glasshouse weblog

Going, going, gone...

2006-11-23T21:50:00.000Z

Well, we've finally invested in a new web-site over at glasshouse partnership and James has popped his cherry with this post on CSR and sports. Watch out for more posts and podcasts, now we have finally ditched the dreaded flash!

Virginal?

2006-09-27T12:18:00.000+01:00

Innocent is becoming more innocent by the day...announcing its intention this week to use fully compostable, corn-starch packaging... Innocent is also making headway on increasing the transparency of its sourcing policies, and it making a contribution of biodiversity - for example sourcing its famously deep-red Sanga Sengana strawberries... The company has even taking to blogging. It is the ultimate bobo brand?

Those Issues by the numbers: 2.33 billion and counting...

2006-08-04T12:24:00.000+01:00

As of today (4 August 2006), Google thows up 2.33 billion entries on 'environment'. Water, as an issue - 1.44 billion AIDS 0.53 b Poverty 0.23 b and Starvation? just 0.018...18 million entries... And marketing, you ask??? 1,570,000,000. One point five seven billion entries. It's just not enough.

Motivating individual environmentalism

2006-08-04T10:56:00.000+01:00

Interesting to see the IPPR pickiung up the question of citizen level environmentalism. They critique, as Glasshouse did in our Branding Biodiversity report, the over-inflation of claims and over-emotionalisation of outcomes - fearing that it may switch people off, and encourage free-rider principles, or simple despair. Well done the IPPR for raising this communications question. However, I'm not aware of any evidence that porn switches people off sex... Neither does enviro-porn switch them off the environment. What it can do, though is to confuse their understanding of what's real and what's fake. Not all women have DD breasts...not all enviro-technologies work.

CSR meet CRM

2006-07-18T21:01:00.000+01:00

I'm increasingly obsessing about the merger between person-centric thinking, and the demands of sustainable and ethical consumption. Technology (especially web 2.0) innovation, is, as ever, the bridge, whether through commerce, content-organisation and social interaction. The missing link as ever - is really smart context management - whether through brands, smart visualisations, or web dialogue. Two new(ish) sites point the way... Zaadz a purposeful (and heavily tag-driven) social community site. and Etsy the buyer-driven arts and crafts community. Commerce, community, conscience...

Ross Mayfield's Weblog: Long Tail of Apathy

2006-07-12T12:06:00.000+01:00

nice post here from Ross Mayfield, questioning the links between political engagement, civic participation and social software. Ross Mayfield's Weblog: Long Tail of Apathy Cynically, Ross is just creating an excuse for saddos to sit in their lofts blogging to themselves and think that this is some form of 'civil disobedience'...rather than just introversion. As one such saddo, though, I agree with him...

Ultimate brand stretch? Toyota House anyone?

2006-07-04T13:51:00.000+01:00

Found this in Digg "Concentrating the knowledge and technology of the Toyota Group to the housing business, Toyota's house making is based on the "Skeleton & Infill" approach. Based on careful consideration of customer lifestyles, three different structures have been developed for the Toyota Home line-up... More detail is available here at Toyota

read more | digg story

Human beings are programmed to trust

2006-05-24T14:43:00.000+01:00

Great article here on social network theory: Human Nature . Essentially Clippinger says the reciprocal altruism is programmed into us as a species...the implication being that as long as you enable effective social interaction, accountability and transparency, The impact being that you can let go of command and control structures and replace them with distributed decision-making... Big implications here for digital identity management enterprise management systems and accountability networks.

M&S endorses supply-chain transparency

2006-02-10T12:40:00.000Z

Good to see M&S taking further steps towards product social responsibility...based on the best driver of all...consumer demand...

In Clothing

87% said retailers have a responsibility to ensure that products they sell are manufactured in a fair and humane way.
52% said they are more concerned by issues relating to ethical sourcing e.g. working conditions in factories, than they were 5 years ago.
31% said they had decided not to buy an item of clothing because they felt concerned about where it had come from or under what conditions it had been made.
78% said they would like to know more about the way clothes are made e.g. the conditions in the factories where they come from and the use of chemicals in their manufacture.

First 100 Days site up and running

2006-01-09T13:36:00.000Z

Great to be able to launch our first commercial weblog for a client this week over at First 100 Days. Our client, Oxford Strategic Marketing, has really bought into the power of the weblog, and around ten of their consultants are so far participating in a shared conversation around the critical success factors for marketers in the first 100 days of a new role. It's great to see high powered, buttoned-down professionals embracing such a fluid medium. I trust this will be the first of many such sites, as we build on our own blogging experience to create new reputation-building campaigns for our clients. You'll see lots more coverage of this idea in marketing media in the weeks and months to come.

Lloyds TSB - moves a step ahead

2005-10-17T12:17:00.000+01:00

Lloyds TSB has taken a step forward in the race to turn ID security into a customer benefit. By introducing real-time two factor authentication for customers, the company has recognised the fact that the use of false identity is actually more salient with customer than data theft per se. It also recognises that technology solutions can be made consumer-relevant. And that 'mop-up advice' is not a sufficient response to this growing anxiety. Customers' sense of vulnerability in on-line environments is escalating, and they are particularly anxious at the point of sign-on and transaction commitment. This fear is a real barrier to the utilisation of self-service channels line web and mobile. A point-solution like hardware-based 2FA is a good first step. It shows the bank is trying to protect customers data. And in consumer behaviour terms, this is a not a big step for customers to take. Emotionally, it feels like a strong preventative solution. We expect 2FA solutions to take hold in the short term. On-line sign-on is a key moment of truth. Of course, what is doesn't do is offer any of the benefits of single sign on. Nor does it protect customers' identities in off-line environments. More pervasive digital identity solutions are required for that...

Tipping Point for ID Theft

2005-09-13T14:51:00.000+01:00

A little presumptuously, I'm going to predict that last week's Newsweek article: 'Grand Theft Identity', will prove to be a tipping point in the public understanding of this complex issue. I have posted a weblog on the topic here. I think this is the second stage of the ID thef story, not the final act. One thing's for sure though, organisations are going to have to get much more substantive about their ID theft communications and customer support.

Johnson caught in ID scam

2005-09-05T09:58:00.000+01:00

So Boris JOhnson has been the victim of credit card fraud. While the details remain unclear, Boris's reaction is typically endearing in that Notting Hill sort of way: "With the cry of one who finds a great tapeworm coiled in the innards, I twigged. I was being diddled."

Pass the Hand Grenade

2005-05-05T12:06:00.000+01:00

The picture of legal liability continues to shift around ID theft. First the banks moved laibility to retailers by adopting chip and pin. Now news comes that retailers are slipping liability by pointing to technology providers as the source of weakness...vendors need a clear strategy if they are to avoid getting saddled with the blame, as well as the cost of this crime... This, just in...from e-paynews Liability For Retail Data Breaches Is Contentious Retail IT firms are closely watching recent cases in which US merchants are arguing that credit card security breaches on their systems occurred because software retained and did not purge the details. BJ’s Wholesale Club is suing IBM for damages after up to 40,000 credit cards were exposed on its systems before or during March 2004, which caused the retailer to allocate USD 16 million to cover its losses. Fraudulent card charges resulting from the breach were included in the suit against IBM, which argues that its contract limits its liability for any leaked customer data.

Microsoft hints at new identity management solution

2005-03-31T13:24:00.000+01:00

Microsoft has flagged the possibility of secure identity cards within its next operating system, here: 'Secure identity with Longhorn': According to Microsoft, these virtual cards will enable users to selectively disclose the information they wish about themselves online to businesses and individuals. First previewed at Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference (PDC) in 2003, info-cards appear to be Microsoft's take on federated, single sign-in and use the specifications developed with IBM and others in the WS- services architecture. Microsoft has long-talked of incorporating web services into Longhorn in order to give users the ability to sign-in to web services. In the current Identty climate, this would be a bold step. However, given legal ambiguities concerns over the liability arising from fraudulent use of account aggregation software, it will be interesting to see if Microsoft follows through on this approach. The reputational liability is significant. Passport has had a rather 'mixed' reception.

Spooky

2005-03-24T12:21:00.000Z

So there we were at the Glasshouse ID theft seminar yesterday morning, and Mr X, (no names; no pack-drill) a former senior man on a National Tabloid says: "If I were in my old job, and watching the escalation of fear and trembing around this issue, I'd be getting my guys on this to expose a big authority symbol. The banks or the government." 80 minutes later, the first edition of the Evening Standard celebrates a reporter buying Hazel Blears forged passport in the East End for £2,000. Spooky perhaps, but this issue is only just gathering pace. We can expect more, and worse before things get better.

EU sets out food traceability guidelines

2005-02-03T13:10:00.000Z

Glasshouse's belief that traceability will be a hot issue in 2005 has gained further credence recently, courtesy of the EU. This article EU sets out food traceability guidelines sets out the human heath and leagal risk issues... It comments: "The drive towards complete supply chain traceability in Europe is inexorable. In addition to the legislation, retail giants are beginning rolling out RFID (radio frequency identification) mandates to all their suppliers. As far as these retail giants are concerned, their primary motivation is building customer loyalty and trust. In driving through these traceability measures down the supply chain, they are putting into place guarantees that if there is ever a recall, then any problem could be contained quickly without losing credibility. And the best way of ensuring this is to ensure that suppliers have full control. This is why retailers, as well as legislators, are leaning heavily on manufacturers to install technology that will guarantee complete traceability." In our view, the product recall dimension is just the tip of the iceberg. The real deal here is to build value-chain integrity. Traceability is a brand value opportunity, not a public health measure.

ID theft: the new company perk?

2005-01-24T10:05:00.000Z

Associated News last week highlighted some US companies are offering employees ID theft coverage as part of their benefit packages, explicitly acknowledging employees suffer from the crime (average clear up times are quoted as 200 hours) and that employers are 'indirect victims' too as the employee often needs time off work to sort the problems out. The market has seen the problem and simultaneoulsy a new market opportunity - a new type of insurance product. Company's too have begun to react too by acknowledging their interests in helping staff.

Analysts confirm phishing threat to consumer commerce

2005-01-12T11:49:00.000Z

I came across a great whitepaper on bitpipe yesterday, distilling much of the latest thinking on phishing prevention. The Activcard Whitepaper highlights the explosive impact of phishing on ecommerce. According to the whitepaper, Gartner believes Phishing may halve the growth rates of ecommerce growth by 2007 unless rapidly addressed. Meanwhile Javelin strategy reports that 8 out of 9 consumers are altering their online habits in response to ID fraud and that just 1 in 5 consumers believes banks are 'extremely' competent in protecting their identity. Meanwhile banks continue to experience around 75% of phishing attacks, and Citibank alone experiences more than half of worldwide attacks. Activcard (predictably) suggests that static passwords are a fundamental weakness in bank security systems and suggests dynamic passwords and user authentication as critical elements of an anti-phishing solution.

Time to criminalise ID theft?

2004-12-22T11:04:00.000Z

At present, some 500,000 driving licenses are lost or stolen every year, creating a tidal wave of authentic documentation which can be used to support ID theft. These false identities in turn feed an ecosystem of criminal activity: drugs, prostitution, guns, people trafficking, as well as more mainsteam fraud and racketeering. A key, but less publicised goal of the the government's ID card agenda is to cut off this criminal activity at source. At present the government employs around 5000 staff in benefit fraud prevention within the DWP alone. However, in other countries questions have been raised, as to how effective ID cards can be without a legal regime to encourage prevention and prosecution. Without it, as at present, much ID theft goes unreported, or misreported. IT analyst Gartner's (guess)timate is that fewer than 1 in 700 Identity thieves are ever arrested; let alone prosecuted. What's the incentive? In response to this threat, in July 2004, George W. Bush signed into law the Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act, which adds two years to prison sentences for criminals convicted of using stolen credit card numbers and other personal data to commit crimes (five years for those who exploit identity theft in the commission of "terrorist offenses"). There is a clear need to create a range in incentives and penalties which would encourage government and commerce alike to address the issue more aggressively. This law adds real muscle to efforts to deter identity theft. The act: Assesses specific new penalties against identity theft used in the commission of crimes. Should encourage law enforcement officials to prosecute identity thieves. Should increase criminals' chances of getting caught. Should provide a reputational incentive to commercial operators to play a more active role in ID thef prevention. Gartner makes several recommendations: Financial service providers and other businesses that extend credit (such as wireless service providers and retailers) should: Check for identity theft fraud before issuing loans or other credit. Invest in solutions to prevent identity theft fraud across varying accounts, such as checking, credit, consumer loans and auto financing. Work with law enforcement by providing authorities with as near real-time fraud data as possible, which can arm police with information to prevent these crimes. It remains to be seen how far and how fast these lessons are taken on board in the UK, but the scale of the threat and the need for a pervasive, society-wide response should not be ignored.

Forrester highlights 'easy' authentication

2004-12-17T10:54:00.000Z

Strong Authentication Made Simple Identity theft is the fastest-growing type of crime in the US. Consumer concern is significantly influencing behavior, causing consumers to curb online purchasing and use of online banking services. Entrust IdentityGuard is a promising approach to strong authentication of online consumers for financial firms, ISPs, and major retailers. Its high security, low cost, ease of use, and flexibility make it well-suited to the challenges of strong customer authentication. While many existing solutions will remain in place, Forrester believes that IdentityGuard will exert a profound impact on the consumer authentication market

Security booms on back of ID theft concerns

2004-12-16T09:59:00.000Z

In a relatively lacklustre IT market, security remains the perverse highlight, strengthened by increasing levels of organised crime. The latest evidence comes from Datamonitor, which predicts a rise in security spending from $17bn today, to $32bn in 2007.

Corporate Identity theft

2004-12-08T10:42:00.000Z

The problem of identity theft is becoming pervasive and affects not just consumers, but corporates too. A literally stunning example was perpetrated this week, when a hoaxer was interviewed on BBC television and radio, purporting to be from Dow Chemical, and reportedly accepting liability for Bhopal. The BBC's much vaunted principle of seeking corroboration for stories, clearly was not operating here, and they later apologised for being duped. Dow's official statement about the ID theft appears here. But is then parodied very convincingly at the activist site DowEthics, here, operating is at the bleeding edge of corporate satire: It reads: Dow "Help" Announcement Is Elaborate Hoax On December 3, 2004, a fake Dow spokesperson announced on BBC World Television fake plans to take full responsibility for the very real Bhopal tragedy of December 3, 1984. (1) Dow Chemical emphatically denies this announcement. Although seemingly humanistic in nature, the fake plans were invented by irresponsible hucksters with no regard for the truth. As Dow has repeatedly noted, Dow cannot and will not take responsibility for the accident. ("What we cannot and will not do... is accept responsibility for the Bhopal accident." - CEO Michael Parker, 2002.) The Dow position has not changed, despite public pressure. Dow also notes the great injustice that these pranksters have caused by giving Bhopalis false hope for a better future assisted by Dow. The survivors of Bhopal have already suffered 20 years of false hope, neglect, and abdication of responsibility by all parties. Is that not enough? To be perfectly clear: The Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) will NOT be liquidated. (The fake "Dow plan" called for the dissolution and sale of Dow's fully owned subsidiary, estimated at US$12 billion, to fund compensation and remediation in Bhopal.) Dow will NOT commit ANY funds to compensate and treat 120,000 Bhopal residents who require lifelong care. The Bhopal victims have ALREADY been compensated; many received about US$500 several years ago, which in India can cover a full year of medical care. (2) Dow will NOT remediate (clean up) the Bhopal plant site. We do understand that UCC abandoned thousands of tons of toxic chemicals on the site, and that these still contaminate the groundwater which area residents drink. Dow estimates that the Indian government's recent proposal to commission a study to consider the possibility of proper remediation at some point in the future is fully sufficient. Dow does NOT urge the US to extradite former Union Carbide CEO Warren Anderson to India, where he has been wanted for 20 years on multiple homicide charges. (3) Dow will NOT release proprietary information on the leaked gases, nor the results of studies commissioned by UCC and never released. Dow will NOT fund research on the safety of Dow endocrine disruptors (ECDs) considered to have long-term negative effects. Dow DOES agree that "One can't assign a dollar value to doing what's morally right," as hoaxter Finisterra said. That is why Dow acknowledged and resolved many of Union Carbide's liabilities in the US immediately after acquiring the company in 2001. (4) Most importantly of all: Dow shareholders will see NO losses, because Dow's policy towards Bhopal HAS NOT CHANGED. Much as we at Dow may care, as human beings, about the victims of the Bhopal catastrophe, we must reiterate that Dow's sole and unique responsibility is to its shareholders, and Dow CANNOT do anything that goes against its bottom line unless forced to by law. For more information please contact Marina Ashanin, Corporate Media Relations, +41-1-728-2347, or write to us. Please also see these news articles. NOTES TO EDITORS: (1) On December 3, 1984, Union Carbide - now part of Dow - accidentally killed thousands of residents of Bhopal, India, when its pesticide plant leaked a vast cloud of lethal gas over the city. Since that date, at least 12,000 more people have died from complications, and 120,000 remain chronically ill. The Dow Chemical Corporation hereby expresses its condolences to the victims. (2) Union Carbide was originally forced to pay US$470 million in compensation to survivors, which amounts to about US$500 per victim. (Note: Dow hereby wishes to retract the 2002 statement of Dow PR Head Kathy Hunt as to US$500 being "plenty good for an Indian." The poor phrasing of this statement has often come back to haunt us.) (3) Arrested in India following the accident, Andersen posted US$2000 bail and successfully escaped India. (4) Dow settled Union Carbide's asbestos liabilities in the US, and paid US$10 million to one family poisoned by a Dow pesticide. This is a mark of Dow's corporate responsibility. The spoils of identity thegy are not always put to the sordid use of defrauding customers. Sometimes they can be much more damaging, digging deep into the brand equity so carefully established. Dow's shareprice may not immediately fall, but damage has been done. Damage, not just to Dow, but to the CSR movement as a whole.

What's Coming Next in Tech

2004-12-07T09:09:00.000Z

Came across a great site for tech geeks... Among various fun articles, Alice & Bill review the potential for automated crime-solving and here they review the possibility of 'printing' human skin.

Citibank sees $40billion upside in corporate marketing

2004-11-24T22:03:00.000Z

I read in this week's Fortune, that Citi's shareprice has risen just 3% since Q3 2003, compared to rival bank of America's 22%. The discrepancy, on a market cap' of $250billion is a figure a little north of $40bn. Ouch. CEO Chuck Prince acknowledges the discrepancy is largely attributable to a spate of governance failures in 2003/4. The most visible failures relate to persistent regulatory breaches at Citibank's Japanese private banking arm, plus July's notorious Eurobond incident in London, when the bank created market havoc by some over-zealous, profit hungry traders dumping $11bn of bonds onto the market, creating an ultra-profitable downward pricing spiral, subseuqnetly investigated by the FSA. Added to this are mysterious employee suspensions in China, for 'lying to regulators'. The total cost in hard cash is trivial - a drop in the ocean compared to the relationship and reputational capital lost. The company will still make nearly $18bn profit this year. But Prince is clearly desperate to make amends. One senses his personal pride and a sense of duty are at stake here. Prince now talks of his priority as protecting 'the franchise'. He means the corporate brand, of course. Or certainly its reputation. He believes he can rebuild the value through more effective expression of the dormant brand values. The company is taking substantive action to remove the cultural monomania around profits, which is seen as the root cause of the aberrance. He publicly admits: "One of the things we're putting into place, starting in 2005, is a series of activities - training, communications, performance approaisals - that will lend a little more balance to the aggressive financial culture that we have always celebrated...I believe the celebration of financial results causes people at the edges to act in ways that are singular." I'm not sure if 'singular' means or here, and just individualistic, but the message is quite startling for the world's largest bank. "Culture is a set of shared, unspoken assumptions. And when we were a smaller company, thise unspoken assumptions had great weight... The larger the company has become, the more we need to speak about those unspoken assumptions." Prince is embracing the import of corporate marketing here - articulating a dormant value-set, and translating it into demonstrable processes and policies, in an attempt to recover value with its most critical stakeholders. What is really ironic here, though, is that Citibank can still lay claim to be the world's 13th 'best' brand, according to Prince. This exposes the meaningless nature of those brand surveys which look only at the external face of the brand, and not at its internal health. Its coherence and consistency. Enterprise-wide, and for all stakeholders. It's great to see CEOs increasingly recognise the power, and fragility of 'the franchise' they enjoy with stakeholders. And equally reassuring to see the market reacting way before customers, to recognise the erosion of value. In embracing a corporate marketing approach, Prince implictly points to the emptiness of brand measures which ignore the impact of reputational transparency.

Benefits of Blogging

2004-11-19T16:58:00.000Z

As always, the US is way ahead of us Brits in adapting social tools to commercial purposes. Many organisations are experimenting with ways to turn personal publishing into a managed medium:Blogging & PR Much of this is antithetical to the ethos of the medium, of course. But actually, blogs have been perverted from the outset, a bizarre fusion of personal, commercial and ethical agendas. This makes them a super-rich medium for story-telling, and appealing targets for influence. The beauty of blogs as a medium of influence is that they are just dripping in context. They are SO authentic. You can easily see who's commercial and who isn't. What's corporate and what's not. And blogrolls are a pretty good guide to the integrity and consistency of someone's opinions. The difference is that the blogosphere is a loose-knit community of (more or less) equals. Blogs are conversations. And they are, or should be, completely transparent. The opportunity they present is for 'Public Public Relations'. Any scumbag who perverts this ethic should be fed to the foxes.

Jelly bean joy

2004-11-18T16:31:00.000Z

I've culled this extractfrom the archives at blogger itself to illustrate Surowiecki's smartness, and some of the emerging theory which surrounds collective action. Very relevant to all modern marketing. And critical to those of us trying to herd communities of stakeholders into a consensus - for example around the perservation of biodiversity. "The Amazing Jelly Bean Experiment Treynor asked his class to estimate how many jelly beans there were in a jar. When added together and averaged, the group's estimate was 871— there were 850 beans contained within the jar. Only one student had made a better guess (a rogue genius, if you will). The now historic jelly-beans-in-the-jar experiment showed invariably that a group estimate is superior to the vast majority of individual guesses on a consistent basis. Granted, there are limited situations in which knowing the amount of jelly beans in a jar is a significant accomplishment. Or even mildly amusing, come to think of it. Nevertheless, this example can be found along with 320 pages of other examples in a new book by James Surowiecki called The Wisdom of Crowds. In his book, Surowiecki demonstrates myriad situations where the many are smarter than the few. "If four basic conditions are met, a crowd's 'collective intelligence' will produce better outcomes than a small group of experts, Surowiecki says, even if members of the crowd don't know all the facts or choose, individually, to act irrationally. 'Wise crowds' need (1) diversity of opinion; (2) independence of members from one another; (3) decentralization; and (4) a good method for aggregating opinions." —Publisher's Weekly " Anyone for blogging?

What's Beyond Branding: Substance over Style?

2004-11-16T14:45:00.000Z

I hear today that Kogan Page are to lauch a paperback edition of 'Beyond Branding', the first book of The Medinge Group. Simultaneously, I read a piece from James Surowiecki (He of Wisdom of Crowds fame) in Wired magazine proclaiming the decline of brands. Of course we heard this before in 1994, when the Economist proclaimed the death of branding as Marlboro dropped its prices. It's a contradictory story. The number of new brands is exploding. The exposure of those brands is exploding (up 60% since 1990). According to Interbrand, 99.5% of consumers say they would be willing to pay more for a Sony. But they would say that...wouldn't they. And more than what? In many ways brands are less and less effective. The truth is that all forms of value are increasingly subject to independent scrutiny. The premium for Sony DVD players has fallen from 44% in 1999 to 16% today compare to the average. Consumers are much more inclined to make their own judgements of product performance. Most compellingly for me, Surowiecki points to a survey from NPD group in the US which shows that almost 50% of consumers who describe themselves as 'very loyal' to a brand, are no longer loyal one year later! Loyalty Schmoyalty. All the 'brand' kudos in the world wouldn't persuade punters to buy Nokia phones when they buried their heads in the sand over the demand for clam-shells. If it ain't stylish, the label doesn't matter. But it's not just style or performance issues that undermine brands. Political issues hold sway too. Brands such as Coca Cola, Marboro and McDonalds are just not selling in Europe right now. According to a survey from GMI, reported in Newsweek, 18% of consumers said they were less likely to buy American products since the start of the Iraq war. The proliferation of factual information and rising standards of quality across the board make brands less and less important as guarantees of quality. Brands must therefore migrate to a different competitive arena...offering different benefits beyond the product per se: leveraging service benefits, knowledge, emotion, ethics and empowerment... Difficult territory. These forms of value do not and cannot reside within branded PVC packages, stacked on shelves. They are mush more complex - the net effect of corporate AND product performance. The effect of behaviour, as well as value-delivery. However in these areas too, transparency will out the truth. Customers and other stakeholders share anecdotes and experiences; pundits comment, media speculate, analysts interpret... The truth will out. In all these competitive arenas, whether brands are trying to become 'lovemarks', 'dreamcasts', or even 'anti-brands', what matters is consistency. It is critical that the driving organisational purpose is felt and reaffirmed in every stakeholder's experience. Vapid story-telling has had its moment. Organisations must take their organisational principles to the front line - and into their products. Glasshouse believes that Corporate Marketing is the new battleground, turning organisational truths into compelling stakeholder benefits. In the age of transparency, Value-chain Information Management will become the new advertising. It many not be glamorous, but it is sexy. The final example of Surowiecki's is a gem. "In 2003, Fortune magazine described Krispy Kreme doughnuts as America's 'hottest brand'. Then, in 2004, came Atkins." So much for branding. PS. Krispy Kreme, have just arrived in the UK, and it's impressive. Dedicated, branded in-store dispensers, branded bags and take-out boxes. And, most crucially, a taste that's a genuine revelation, soft, light and very more-ish. This isn't a victory for branding, it's just the smart and effective exploitation of a dough recipe, and a production process which produces seriously yummy doughnuts. For god's sake don't start any brand extensions.

Marketing Awakes

2004-11-10T08:41:00.000Z

Thanks to a prompt from my old colleague Jennifer Kirkby, CRM strategy editor of BT Insight Exec, I read on Peppers & Rogers site that The American Marketing Association, has changed its definition of marketing. Many in the industry see this definition leading to new standards for marketing practices and education. It certainly begs some interesting questions of current marketers. The previous AMA definition of marketing, active since 1985, was: "Marketing is the process of planning and executing conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of goods, ideas and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals." The new definition of marketing, unveiled at the AMA's Summer Educator's Conference in August is: "Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders." The central point is intact. Marketing connects one sets of demands against another. So that's clear! However, we can see several important shifts here: 1. From a process, to a function - acknowledging the centrality of this needs-matching process at the heart of organisational operation, not just as a bolt on process to design sales strategies. 2. A shift from transactions to value as the focus - and the consequent realisation that value is not held within transactions, but is created and delivered in various forms, many of which are long-lasting and relationship dependent. Hence the inclusion of relationship management as part of the definition. 3. A move from satisfying organisational goals, to meeting stakeholder and organisational needs - a clear acknowledgement that multiple stakeholders have demands that require fulfilment. Although the definition moves us on it still doesn't really grasp the nettle of the new reality. Firstly, marketing is more than just a function. It is closer to a 'discipline' in my book. As the adage goes, if marketing were left to marketers we all be in a very sorry state. Secondly, the separation of value-creation from relationship management seems like a devisive and destructive distinction to me. The point is that value is created through transactions AND relationships. But the role of marketing is not to manage these as separate disciplines, but to unite them - to create transactions which build relationships and vice versa. Finally, the definition now implies a one-way flow of value from customers to stakeholders. This potentially undermines the very core of the 'marketing as matching' ethos. Sure we create customer value to fulfil customer needs. But true marketers also create stakeholder value to match customer needs. The crucial lesson is that value is commonly created, and commonly shared. Marketing is the management of this network of stakeholder relationships (SRM if you like) in order to create mutual value. This is the essence of Corporate Marketing which Glasshouse is actively campaigning. The stark and simple reality is that marketing is a process of sustaining MUTUAL satisfaction for investors and customers, by managing all stakeholder experiences in their totality - both at a transactional level and through relationship management. Or something like that. Rigid definitions are always a bit of a minefield! It's multi-functional, multi-stakeholder and multi-faceted. It's hard. But in a world where product brands and corporate brands are mutually reliant, it must be embraced. What holds all this together, are strong organisational brands and the competencies, processes, and the assets which comprise them, whether animate or inanimate. In many ways it's just the natural consequence of embracing the new reality beyond branding.

Killing me Softly

2004-11-09T16:03:00.000Z

Given what I've written elsewhere about the necessity of Product Social Responsibility, it was interesting to see the apparently diametrically opposite view, espoused here: Fags & Fiction. According to David Davies, VP of Philip Morris: "The product can't be the determinant of whether your company is socially responsible. It is whether your behaviour is responsible which is key." The same presumably applies to porn, guns, alcohol and gambling...among other things. And you know what...on one level he's right. If society dictates that these things have a right to exist, the most it can demand is that they are responsibly produced and sold, and that a framework of social damage limitation exists around them on which we are commonly agreed. However, there is a very real nuance that is being missed here. It is that many CSR issues are migrating to product brands. Corporate brands and product brands cannot be isolated. Philip Morris understand this. Davies himself suggests that the company would like to produce a fair trade tobacco. And in my view they should - despite the public guffaws. The trouble, for Philip Morris, is that its extremely assertive and thorough efforts at CSR have more or less invisible to customers. Its activities have very successfully persuaded government that it merits a continued license to operate. But its customers have historically needed no such persuasion. Now they do. Now the situation is changing. Those customers are suddenly are suddenly exercised about ethical marketing. And the landscape is changing further. Its customers themselves, are beginning to demand evidence of ethical sourcing too. In order to meet this value-demand, the more ethical information Philip Morris can embed at the point of consumption the better. By suggesting Fair Trade, as a 'CSR' activity, the company has unwittingly take the first step towards genuine customer accountability. A path that leads quickly, and desirably, to full supply-chain traceability and product transparency... Only by embracing this can they build genuine trust. My contention, explained at length here, is that human beings decode 4 layers of brands, (however subliminally) when deciding whether to trust corporate brands. We decode the brand promise and assess how it fits our needs. We interpret the brand's implication and assess its relevance. We infer the relationship the brand intends to build, and determine how honestly it acts towards us. We look at the brand's motivation, and ask ourselves how authentically it acts towards others. In short, we look for clarity, consistency and coherence in its reputation management. Philip Morris would like us to believe: Desired Promise - "We tell you the truth about the effects of this product." Desired Implication - "It's your responsibility not ours." Desired Intention - "We want an adult-to-adult relationship. We are here to serve." Desired Motivation - "We aim satisfy a demand for responsible consumption based upon open dialogue, which we believe is a basic human right." As a libertarian, one can only agree. However history is not on its side on this one... Inferred Promise: "We consistently lie and obfuscate the effects of our product." Inferred Implication: "We have a lot to hide and an economical approach to truth." Inferred Intention: "We want you to be dependent upon us. A child to wicked uncle relationship." Inferred Motivation: "We want to make more cash from more product, whatever it takes." In these circumstances, Phillip Morris has only one course of action open to it. Embrace product social responsibility -wholesale. Root and branch reform. It cannot change the fact that its product kills its customers, and probably their friends as well... But it can and must change the way it produces and markets the product, to be more socially and environmentally responsible. The area the company is moving into now is a brave new world. Few have yet ventured there. PSR is a high risk/high gain environment where real organisational alignment is required; not just window dressing. Issues like fair trade, or country of origin labelling, or biodiversity impact, have a life of their own. They are potentially directly attibutable to individual batches, crates, cases, and ultimately packets. With only a short and thin track record of trustworthiness, the onus is on the tobacco manufacturers to prove the behaviours they would have us believe. This will be the next battleground for the tobacco industry, and they are wise begin the process of stakeholder re-education now. They should be applauded for the vision. Others will surely follow. PSR is a great leap forward, but it needs careful long-term planning.

Quote of the day

2004-10-15T11:51:00.000+01:00

"Sunlight is the best disinfectant." Miguel Schloss, Transparency International

Modern Marketing: London Loves FlashMobs

2004-10-08T21:50:00.000+01:00

Slightly perplexing phenomenon emerging in London at present, as noted by Glasshouse associate James Cherkoff, here: Modern Marketing: London Loves FlashMobs It is a triumph of the modern age that it takes just milliseconds for the marketing community to leap on any new social phenomenon, and pervert it to the cause of tawdry sales-generation. And actually rather exhilerating. Like it or not, marketers rule the world.

Corporate Branding earns you £

2004-10-01T10:03:00.000+01:00

Creative Review's annual peer review is complete, and Honda's has been voted the best by its advertising peers. Honda built its campaign, not around product attributes, or trite brand reflections, but on the culture of the organisation. Wieden & Kennedy built a 'book of dreams', a vision of how to bring to life the 'found' values of the organisation: imagination, passion, innovation, optimism, plain-speaking and honesty. If youre reading this in the UK you'll know the ads that resulted. They led with 'What if OK is not OK' and were wonderfully supported with poster ads which sought, and still seek to convey the ambition of the company - to find practical, elegant solutions to tommorow's problems. Only later did Honda start to do product ads, but few were recognisable as such. The famous 'cog' for the Accord, and 'Everyday' for the civic, a stunningly shot piece about objects that make our lives easier were all about the spirit of the brand. The product benefit was merely implied. All ads leant heavily on the dreaming and dream-like philosophy. Critically, too, they all respected their audience. But has focusing on the corporate brand actually worked for Honda? You bet. Cars on order up from 5,000 to 14,000 in a year. Spontanous awareness up from 12% to 30%...AND... Honda has now risen to number 11 in the list of great companies to work for. Proof that aligning corporate values and product values into line delivers multi-stakeholder benefits.

Beyond Labelling

2004-09-21T13:33:00.000+01:00

After years campaigning to improve labelling standards on its products, and hoping other supplier would follow its lead, Co-operative Group has given up on sluggish manufacturers and decided to go it alone. It has decided to impose its own 'supra-labelling' over the top of manufacturer's labelling systems. By flagging high sugar and salt content to consumers through a simple traffic light scheme it aims to bypass the morass of partial, confusing or downright misleading labelling which exists at present. It's a brave step and we applaud them. This is great news for consumers and the first step towards retailers truly acting as consumer champions. However, it is just the tip of the iceberg as far as consumer accountability is concerned. To address the concerns of people like Friends of the Earth, FMCG organisations must adopt total value-chain transparency. Instead of focusing purely on explaining on intrinsic product attributes (nutrition), retailers must start to consider extrinsic effects of a product: its effect on the environment; the labour practices of its suppliers, the biodegradability of its packaging...biodiversity labelling, energy labelling could all follow. However, this point of purchase labelling is not actually necessary. All that is required is product transparency. Instead of intervening in education, get manufacturers to share their value-chain data directly with consumers. And then allow these consumers to demand the information they want. This is no small task...as transparency pioneers ROMP have discovered. They have actually done it!

Witches Knickers

2004-09-16T14:53:00.000+01:00

Witches Knickers is Irish slang for plastic bags, the New Scientist tells us this week, referring to the phenomenon of discarded bags blown off landfill or off city street-corners, and caught in trees. Otherwise known as white pollution, plastic bags are jokingly referred to as national flower of South Africa! The latest victim of plastic bag pollution was a Minky whale, washed up in Normandy with 800 kg of plastic bags in its guts. Many countries are already acting to ban plastic bags under 30 micrometres (the UK's average plastic bag is jusy 18 micrometres and totally unsuited for reuse!) These plastic bags make up 56% of beach litter, according to the Marine Conservation Society. Isn't it time the supermarkets made a bit more effort to promote re-usables?

5-a-day message getting through...

2004-09-15T10:06:00.000+01:00

I passed a street market this morning on my way into work, and was struck by the adoption of 'packaging' by fruit salesmen. One apple, one bunch of grapes, one tangerine, one kiwi fruit and one banana - and a basket! All you need for a long day at the office. Long before Iceland decided to adopt a '5-a-day' logo for application on all its fruit and veg products, the 'street' was already reacting. http://www.iceland.co.uk/ext_11/web/press.nsf/ca5bd6e34a9e994180256c1400568e2a/8750a275fcbd1dd080256ee80041e4c7?OpenDocument This is a great example of a simple message being taken on board by the market. The government can, when it puts its mind to it, effectively change a climate of public opinion. Suddenly I start to feel that chocolate advertising seems almost offensive...and WhSmith's 200g of chocolate 'half price with every magazine' offer is positively obnoxious. Isn't it time a similar simple message was be driven through into fitness education...

Don't be embarrassed

2004-09-13T13:12:00.000+01:00

Reading this blog may be making you feel confused or angry. That's just fine, but don't be embarrassed about joining the blogerati. Research reviewed at Modern Marketing: Blog Slog II show bloggers and blog readers are among the most successful and affluent on the planet. More than 40% have a household income greater than $90,000 a year. The research doesn't say whether they're nice people or not...so don't get too complacent.

presnick: When Reputation Systems Are Worse Than Useless

2004-09-06T09:55:00.000+01:00

Glasshouse associate, Peter Halliday came across this piece of nonsense, implying that upholding a 'good' reputation might occasionally require businesses to behave duplicitously - in order to uphold people's assumptions of what constitutes good behaviour. presnick: When Reputation Systems Are Worse Than Useless In essence it says that fake authenticity, may be a more successful strategy than 'real' authenticity....

The cult of the positive

2004-08-23T15:35:00.000+01:00

There remains, in PR circles a depressing cult of the positive. I want to take a brief moment to celebrate the power of negativity. According to the 1 PR person I asked, only relentless positivity is acceptable in brainstorming. You can only say "Yes and..." not "Yes but" "More is always better" You are permitted "No negatives" How often have you heard these platitudes trotted out, and then heard 20 crap ideas flow forth, alternatively prosaic or ludicrous, followed by a period of despair and recrimination, whereupon the problem owner implements the plan they'd intended all along, jettisoning all the good ideas, and the participants' goodwill in the process. Sometimes it's just bad problem-framing, but more often it's a result of the more is better mentality, which taps just a tiny portion of our brains. I find de Bono's Six hats a much more liberating model of creativity. De Bono uses a metaphor of six hats, to ensure that all aspects of our creative intellect can be tapped in resolving tough problems. He allows you to put on a black hat and critique. He allows a white hat for listening and questioning, a yellow hat for seeking our opportunities, a green hat for pure lateral thinking, a blue hat for control and self-analysis, and the joyous Red hat for a pure emotional response. According to de Bono, it is OK to be negative! And it's equally OK to be emotional in business. Just so long as you know you're doing it...

Consumer PR: Dont take it too seriously

2004-08-06T12:50:00.000+01:00

A piece in yesterday's Sun made me laugh: "The Sum of All Fears" highlighted an equation that a 'boffin' had discovered to identify the scariest films of all time. ES+U+CS+T squared +S + (TL + F)/2 + (A+DR+FS)/n + sinx-1 = ultimate scary movie. As if! However, this did remind me of the profound words of consumer PR 'boffin' Mark Cooper, who taught me of a valuable lesson the other day when I was proclaiming the difficuties of genuine news placement. "Don't think of consumer PR as news. Consumer PR is entertainment. We are colluding with the tabloids to make people laugh. Values like truth, decency and credibility don't matter. What's good PR is what gets in the papers." To illustrate his point, an equation for the 'perfect summer' was published the following day after 'research' by one of Mark's clients... Emotionally, I find this state of affairs appalling. Mentally, it's a very helpful perspective on a cynical world. Let them eat fake.

All you need is lust and self-delusion

2004-08-04T15:25:00.000+01:00

No, this post is not an advertisement for my personal services, but a paraphrase of johnnie moore's review of Lovemarks by Kevin Roberts. Johnnie is against Roberts's's's attempt to persuade us that more cuddly advertising will produce the sort of emotional loyalty he apparently feels to brands like Gillette and Steinlager! Personally, I love people; not brands. Of course I understand how brands can generate lust, or at least a strong and irrational desire to POSSESS them. But could I ever feel that lust towards a lager or a razor? Only if I were an alcoholic or perhaps a shaveholic like Jason from Big Brother... Perhaps, inadvertently, I have stumbled across the key to Roberts thinking. He wants to create a nation of brand addicts. This is not love. It's insanity. Just say no to brands. Get some dignity instead.

Usual PR nonsense

2004-08-04T14:54:00.000+01:00

According to research in this week'sPRWeek , 72% of corporate communications practitioners reckon it is difficult to differentiate between the reputation of a company and the reputation of the CEO. So that leaves 28% who are reasonably sane - and not swept along in this form of PR industry groupthink. The fact is that Most stakeholders don't even know the names of the people who run these companies. Who runs Centrica? or ICI? or BAE these days? Who knows. But they still have a corporate reputation, right? We judge a company on entirely different criteria from our evaluation of human beings. Of course CEOs have an impact on perceptions of corporate brand, and that influence can often be profound for some stakeholders. But CEO reputation and corporate reputation are entirely different phenomena and must be managed accordingly. Rather than relying upon the CEO to forge the corporate brand, many organisations would be well advised to employ a more diverse approach to brand leadership....

Do we need a Fifth Estate?

2004-07-29T16:28:00.000+01:00

If Richard Reeves analysis of an individual-centric future proves to be correct (see post below), I believe we shall eventually move to a climate in which government exists to co-ordinate markets for public services, which are predominatly privately provided. If this is true, then the existing obsessional focus on free-market supply-side solutions -environmental trading, frantic house-building, on demand healthcare, and free financial markets - will need to be balanced with equally strong efforts of the demand-side. This process starts by actively shaping the values and desires of its customers to enable informed choices, but also extends far more widely - to rewarding habits which are profitable for society. We can see this process accelerating already today with the government's obesity drive, which has been constuctively suported by industy and media alike. This is collusive social conditioning. Government as marketing. But how far does government actually have a mandate for this form of social leadership, I wonder? And what new structures need to be in place to support it? And what sort of governance needs to be put in place? To be a trusted government should be easy. But to be a trusted marketer may be a bridge too far? This conflicted position - selling services which you do not deliver and for which you bear no accountability - may ultimately demand a different governance structure altogether. Are the media up to the task of marketing ombudsman? Or do we need a 5th or even 6th estate?

Government as Marketing

2004-07-27T17:33:00.000+01:00

Is the role of prime minister set to become merely that of Marketing Director for Britain plc? Is Tony Blair simply a salesman? And does it matter? Richard Reeves in this week's New Statesman outlines a vision of individuals, procuring quality of life services from an enabling State whose principal role is to safeguard the intangible assets of Britain Inc. Reeves writes on the rise of the individual: "The individual is steadily replacing the collective as the site of political action, analysis and conflict. The point here is not that everyone is becoming more selfish, but that the self is beconing a more important unit of politics that the class or the group. At the same time, the level of undstanding of what makes individuals tick has vastly overtaken theories of society. And a greater understanding of individual processes will become more important to politicians, too. Many of the changes they want to bring about - better heath, more stable family life, greater productivity - rely upon individual action." If Reeves is right - and he surely is - then as we move from a providing or dictating state towards one which 'enables', then the disciplines of marketing will become critical to maintaining the value of public services. The state must co-ordinate a wide variety of individual, often private service providers. But in order to maintain the PERCEIVED quality of these services, it must become more and more adept at managing expectations. The future of government is public service marketing. Are we ready for it?

Reputation Management or Relationship Management?

2004-07-25T22:40:00.000+01:00

A Thought for the Day: Catching up on some neglected reading, we quote from Professor Gary Davies et al. in "Corporate Reputation and Competitiveness" (Routledge, 2002): Davies and co. build an academic 'reputation' paradigm based on 10 key tenets: 1. Multiple stakeholders need to be considered. 2. The main elements of reputation are linked. 3. Reputation is created through multiple interaction. 4. Reputations are valuable and have value. 5. Reputation can be managed. 6. Reputation and financial performance are linked. 7. Relative reputation (ranking) drives financial performance. 8. Reputation can be measured. 9. Reputation can be lost more easily than it can be created. 10. Reputation can best be studied using an interdisciplinary approach. It's difficult to disagree with any of these. And we don't. But an outside (i.e non brand-practitioner) observer would be entitled to ask...SO WHAT? Surely, reputation is a simple consequence of delivering on promises that stakeholders value. And yes, we'd also agree there. The truth is that managing reputations is mostly a question of managing stakeholders' real experiences, and often, paradoxically, that involves NOT focusing on reputation. Reputation is a felicitous by-product of great experiences. Reputation is history. Relationships are present. Reputation is an outcome. Relationships are income. Reputation is brittle. Relationships are malleable. Reputation is static. Relationships are dynamic. Any reputation management exercise must begin with the realisation that reputations do not exist in some grossly aggregated brand index or in some media league table, but within the heads of individual stakeholders who buy, sell, invest, support or even compete against your business. Manage these relationships well, and honestly...and a strong (and sustainable) reputation will follow. Give or take some great PR!

Strawbananas

2004-07-07T12:31:00.000+01:00

The Daily Mail reports that Chiquita is now breeding special flavoured bananas in an effort to bring the P&G logic of brand extension to the fruit and veg market. Brand 'Banana' has run out of juice. Now ex P&G director Fernando Aguirre plans to introduce 'connoisseur' varieties which will include strawberry flavour and be premium priced. Given the convenient protective packaging of the banana and its high energy value, it can only be a matter of time until they introduce a 'chicken korma banana' range. Chains of banana bars are planned to open up in California. Meanwhile the department of health has leaked plans for us to eat at least 20 pieces of fruit a day... Marketing Genius. Or not?

Corporate Marketing (2) The role of CSR...

2004-07-06T12:26:00.000+01:00

In all the debate about the value of CSR one truth is too often ignored. The purported return on investment of CSR depends on stakeholders understanding and valuing its benefits... Consumers must value more ethical products; suppliers must value better treatment; investors must value brand sustainability; partners must value better engagement; communities must value local investment. We, as a society, must value more respectful, mutually sensitised relationships. This is about stakeholders placing a value on the personalised expression of corporate values. CSR is about building values-based relationships that sustain brands. Organisations that wish to build CSR into the fabric of a business organisation therefore face a very simple challenge - to exceed stakeholders' values expectations in dimensions that offer demonstrable value - to both sides. Where corporate and stakeholder values collude, value can be created - through the revenues and opportunities which flow from exceding motivational, behavioral and attitudinal expectations. Where they collide, value will be destroyed - through the frictional costs and risks of weak trust, loss of belief and low commitment. CSR will come to nothing if the actions that express these values are not actually valued in the stakeholder marketplace. Often this value will flow from revenues - charging a premium for peace of mind, or some higher order emotional benefit. But benefits of those deeper relationships will also come through more effective transactions - at lower environmental cost, lower time cost and lower financial cost. Let's be blunt here. If your staff are happy and fulfilled, you could maybe even pay them a little less - or certainly differently! In a very real sense then, CSR is a driver of corporate marketing - susceptible to the same rigour, research and planning disciplines of any other marketing effort. The essence of this Marketing is effective dialogue...making an offer, matching it to the needs of stakeholders, delivering - and then, most crucially, checking that you've delivered in order to reinforce and protect the value that has been created. Just as organisations build maps of their customers value experience, so they should map their stakeholders values experiences. Just as they research customers to identify unmet value demands, so they should research stakeholders to identify unmet values-needs. CSR is the attempt to build brand-consistent, mutually beneficial, values-based relationships.

Corporate Marketing (1) The role of the corporate brand.

2004-07-06T10:16:00.000+01:00

An interesting observation from Prahalad and Ramaswamy's "The Future of Competition": 'Take Sony: With the multitudinous product choices available to consumers as well as the many financial choices open to investors, the company itself is emerging as a center of brand equity, an anchor for value in a sea of discontinuities. As companies orient themselves towards experiences, what is the real value anchor? We believe it is consistent quality of co-creation experience across multiple channels and multiple events in the experience environment. The experience is the brand - not firm-centric, one-way communication as in advertising, public relations and image manipulation. For brand management the focus on individual-specific experience implies a subjective notion of brand definition, one that the company cannot directly manage. Instead, firms must shift to managing experience environments, working with customers and consumer communities. Brand managers must now facilitate new experiences and create new points of interaction, letting consumers connect the dots as they choose.' ________________________________________________ It's impossible to improve on this far-sighted articulation of the new corporate reality, except to say that other stakeholders also have value-needs from a corporate brand, and also wish to co-create experiences at the corporate interface. Corporate brands now makes multiple offers to multiple stakeholder markets. Balancing these needs is the challenge of Corporate Marketing - which demands internal collaboration, as well as external...

Welcome to our weblog

2004-07-04T14:16:00.000+01:00

In this blog, we will respond to the events and trends around us, and engage in debate with our own stakeholders.