OMG! A Consumer's nightmare - Brand Invisibility!!!

Now really, would you eat products from an unknown source?  Or take the risk of offering them to your guests?  And yet - perhaps unintentionally - that is what the so-called business owner was suicidally suggesting.

I received an announcement offering bulk orders of handmade chocolates as special gifts, with an invitation to look at their website.  It was very well done and featured attractive designs and packaging for a range of occasions and budgets, with nation-wide delivery services too. Nice!  They were made with no preservatives etc, and by a chocolatier.  Hmmmm. Interesting. There were photos of door gifts, themed gifts, thank-you gifts - you know; any occasion where chocolates would provide a lovely touch.

So I checked out the 'About Us' section. Choke! Splutter! NOTHING except an address and phone number. No credentials warranting the use of the term 'chocolatier', person's name, qualifications, licence to trade, nothing!!!! AHEM!

Now, what if you'd ordered a batch for an event say to celebrate an occasion, and those guests who consumed the chocolates became ill from eating them?  WHAT would you do? HOW would you answer them? WHERE would you go to for recourse?  Even your reputation as a host would suffer!!

Part of Branding is about giving an assurance of the quality of the products or services on sale via credentials like certifications, endorsements from credible sources, evidence of years in business etc.  If you'd like me to suggest how you might strengthen the credibility of your business, do call me at 6-03-21697704 or email evelyn@atheneumgroup.net?

BRING ME THE BRAND AND I'LL INCREASE ITS PROFITS!

Delivering the Brand's value

The skilled young man was protesting at the potential incomes in place as opposed to the lush opportunities being presented at a roll-out of a new ecosystem for entrepreneurs. Indeed, why IS brand delivery valued in some places more than others?  Here's a classic example of why:

Mum needed replenishments for her pain relievers etc, so I went to the usual store, but didn't see what I was looking for. Hmmmmm. "Do you have brand X gel?" I asked.  The cheerful, smiling new hire said "We don't have that".  "But I bought it here before - please check with the pharmacist?" "Oh - he's not coming today". (Mentally I thought 'so?').  "Is there anyone else who is familiar with the stock?" Shuffle; shuffle and another pleasant person appears.  We three trooped to the brand's display shelf and both just looked at me puzzled. I explained "these are the capsules which you swallow, I'm looking for the gel to apply on the skin" Aha! Light bulbs came on and voila! a tube of the gel was retrieved. WHERE was the gap and WHO was responsible for closing it? WHO was going to profit from the sales?

Back to that roll-out I was telling you about. The investor explained that the quality of staff did not justify higher salaries because they weren't willing to work hard enough to make the investment profitable!.  Dead silence. Then, applause from business owners.  Do staff expect to be paid for merely showing up?

The key solution lies in tying performance management ie delivery of the Brand Promise, with profitability! Firstly train staff in conversational skills and product knowledge thoroughly with role-plays.  Then have a pay-for-performance package which rewards them for bringing ideas and innovations to the workplace.  The result? Business owners increase their profits and staff get paid more too :) Train and assess.

Want help with designing a systemic approach to put this in place and build the value of your brand? Just call me on 6-03-21697704 or email evelyn@atheneumgroup.net and I'll be glad to customize a plan for you.

BRING ME THE BRAND AND I'LL INCREASE ITS PROFITS!  

Where lies the value of Branding?

There are SO MANY cash-rich businesses around with no brand attachment, except a healthy bottom line to the company's name. And the name of their game is prudent financial management, with shareholders & stakeholders reaping lucrative rewards via cash and benefits.

So then, is formal (visual) branding even necessary? Weeeeell, that depends on you, really, Where do YOU want to take your business? Promoting the experience offered by your brand can attract investors galore, even when they don't know you but know its attributes.  Think about it:  even charities receive donations based on their Brand i.e. what their relationships amount to, don't they?

Yes, the bottom-line IS about sustainability and cash-flow is THE life-blood of any business, but the crux lies in HOW the $ are earned.  If we can understand that at the core lies the appeal of the Brand then we will understand sustainability as being how continual wealth is assured via intangible assets.  Think about a family sundry shop being bought over by a 7eleven and be paid to run it? Or the legendary buy-outs which launch overnight millionaires?  The real gains are not the brick-and-mortar, but the profitable relationships which merge to shout out the Brand.

Cash may be the ruling King indeed, but it is the calibre of support by the Queen and courtiers which make or break the reign.  If cash runs short, it is the ability to get more of it - the components and structures of your Brand - which generates more cash.  Do your operations and support protect or dilute the essence of your business offer?  It is well worth charting, for long-term profitability.

Are you ready to move onto greater growth, stability and better management of environmental risks? Just call me at 6-03-21697704 or email evelyn@atheneumgroup.net and we can align the qualities of your current offers and anchor your Brand for continual growth.

BRING ME THE BRAND, AND I'LL INCREASE ITS PROFITS!

Corporate gifts tell tales, you know!

Sure, it is pleasant to recieve gifts of appreciation after delivering a talk, isn't it?  And often, the gifts represent the attributes of the brand of the host, to promote them. BUT that covers only the 'gift' part, NOT necessarily the 'appreciation'!

Compare these gift sets I received after mini-workshops:  one comprised beautifully crafted writing implements and other items which any gender could use with pride; the other contained an oversized mens T-shirt with metal tools.  Isn't it SO obvious that one institution was customer-centric while the other was self-centric?  And you know what? That came through in post-workshop encounters too!  One came back with expressions of warmth while the other - would you believe - wrote to ask for commercial information free-of-charge?

In a global market environment where forging relationships and leveraging well can make or break businesses, how we interact with others has a HUGE impact on our futures.  Is your business sending out invitational vibes, or unconsciously restricting your customer base, even with a nich market segment?   I'd be happy for us to chat and give you an assessement of how your brand (personal and company) is perceived in the market, and suggest ways to send stronger messages which build your brand.

BRING ME THE BRAND AND I'LL INCREASE ITS PROFITS! 

Eat anything & still lose fat?????? You're kidding!

NO this is not about only 'feelgood', it is in fact all about being in GREAT health - I am saving $ on unnecessary supplements & doctors bills PLUS having more energy too! How can you beat THAT!

Alex was working with ppl on how to manage their weight - all part of personal branding. He asked for my help because they were developing cravings from skipping chocolates and other faves.  That is BAD news! You know that cravings lead to binging, don't you? And more calories :(

The good news came from a course in nutrition he and I had completed.  We knew that its not about skipping any food at all, but merely about balancing what we eat and when, so that we are healthy & energetic without being bored with our food.  Works well for me :) !!!   I happen to like chocolates & ice-cream and work often places me amidst lavish buffets, but after learning THE balance, my friends remark how much trimmer I look.  That's nice!  And, my stamina has improved too and I hold my own very comfortably through looooong days with ppl much younger who hehehe show signs of wilting :0

So what's the secret then? Its to eat and drink MORE! No kidding! You see, eating less only puts your body into survival mode and it stores fat. That's why those who eat many small meals burn calories faster.  There are other ways of increasing your metabolism too, like starting a meal with high fibre to get the system started.  More importantly, its about eating the right proportions of what you like, and drinking more water too to stay hydrated. So eat and drink MORE often, in the right proportions.

If you have no major illness and want to lose fat and build muscle naturally - no need for workouts - just call me at 6-03-21697704 or email evelyn@atheneumgroup.net. and I'll be happy to share details.

IMPROVING YOUR PERSONAL BRAND WILL IMPROVE YOUR OVERALL PROFITABILITY!

Profit from Feedback!

Did you hear about when a group of senior marketers grouped in a kiddies playroom and delightfully messed around with crayons and other play-stuff?  LOL, yeah?  Well, what they were doing was to get to the actual experience of the kids using their products!

Just like when I described a very interesting, award-winning invention for personal safety to a middle-aged Mum.  "Hmmmmm" she said "what if the teen forgets to adjust the mechanism and it goes off falsely alerting parents and friends?"  GOOD point! And then she went on to suggest how to tweak the gadget.

Really, really, however great a product or service may be in its design, only when it is in the hands of the end-user does its true practicality show! And you know what? That goes for services too!  Yonks ago a regional company wanted to get feedback from its Heads of Departments and requested a facilitation session with a difference.  The venue was to be luxurious; the room was to be large, spacious and comfortable so that they could lounge around on day couches to the strains of evocative music or even stroll around in the gardens outside - all this to induce their creative juices into identifying which company-type to acquire so that they could expand!  Now, did you see THAT coming?  It was one of the more interesting sessions I have facilitated, and at the end of the day VOILA! the profile of their ideal company to buy over, surfaced. :)

So, whether you are selling a product or service, are big or small, getting honest feedback from your paying customers can actually increase your profits.  Sure, those standard survey forms help, but you can do even better by getting candid comments about how to get more sales.  Want some suggestions about HOW? Call me at 6-03-21697704 or email evelyn@atheneumgroup.net.

BRING ME THE BRAND AND I'LL INCREASE ITS PROFITS!

Brand Alignment Streamlines Profits

A mini crisis had erupted!!!  Well, that's how I got called in to a situation: a very successful organization which enjoyed a positive image was growing its services very well.  They attracted many sponsors and donors and were really doing extremely well.  So, what had gone wrong then?

Alarmed by the cry of the Chief Executive, a well-wisher arranged for me to meet the Management Team and to tour their premises to get an overview of their operations.  WOW! Impressive! That was my opinion of their projects and their people too. Then it was time to meet the bosses, who wanted to build their Brand and take it to the next level. Their records were detailed and they had good resources in place too.  Looked good but ................  hmmmmmm. Some questions, probing, suggestions, then BINGO!

True, all there sources and evidence of results were there, so why was the Chief Executive unable to cope?  You know, some things are difficult for an insider to spot from being too close to the operations - sound familiar? It might take an objective eye to spot what's missing.  In this case, they weren't joining the dots - their Brand Alignment was ummm misaligned, and so their message and deliverables were fragmented, leading to frequent brushes with chaos.  In fact their resources were not being utilized well and so operations were lop-sided.  Now, this can be quite dangerous to an organization and might cause it to collapse if not addressed in time.  How so? In this case, the resource (mis)mangement was draining profitability instead of adding to it.  What could also happen is that job functions might not be accomplished if there is much overlapping.

So, I drew them an outline of a message strategy which would collate their resources properly, with room for cross-functions too.  That meant no one needed to be in a position of being unable to cope.

Do you know of someone who has what it takes to fun their business but is somehow finding that things aren't quite coming together as anticipated?  Tell them I could give them a quick assessment of how they could be more profitable by streamlining their operations, and invite them to contact me?  They could phone 6-03-21697704 or email evelyn@atheneumgroup.net.

BRING ME THE BRAND AND I'LL INCREASE ITS PROFITS!