Living your brand values
Lisa Lambourn, marketing manager at Cyril Sweett, reports on the recent PM Forum conference held in London.
Once again PM Forum had drawn together a list of speakers any conference organiser would have been proud of. The day kicked off with Professor Leslie de Chernatony's presentation on 'Becoming an adviser of choice'. One of the key messages of this talk, and a point that kept re-occurring throughout the day, was that company values have to be aligned with both staff and clients.
Leslie pointed out that from his experience values were rarely aligned with staff and clients 100% of the time but for branding to be a success, alignment was imperative. For further info there is of course his book
From Brand Vision to Brand Evaluation.
Alan Gilmour, Brand and e-Marketing Director of Lloyds TSB, gave us a frank approach to 'Lloyds TSB branding in action'. Lloyds TSB understood that it is people who deliver values and used this to great effect by enlisting the help of 'pathfinders' members of staff not chosen randomly nor hierarchically but chosen for their ability to motivate, inspire and communicate. By getting a large group of these 'pathfinders' together in a conference environment spreading the word and gaining the necessary enthusiasm was just one of the methods of communication Alan chose.
Gillian Khan, Marketing Director at Berwin Leighton Paisner gave an insight into the merger of two legal practices. In an entirely different situation to Lloyds TSB, Gillian had to ensure a successful merger programme within eight weeks requiring bold decisions to be made and a 'broad shouldered' attitude to be taken. Helpful tips on surviving this exercise were also given.
DLA's HR Director Robert Halton, linked up with Adrian Lenard HR Practice Head of MCA Banner McBride to talk about becoming an 'Employer of Choice'.
Apparently back in the dim and distant past, DLA had the image of being 'a bit of a rotweiller', not quite what they wanted or needed to win them a place in the
Sunday Times
50 Best Companies to work for. Robert and his team obviously undertook a number of initiatives to try and alter their image, but one I particularly liked was 'words have meaning', for example they explained that segregating your staff into Lawyers and Non-Lawyers or time into Chargeable Time and Non Chargeable Time can be contentious but instead using words such as Client Time and Firm Time helps reduce the tensions created by a 'them and us' culture.
Adrian Lenard re-iterated how important staff are, he noted the skills shortage which is becoming an issue in many industries, and an issue which is set to worsen.
A brand is 'what you stand for' said Rosemarie Ghazaros, Global Marketing Director of Linklaters. Rosemarie stated the need to look in depth at what the brand stands for and what the company values are. Rosemarie likened a brand to an iceberg - there is more underneath the surface than what you can see on the top.
Sean Costello, Marketing Manager at Deloitte & Touche (Manchester), talked about 'Building internal trust and commitment'. Sean advocates the use of printed newsletters to help deliver messages. Research at Deloitte & Touche showed that 92% of staff preferred reading their newsletter in a printed format. He also gave a few hot tips to ensure
that your newsletter becomes a success.
The Mind Gym's Managing Director, Octavius Black gave us an insight into how story telling can bring brand values to life. The presentation touched upon why stories influence, and the five core elements needed for a story. A few amusing tales were told and I think we were all left with the idea that this was a medium that few of us used to its fullest potential.
Neil Holland, European Advertising Director of Accenture, looked at developing methodology, putting it into action and ensuring the measurement of results and learning from the experience. Accenture is only nine months old, and lessons are still being learned.
Congratulations to PM Forum, the day was not only enjoyable, but also informative and a great opportunity to listen and learn from others in our sector. I have to say, that I am looking forward to next year's conference, and to seeing some of you there. The date and topic have yet to be confirmed, so keep your eyes peeled to
pm
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