Blog

Corporate responsibility engagement

2012-02-23T15:56:35Z

KPMG's International Corporate Responsibility Reporting Survey published in late 2011 tracks 3,400 leading companies from 34 countries, looking at trends that are happening worldwide. It found that reporting had increased worldwide, as brands realize that corporate responsibility "drives innovation and promotes learning, which helps companies grow their business and increase their organization’s value."

What they found was that corporate responsibility (also referred to as CSR and sustainability) reporting uncovers new opportunities for business improvement and brings enhanced financial value to companies, though there's still room for improvement. Data shows that charting countries by level of process maturity and quality of communications, Europe leads in overall engagement, while Asia generally underperforms in both process and communications. Canada and the U.S. showed to over-communicate on their corporate responsiblity to their actual process maturity.

Reading through the report focusing on building business through brand building and engagement, shows that North American companies need to engage with corporate responsiblity as part of how they operate, being clear that it's not about feeling good about something or using it as a marketing message but creating impact that drives business goals.

Social media can help develop engagement for companies who have corporate resonsibility agendas, but have a tough time making them relevant. Social media brings the kind of transparency and engagement that makes brands more responsive and responsible. It can encourage employee engagement, which has been found to be key to making any CR program effective. It can be effective for showcasing thought leadership in companies, allowing employees as well as the public to see what a company's doing.

Corporate responsiblity used to be shown in annual reports and stand alone reports. While that reporting is still relevant to shareholders, regulators and other corporate stakeholders, companies are finding they need to do more to build reputation and enhance their brands. Social media offers a genuine and responsive message that can complement press releases and marketing. Social media can bring the C-suite and thought leaders within companies closer to the public, offering the kind of transparency and presence that builds trust and has a positive impact on a brand.

Because of social media's impact, companies that blend corporate responsibility strategies with brand and social media/communications strategies can result in more effective engagement internally and outside the company.

Avoiding a site hijack

2012-01-13T21:48:01Z

My perspective is as a consultant and advisor who works with tech startups, helping them get to market. I watch what's going on from an outside, more objective point of view. Once I saw a trend of tech hijacks, where non-tech founders get sidelined or held up by their dev team at key points, I started talking to the experts in my network for practical advice to help startups prevent a website or product hijack.

• Hire a CTO if one of the founders isn't from a tech background. This, everyone is agreed on.

• Understand that when it happens, it's rarely malicious. Be generous in trying to resolve an impasse; if there's a personality clash, consider asking someone else to negotiate on your behalf.

• Don't let your files reside on a server under someone's desk. Instead, move everything to a cloud server that's solid, secure and leaves you in the drivers seat.

• Hire design and development work as needed, so that projects aren't open-ended, and you're hiring people with specific skillsets. This makes it much easier on the team.

• Get advisory help to clarify what you need next; I often hear about clients asking for functionality and stuff they don't actually need.

• Take advantage of all the incubators, accelerators and startup collaboration and support groups there are out there. They're great communities that love to share knowledge and networks.

These seem to be pretty universal and can apply to startups involved in technology in any sector. It's not a definitive prescription.

Hijacked

2012-01-13T18:15:53Z

I'm at this intersection where I'm looking at the specific needs of startups right now and the deluge of trends covering everything from how startups are bulding and iterating to consumer behaviour and expectation. While there's a lot of traffic flowing in every direction, I'm starting to see one theme pop out prominently: startups being hijacked in design and development.

At the start of this week I saw the hijack trend fitting startups that didn't have tech founders, and now that I've started talking about it with more people, I see it happening where founders have a tech background too. So I've officially labelled it 'Trend'. As one founder explained to me, the hijack happens for a whole personality-driven range of reasons that go beyond what's written in a contract. So let's shelf the 'why'.

What does a hijack look like? Basically, it seems to include some or all of these:

• Calls and emails aren't answered.

• Requests for changes go unanswered; or are acknowledged but not acted on.

• Key dates are missed.

• Features/actions/stuff promised isn't done.

• Project scope isn't as promised (less funtionality or allowance for feedback etc).

• Deployment doesn't include the revisions and/or testing as promised.

Any of this is incredibly common, as it turns out. And it's not limited to startups either. Every founder I begin to share this with, just to tell them they're not alone, gets all excited with recognition and wants to add to the list.

The crisis point of the hijack is when the founder can't get access to his or site. When the files are in the hands of one person 'with the keys', as one founder said. Who isn't answering calls and won't hand over the site to the founder or another team. If I keep following this I'm sure Ill be able to write a book about it. I've seen a key sales season get missed for one startup which had an impact on everything for the business going forward. Another client gave up the chase for their files; even after hiring a lawyer and pursuing the legal angle, they lost all their data and ended up relaunching with a new site. Yet another moved ahead with sales despite having a product that wasn't as evolved as it should have been.

The name game

2012-01-06T14:37:15Z

I've been involved with naming three very different projects lately. Each is unique but there are rules, tips or guildelines that I'm coming back to.

1] Keep it short. Short says 'easy' and 'uncomplicated, which is important to encouraging adoption.

2] Listen to how it sounds. A hard consonant in the name (ie, d or t) will give it substance and ground it. The hard sound of an 'i', 'e' or 'a' is good to make it sound active. Soft consonants and vowels are warm and cuddly.

3] Inspire. Avoid being preachy, if you're in sustainability or social impact. This applies to your marketing too.

4] When trends have shifted in a year, will this name still sound good? Apply a macro lens over the micro of what sounds good in the moment.

5] Think about how it looks. Test the name out with some design comps.

6] Stay human. You're looking for a name that touches people.

7] Write down the keywords or phrases of your business or marketing strategy and keep them in front of you to stay on strategy.

8] Keep your user in mind, as well as the customer when they aren't the same group. Your name has to resonate with both groups.

9] Test the name on friends, and try to listen with a filter. Where are they coming from? Are they the target? Try to consider their interest either in supporting you or challenging you.

10] Don't rush it. Names take time and though there are lots of approaches to take. There's no magic formula.

Seth Godin, my hero

2012-01-03T04:33:27Z

Seth Godin always says the smartest things about marketing in the simplest way. Having seen him speak twice, I can tell you he's totally inspiring. Right now I'm watching him on Strombo talking about the race to the bottom that's come from being at the tail end of the industrial era.

What he's been strong on for years is the importance of specializing; defining yourself in a deep slice of a category as the way to rise to the top, not being a generalist or good at a bunch of things that everyone else is.

Love him talking about Algonquin Park... where he's been going since he was 10 years old.

Here's a link to his site. I follow his blog of short smart insights.

New year. New look.

2012-01-02T17:42:56Z

The start of 2012 seems a time to redesign my online presence. 2011 was a great year as I gave my clients all the attention on brand strategies, some of which spun out to executions. And sadly neglected my own. So I took a few days over the holidays to clean things up and get my online house in order.

Take a look around and see what you think. Looking forward to hearing from you.