons but the main one is that the front-end research stage was not included in the process of deciding on the trading name.

I have seen this far too often and it is part of our standard procedures to conduct initial research into the name and symbol, prior to engaging an IP lawyer. The initial checks are no guarantee for the acceptance of the trademark but what it does give us is a good indication of names more likely to be successful in the process. It is not enough just to register the domain name and the business name. Registering a trademark is different.

…you need brand specialists to help your organisation protect and manage one of your most valuable assets—your brand identity.

As well as securing the services of an accountant and lawyer, you also need brand specialists to help your organisation protect and manage one of your most valuable assets. And once it is registered, it needs regular audits to ensure that the brand remains ‘on brand’ and what has been trademarked is what is still in use by staff and suppliers. You would be amazed at the number of audits I have done where the logo has been recreated and bears only slight resemblance to the trademark. This logo is then used across the organisation without anyone seeing the difference. This leaves your trademark exposed as part of protecting your trademark is using it—the organisation needs to be using the logo that was trademarked.

The best way to ensure everyone in the organisation understands the importance of using the correct trademark, is to regularly conduct formal audits. Another way is to educate staff and suppliers on the brand identity and ensure they have access to the current guidelines and digital files. Regular presentations of exemplars of the brand identity usage along with inconsistencies in use, also helps to educate and encourage staff and suppliers to work with the correct—and valuable—trademarked brand identity.

Every organisation should be practising safe branding. Is yours?

*Christine Moody is one of Australia’s leading brand strategists and the founder brand management consultancy, Brand Audits. With more than 30 years’ professional experience, Christine has helped a diverse client base of local and international brands, including Gold Coast City Council, Hilton Hotels, and Wrigleys USA, to develop, protect and achieve brand differentiation. Her particular interest is personal brand audits to assist executives realise their full potential.

For more information: chris.moody@brandaudits.com.au or +61 419 888 468.

Brands + Business x Christine Moody*

This week I attended the launch of Queensland Ballet‘s 2016 Season. The launch was held at the stunning Brisbane City Hall and the event was beautifully choreographed and so aligned with the ‘QB brand’. It began with one of the Principal dancer’s—Clare Morehen—introducing the overview of the season’s program and then Artistic Director—the well-known “Mao’s Last Dancer—Li Cunxin presenting the details of the season and each ballet.

The speeches were interspersed with excerpts of the four ballets live on stage plus videos of the ballet in London and highlights of the coming year. This was a very impactful event as each of the presenters demonstrated to the audience their passion for their art. Their words, expression, and personal stories of their time with the organisation resonated with the audience. As I looked around the audience I could see the smiles on their faces and feel the love in the room! Imagine if your brand could have that sort of impact on your ‘audience’!

I got carried away with the magic of it all. And isn’t that what every brand wants?

It was obvious that a lot of effort and planning had gone into this event. Every detail was considered and delivered to represent ‘Queensland Ballet’ the brand as well as the upcoming program. This season’s theme—”the season shimmers with stardust, as we share ballets that enchant with the glamour of a golden age”—was made tangible and exciting in so many ways. From the entry line up of Queensland Ballet branded staff who greeted us as on arrival, to the gift of gold-dusted macaroons and the gold-foiled program booklet handed to us as we left the venue, every thing and every little detail made the event memorable. It would be interesting to see the spike in ticket sales the next day as I am sure that many people went online that night and booked their tickets—I know I did.

I got carried away with the magic of it all. And isn’t that what every brand wants?

*Christine Moody is one of Australia’s leading brand strategists and the founder brand management consultancy, Brand Audits. With more than 30 years’ professional experience, Christine has helped a diverse client base of local and international brands, including Gold Coast City Council, Hilton Hotels, and Wrigleys USA, to develop, protect and achieve brand differentiation. Her particular interest is personal brand audits to assist executives realise their full potential.

For more information: chris.moody@brandaudits.com.au or +61 419 888 468.

Brands + Business x Christine Moody*

There has been so much discussion here in Australia around Uber and its impact on the traditional taxi service. Without getting into the politics of the matter, what does matter is that these game changing organisations disrupt the status quo.

…disruption is great for business—without it things would stay the same.

The entrepreneurs see a gap in the market—often from their own experiences and pain points with other service and product offerings. They develop innovation around what they want and what they believe other like-minded customers will want as well. The rise of Uber is due to the fact that it was developed to make getting to places easier and cheaper as well as the addition of seamless delivery of the service—easy to book, pay, and get to the destination. What I observed in New York was that the traditional taxi service has had to pick up their game—now easier to book and pay, plus the drivers seem friendlier!

So I believe disruption is great for business—without it things would stay the same.

*Christine Moody is one of Australia’s leading brand strategists and the founder brand management consultancy, Brand Audits. With more than 30 years’ professional experience, Christine has helped a diverse client base of local and international brands, including Gold Coast City Council, Hilton Hotels, and Wrigleys USA, to develop, protect and achieve brand differentiation. Her particular interest is personal brand audits to assist executives realise their full potential.

For more information: chris.moody@brandaudits.com.au or +61 419 888 468.

Brand + Business x Christine Moody*

I wrote a few days ago titled, ‘The power of finishing the last 10 percent’, and have since found many articles on how to complete that big work project that takes you to the next level—professionally or personally. Finishing something gives you the confidence and motivation to go to a whole new different—and exciting—level!

An article by Faisal Hoque in Fast Company, ‘Taming the last 10%: Lessons for finishing meaningful work‘, outlines the importance of completing a project because as hard as it is, this is where the ‘magic’ happens.

…whatever little successes I have had, it has been about putting most of my energies toward the last 10 percent.

Whether it is a book, or a simple two-page report, everything depends on your last 10 percent.

Do you agree? Have you got a story?

*Christine Moody is one of Australia’s leading brand strategists and the founder brand management consultancy, Brand Audits. With more than 30 years’ professional experience, Christine has helped a diverse client base of local and international brands, including Gold Coast City Council, Hilton Hotels, and Wrigleys USA, to develop, protect and achieve brand differentiation. Her particular interest is personal brand audits to assist executives realise their full potential.

For more information: chris.moody@brandaudits.com.au or +61 419 888 468.

Brand + Business x Christine Moody*

I have waited a couple of days for things to settle down in Australian Federal politics before I commented about our new Prime Minister but I can wait no longer. I have some observations on our new leader—Malcolm Turnbull—purely from a brand perspective.

*Christine Moody is one of Australia’s leading brand strategists and the founder brand management consultancy, Brand Audits. With more than 30 years’ professional experience, Christine has helped a diverse client base of local and international brands, including Gold Coast City Council, Hilton Hotels, and Wrigleys USA, to develop, protect and achieve brand differentiation. Her particular interest is personal brand audits to assist executives realise their full potential.

For more information: chris.moody@brandaudits.com.au or +61 419 888 468.

On Sunday, I got out of my comfort zone and participated in Tough Mudder 2015. I have never, ever done anything like this before—not even a fun run! The course was 20km with lots of mud and lots of obstacles to climb over, under, and through. I was really scared but had to face my fears, and push this aside. Rather than be overwhelmed by the enormous task ahead—and of course not dying!—our team decided to think about and approach one obstacle at a time. While I was unable to complete all obstacles I was determined to finish and kept going—and going towards the finish line.

And finish I did!

On reflection—post-hot shower and a clean set of clothes—I have seen so many parallels in what makes successful people and successful brands. Here are four of my observations:

1. How you approach obstacles is how you face life. You have a choice to either give it a go or bypass the obstacle. Even when I was scared and didn’t know how to tackle it, I gave it a go. Sometimes, especially towards the end I had to bypass a couple. But that was okay. Sometimes you have to choose.
2. Surround yourself with like-minded people who have your back. I decided to do the event because I did it with my team mates from my training group. Our team stuck together and helped each other over, through, and under each obstacle. I knew they had my back and they knew I had theirs. And more importantly, I knew they were not going to leave me behind in a mud trench somewhere!
3. No matter what, you need to keep your sense of humour. There were many times during the course (especially the last 10 percent) that I found it really challenging. But as a team, we never lost our sense of humour (mud does that). We were able to find humour in every challenge and laugh at each other and ourselves right to the end. It made it fun and it  motivated me to keep going.
4. Celebrate each achievement, no matter how small. On the second obstacle—climbing over a high wall after coming out of a mud bath—I was finding it difficult and had decided to bypass. But my team encouraged me go back and to give it a go. They knew I wanted to do it. I needed their help and I just had to ask for it. Not only did I get their help, I also got help from others around us. For me, it was more than just getting over the wall—I needed to get over this wall to prove to myself that I could get over any obstacle.  In the bigger picture, it was a small thing but we celebrated each achievement as we made our way around the course. Because the course—like life!—is about getting over small (and large) obstacles and celebrating each achievement along the way.

Overall the biggest thing I realised was that doing Tough Mudder for me was more about my mental strength than my physical strength. My mantra throughout the course was ‘be courageous’. And I proved to myself that I was! I use this mantra in my business every day.

Bring on Tough Mudder 2016!

Thanks to my team—Loretta, Erica, and Alex for getting me over, under, and through the course; and to Integral Fitness for training my body and mind to build my resilience and reframe my ‘why’! 

*Christine Moody is one of Australia’s leading brand strategists and the founder brand management consultancy, Brand Audits. With more than 30 years’ professional experience, Christine has helped a diverse client base of local and international brands, including Gold Coast City Council, Hilton Hotels, and Wrigleys USA, to develop, protect and achieve brand differentiation. Her particular interest is personal brand audits to assist executives realise their full potential.

For more information: chris.moody@brandaudits.com.au or +61 419 888 468.

Brand + Business x Christine Moody*

Last week I started a blog on ‘Books that changed my life’. To recap—I read at least one book per week. I prefer ‘real ones/hard copies’ so I buy them from my local bricks-and-mortar bookstore Folio Books. I choose each book because I have seen the review in a magazine article, blog, or Facebook page. If you missed Part One here is link.

This week’s ‘Top Ten’ books have a common theme—visiting the craft of design in diverse fields—from fashion to food to fabric. These books represent design expertise outside my own. They were chosen to enable me to understand a different perspective on design whether it is the design of a skateboard (Disposable Skateboard Bible), or the design of a postcard or telegram (Letters of Note). Broadening my knowledge and interests inspires me to design outside the box!

I can recommend these books to be part of everyone’s library:

1. 101 Things I Learned in Film School by Neil Landau
2. Art of the Restaurateur by Nicolas Lander
3. Best Designed Flagship Stores by Jons Messedat
4. Disposable Skateboard Bible by Sean Cliver
5. How to Make Books by Esther Smith
6. 100 Unforgettable Dresses by Hal Rubinstein
7. A Field Guide to Fabric Design by Kim Kight
8. Letters of Note by Shaun Usher
9. Amazing Spaces by George Clarke
10. Food Truck Feasts by Erika Budiman

The last few years of researching and writing had come down to just finishing that last god damn 10 percent. Understanding this is what made the difference.