Will ASX ‘Recommendation 2.2’ help get more women on Boards?

Posted on August 17, 2015 by brandaudits

Brand Audits Update x Christine Moody*

The Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) held a Directors’ Briefing last night at Clayton Utz—‘Balancing the skills matrix: Skills based board structures’—presented by Dr Sally Pitkin, Company Director and AICD State President; Andrew Hay, Partner, Clayton Utz; and Bruce Elliott, Senior Client Partner, Korn Ferry. This briefing is in response to the Australian Stock Exchange’s (ASX) Recommentation 2.2.

A listed entity should have and disclose a board skills matrix setting out the mix of skills and diversity that the board currently has or is looking to achieve in its membership.

This recommendation will see the 2014/15 Annual Reports with a skills and experience table which list the ‘skills and experience’ and the number of Directors that have those skills. This includes the report on the number of women on the Board. An example presented last night was from Downer EDI Limited’s Annual Report 2015. As well as the standard report content, this year’s report has bar charts and pie charts in the corporate governance section (page 116 of a 124-page report). This is a great start and shows at a glance the gender diversity of the board. The gender diversity pie graph could have been improved by including the percentage breakdown of males to females but it is clear that they are well and truly on their way to a gender balanced Board.

By having more disclosure—especially gender diversity—will let shareholders and other stakeholders (particularly employees and potential employees) where the company sits presently and what their future plans are. Boards are now open to questions from shareholders as to why they have not addressed gender diversity and what thay are doing about the situation. While the number of women on Boards is increasing, it has slowed since 2013. Women still only represent one in five (20 percent) Directors in ASX-200 companies. Companies are not only missing out on a diverse and well-rounded Board but also risk damaging their brand. Forward thinking companies such as Westpac Group, have already put in place measures and initiatives to address the diversity issues and report against their initatives. This is what great brands do.

Time will tell if ‘Recommendation 2.2’ makes a difference to the number of women on Boards. As the reporting season is in full swing, it will be worth noting how companies are responding. Do you think this recommendation will see more women on Boards?

*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.

Are you making your personal brand visible?

Posted on August 16, 2015 by brandaudits

Brand Audits Update x Christine Moody*

What is your ‘personal brand’?

You personal brand is about creating an authentic brand that aligns with, and represents, your professional goals. Your personal brand includes your qualifications, your work experience, and your career success but also includes the visual aspects of your brand—your personal brand identity. This includes the way you dress and your behaviour and also the ‘touch points’ of your brand identity—eg, the layout and quality of your business card and resume. No detail is too small to consider—eg, the style and quality of your photograph on your LinkedIn account. Your personal brand encompasses everything you do and say.

Why is having a differentiated personal brand important?

Apple is an example of a great brand. Apple—the corporate brand—encompasses every detail or ‘touch point’ that comes in contact with the customer eg, Apple has beautifully designed, customer-centric products presented in purpose-designed packaging and contained in an innovative carry bag. The Apple website is easy to navigate and both the layout and the language align with the Apple ethos of simplicity and creativity.

So, taking the Apple example, we can apply this to understanding the power of great personal brands. When thinking of great personal brands we think of Barack Obama and his ‘presence’ at G20 Brisbane recently—particularly his speech at The University of Queensland—and his brand style eg, the way he walks confidently down the red carpet at events. We can think of Australia’s Gail Kelly (formerly CEO, Westpac Group) and how she presents at corporate events including the tone of her voice, her corporate wardrobe and the quality of her presentations. The personal brands of these high-profile leaders are deliberately and purposefully designed to create a brand that is unique, authentic and also in line with the organisations they represent. Every single detail is considered and aligned with their desired personal brand.

Personal branding has become even more important with the explosion of social media.

Personal branding has become even more important with the explosion of social media. Social media is personal by the very nature of the medium—LinkedIn, Facebook (personal and professional) et al. So these days, everyone has a personal brand and everyone needs to be in control of the management of their brand. It is important to ensure your personal brand message is consistent across each and every ‘touch point’. Key to creating a differentiated and consistent personal brand is about delivering the entire brand package so you can carve out a niche and stand out from the crowd in an ever-increasing and competitive professional arena.

Developing your personal brand is about making YOU visible—to your peers, your boss, and your future boss!

Who is going to be the next ‘Uber’?

Posted on August 13, 2015 by brandaudits

Brand Audits Update x Christine Moody*

Many companies like Uber, Airbnb, and Square are changing how we live and work. The founders of these companies identified a gap and created a company around that gap. Some of the competition ie, the traditional taxis, do not like these companies because of the threat to their industry and their income. While I understand that, these companies are created because the current offering is lacking. I love the fact that when I am in a new city, the Uber driver is able to arrive quickly to pick me up, has a clean car, knows where they are going, and the best thing for me, is the fact that they give you local knowledge. This is just like having a local tour guide.

Smart companies and their leaders, do not see the innovation as a threat but a learning opportunity.

Smart companies and their leaders, do not see the innovation as a threat but a learning opportunity. They know that their industry will not be immune. They also know that they can apply the customer-centric model of these game changers into their industry and into their companies. Some have even developed innovative centres to be in control of their future and to embrace the new thinking–even if it scares them and they don’t know what is on the horizon. What they do know is that they have to keep up and keep close to their customers. They are the key and they are in control.

So what will be the next Uber in your industry?

Christine & Dorie…

Posted on August 13, 2015 by brandaudits

I got to know Dorie Clark through her first book Reinventing You. So when I was recently visited New York, I was lucky enough to meet Dorie on a couple of occasions. It was great to meet the woman behind the two best sellers and also find out how she has helped others to ‘stand out’. So like the hit movie Julie and Julia (about the woman wrote the blog every day about cooking a recipe from Julia Child’s famous Mastering the Art of French Cooking), I am going to use Dorie’s book Stand Out as my guide and complete each ‘Ask Yourself’ every day. I will keep Dorie up to date on how I am travelling and what I am achieving. My time starts now! First page of my Moleskine notebook is open, so here I go!

Who was your career inspiration?

Posted on June 22, 2015 by brandaudits

Brand Audits Update x Christine Moody*

I have always been creative and right through high school and university, design has been my chosen career. As you study and practice design, there are many inspirational people. The designer who still inspires me is Milton Glaser (b.1929-)—who designed the ‘I HEART NY‘ logo. This is a great example of timeless brand identity. The logo was designed in 1977 as part of a promotional campaign for New York State and only expected to last a couple of months. The logo was so popular and it still appears on T’shirts sold across the city—even though the logo is trademarked and owned by New York State Empire State Development. Glaser’s original concept sketch and presentation boards were donated to the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

The logo was designed in 1977 as part of a promotional campaign for New York State and only expected to last a couple of months.

What makes this brand identity last so many years remain relevant today? The simplicity, the flexibility, and the meaning—no tricks or fancy typography. If you have visited New York—a city full of yellow cabs, busy sidewalks, big food, and even bigger personalities!—this logo will have a different meaning. And that’s the thing a great brand identity is what you want it to be. For me the ‘I HEART NY’ logo makes me smile because I remember all the great times I have had there!

This is what I aim to achieve in my work. Milton Glaser continues to inspire all these years later. Who was your career inspiration?

Why being ‘customer centric’ is everyone’s business

Posted on June 18, 2015 by brandaudits

Brand Audits Update x Christine Moody*

For many organisations, customer centric means inviting customers out to lunch occasionally or sending them a bottle of wine at Christmas. While there is nothing wrong with doing these thing, being truly customer centric is a whole lot more and a whole lot harder to incorporate across the organisation. When an organisation puts the customer at the heart of its strategy, it is able to achieve amazing things. There are so many organisations who have done this—eg, Procter & Gamble and Cleveland Clinic—and have increased customer satisfaction as well as increased the number of innovative products and services it offers.

Being customer centric, is an all-of-organisation initiative…

To be truly ‘customer centric’, firstly there has to be a change in mindset around ‘what it means and who is responsible for it”. Being customer centric, is an all-of-organisation initiative—from the CEO to the front line staff—it is not just something that the sales and marketing staff need to implement. For the mindset to change the CEO needs to understand it, see it in action at other leading organisations, and then become the embodiment of it! Only then will it filter down and across the entire organisation.

Here are some articles that dig deeper into the ‘customer centric’ concept:

Fast Company

How Amazon and other top companies keep their customers in focus x Ken Fine

“In my experience, truly customer-centric CEOs don’t let themselves become abstracted from the delight and frustrations of genuine customer voices. Instead, they listen to those voices—day in and day out. This connection to actual customer commentary provides insight into customer needs that abstract data cannot.”

Forbes
Marketing: Building a customer-centric marketing ecosystem x Daniel Newman
“While most companies today claim to put their customers first, a surprisingly small number are actually doing it right. So, where are they going wrong? The fact is: some businesses are treating customer-centricity as a set of strategies meant solely for the customer-facing units of a business. They often forget that a customized or one-on-one approach is more than just a marketing goal for customer service reps and sales people.”“While most companies today claim to put their customers first, a surprisingly small number are actually doing it right. So, where are they going wrong? The fact is: some businesses are treating customer-centricity as a set of strategies meant solely for the customer-facing units of a business. They often forget that a customized or one-on-one approach is more than just a marketing goal for customer service reps and sales people.”

Inc

Be customer focused: Four basic tactics x Geoffrey James

“To forge a deeper relationship with your customers, show them how your corporate strategy meshes with theirs. Rather than merely sell solutions, sell them on the idea that you can help them sell to their own customers. Think long-term partnership, rather than short-term sales goals, and you’ll grow as your customers grow.”

Why designers + MBAs are a great combo

Posted on June 16, 2015 by brandaudits

Brand Audits Update x Christine Moody*

The business environment is constantly changing along with the idea of an organisation’s competitive advantage. Due to the rise of the power of the customer—mainly through social media platforms—more and more organisations are realising that becoming ‘customer-centric’ is an imperative in order to create a point of difference and survive. Innovative organisations are creating executive roles for designers to ensure that the customer-centric focus is culturally embedded in the organisation rather than an ‘add on’ that comes with contracted designers who perform tasks around a particular project. Being customer centric means putting the customer in the centre of the organisation to view the organisation from their point of view. It leads to recognisiing their ‘pain points’ and improving their contact with the organisation but also leads to revealing potential innovative products and services.

Innovative organisations are creating executive roles for designers to ensure that the customer-centric focus is culturally embedded in the organisation…

Here are some articles on companies that recognise the importance of designers being part of the team.

Fast Company

Airbnb Design Head On why designers and MBAs make perfect power combos x Doreen Lorenzo

“Product design is historically a male-dominated field, but today it’s brimming with talented and ambitious women. In the coming months I’ll be profiling 21st-century women like me who have built—or are building—careers in the design industry. I’ll share their stories about how they are evolving design practice through their unique perspectives on art, culture, technology, and business. I saw how MBA students would tackle problems a designer could tackle, but in a different way.”

Design Council (UK)

Leading business by design

“Design is everything, because without it we have no business. Anybody can design a decent product. They can’t all design outstanding products. So, design is the differentiator. CEO, Pentland Brands plc (owners of Speedo)”

Better By Design (NZ)

Icebreaker case study

“A simple observation ‘the closer we get to nature, the less likely we are to find people wearing something natural’ was behind the creation of Icebreaker’s outdoor clothing. This simple observation was behind the creation of the first truly new category in outdoor clothing in the past decade. Jeremy Moon, founder and CEO of Wellington-based Icebreaker Nature Clothing realised the opportunity presented by this paradox when he first saw finely woven merino wool. “It felt like nothing I’d ever touched—silky soft, warm and natural yet it could be thrown in the washing machine.”

Finding the ‘gems’ in your resume

Posted on June 15, 2015 by brandaudits

Brand Audits Update x Christine Moody*

I have been conducting corporate brand audits for over 30 years and more recently concentrating on personal brand audits. Audits are conducted for those in mid- to late-careers especially women looking for Non-Executive Directorship roles. Conducting personal brand audits is fascinating as I work with clients to peel away the ‘standardised’ content of their resumes to enable me to reveal the ‘gems’ of information to reveal a personality that makes each client unique. These gems are used to highlight the client’s point of difference and to ensure they are remembered and stand out.

These gems are used to highlight the client’s point of difference and to ensure they are remembered and stand out.

It also inspires and informs every element of the brand identity toolkit—from resume to business card. By creating a suite of customised tools for their toolkit—brand story, business cards, photographs, resume layouts, and graphic elements—to create a unique and personal resume. Each element is just as important as each other—the content, the layout, the photography etc. A customised toolkit for your personal brand doesn’t guarantee you the job/promotion/board role—that’s your job!—but they do help you stand out and be remembered.

Here are some useful resources on ensuring that your resume (digital or paper versions) makes it through…

Inc.com

10 resume tweaks to help you get a job now x Susan Lucas

“Time moves in a different dimension when you’re job hunting. Managers say they will make a decision “soon,” and you don’t hear from them for three weeks. Recruiters say they’ll get back to you “tomorrow,” and they never, ever contact you again. It’s a weird and frustrating position to be in. Finding a new job is pretty awful, but there are some things you can do to your résumé to help speed up the process. OK, they won’t get you a job tomorrow, but they will increase your chances of getting one.”

Forbes

Eight surprising rules that will get you the job x Susan Adams

“At 76 years old, Bill Ellermeyer is an elder statesman of the job search world. He founded an Irvine, Calif. outplacement firm in 1981, which he sold to staffing firm Adecco in 1990, then ran that office as a division of Adecco subsidiary Lee Hecht Harrison until going out on his own as an independent coach in 2004. He specializes in what he calls “career transitions” for people who have lost their jobs at the executive level, mostly from the c-suite or as vice presidents. Some of his clients have been out of work for more than a year when they come to him. He pushes them until they find a new position. After three decades in the career coaching business, he’s come up with eight rules, some counter-intuitive, that he says promise to land his clients a job.”

Fast Company

Nine resume mistakes that may cost you a job x Christine Ryan Jyoti

“While good old paper may seem passé in the digital age, LinkedIn hasn’t completely replaced the old-fashioned résumé.Résumés are the heartbeat of a career search,” says Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter, a career and workplace adviser at Glassdoor. “If done well, your résumé will tell your story and sell you.”

What’s your brand story?

Posted on June 14, 2015 by brandaudits

Brand Audits Update x Christine Moody

Everyone loves a good story

Whether your brand is a start up or an established organisation, every brand has a good story to tell. A brand story gives your products and services context, meaning, and emotion. It also allows you to tell a unique story to your stakeholders—staff, potential and existing customers, and suppliers.

Writing the brand story is the first thing to do when you are creating a new product or service. For example, when I have an idea for a new product or service the first thing I do is buy a new Moleskine notebook. This notebook serves as the main repository to capture my thoughts, research, clippings, and notes all in one place. It also serves as a place to start documenting and writing the brand story.

It is one of the most important things you will do as it forms the framework for any future decisions.

Only after the brand story has been written do I talk to a range of trusted advisors about my idea. The feedback and insights from this process helps inform the prototype. The brand story influences everything I do and say around the new product, eg, it informs my narrative on social media as well as the content of the brief to the photographer. It is one of the most important things you will do as forms the foundation for any future decisions.

Here are a selection of articles on brand story creation and why creating your brand’s story is so important.

Forbes

Disney proves that profitable marketing is about brand stories x Will Burns

“Disney’s “content marketing” strategy goes in reverse compared to most brands. Meaning, where most brands start with a

physical product and then build a story around it in the form of “content marketing,” companies like Disney do exactly the opposite. They create a brand story – a movie – and then build products around that story.”

Inc.com

How to tell stories that make your brand x First Round Review

“A startup’s story needs to be a shapeshifter. You need a version that will convince people to give you money, another to persuade star talent to join your team, another for those first customers taking a chance on you. These stories live in different places and have different purposes. One may never be written down, one may only be emailed to select people, one may live at the top of your website in the form of a video. But they should all stem from the same core.”

The New York Times

Quenching consumer’ thirst for ‘authentic’ brands x Matthew Hutson

“Knowing where their products come from allows them to keep tabs on the way many of their products are made. The narratives also connect consumers to other people and places, adding a personal and experiential component to a tangible good and giving it an aura of authenticity.”

Does your brand behave badly?

Posted on June 11, 2015 by brandaudits

Brand Audits Update x Christine Moody*

Corporate brands often forget that they are judged by their customers on every level and on every touch point. How they handle themselves when things don’t go to plan is where every brand has an opportunity to shine and show their true colours. An authentic brand’s reaction is to put themselves in the shoes of the customer. How would you feel if the company treated you a certain way? As way of an example, how every little transaction matters here is a story about a luxury car company.

Recently a friend of mine found themselves in a dire financial position. She was very proactive communicating with her financial institutions and was able to negotiate a change in arrangements early on so to avoid any penalities or reports to credit agencies. This included banks and credit card companies et al. This process took time, energy, and patience but it really paid off. However there was one organisation that she had the most difficulty with. It to her surprise a luxury car brand that she had been loyal to all her working life. While effort was put into selling the car to my friend—glossy brochures, showroom demostrations, loan cars for the weekends, and tickets to corporate events—when it came to negotiating a better finance deal it was completely the opposite. Big brands—expecially luxury brands—need to remember that paying attention to every little detail is just as important during the entire journey and relationship with the customer—not just during the sales process. It is how you treat your customers at every single stage of the ownership of that vehicle that makes or breaks the customer’s loyalty.

Big brands—expecially luxury brands—need to remember that paying attention to every little detail is just as important during the entire journey and relationship with the customer—not just during the sales process.

In a lot of cases, companies not understanding this means that the staff in the accounts department, for example, are too removed from the customer or don’t understand that how they treat customers will have a direct affect on the next sale and ultimately how that customer feels about the brand. The customer experience is an entire journey that starts long before they enter the showroom and does not end with the signing of the sales document. All the glossy brochures and slick advertising will not help overturn a bad customer experience. But being human and having empathy will go so much further.

Here are some other articles with brand stories that every company can learn from.

Forbes Companies behaving badly: When good services goes bad x Jabez LeBret “At the heart of great communication is the ethos that you communicate to those around you the way they want to be communicated to. In the moment that your customer is contacting you with an issue, he or she is upset, frustrated, and looking for you to solve the problem—not solve the problem because you are feeling charitable that day. Of course, you cannot make an exception every time. But telling your customers that you’ve made an exception at the moment they achieve resolution is like giving them a piece of cake, then taking it away before they get one bite of satisfaction.”

Harvard Business Review

Stop trying to delight customers x Matthew Dixon, Karen Freeman, and Nicholas Toman

“Two critical findings emerged that should affect every company’s customer service strategy. First, delighting customers doesn’t build loyalty; reducing their effort—the work they must do to get their problem solved—does. Second, acting deliberately on this insight can help improve customer service, reduce customer service costs, and decrease customer churn.”

Customer Think

Customer Experience: What, why, and how x customerthink.com

“HBR describes the customer experience as “your customer’s end-to-end journey with you…the cumulative impact of multiple touch points over time, which result in a real relationship feeling, or lack of it. So it’s about the multiple interactions that a customer has with a company and the collective nature of these interactions (whether good, okay or bad) that make up the entire customer experience. Right from the time a lead engages with a company till the time he continues to be a customer defines customer journey which makes the TOTAL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE.”