Business as usual, spectacular display, disloyalty and change!

It has been a while since I wrote something...anything. Since my last post, the LA Lakers won the NBA Championship...again, a spectacular World Cup occurred on African soil and LeBron James confirmed what I have always thought about him. Meanwhile back home, we are prepping to vote for the referendum on Aug 4 2010.

So what can be learnt from all this? The Lakers are still the best team in the NBA, living up to their brand in a 7 game final series. Africa can and did host the hell out of the biggest event on the planet, all the while the western media critiques small details like the "vuvuzela", referees and goal line technology! Read your FIFA rule book. Furthermore, the "vuvuzela" just highlighted the fact that we are a musical people who know how to have fun. Unfortunately, the said instrument is currently being banned in Europe and the Americas during football matches. A 25 yr old kid from Cleveland just shifted people's perceptions of him, for the worse. And the results of the referendum could potentially damage our beloved country further.

Just a few things on my mind on this Friday afternoon. Nothing much to do with branding, but at least I am back to writing. Need to reinforce MY brand.

Until next time.

Innovation To Strengthen Brands

Innovation has been known to strengthen a company/brand products and services. It is not by some new wave type of thinking/idea/product or a radical innovation (making previous products almost obsolete, for example CDs). It is small things in business models, processes or customer service that propel companies beyond their competitors. It leads to differentiation of the brand and the interaction with the consumer will help build awareness and hence loyalty.

So go out there and try and innovate. Do something different or better than competitors and it will resonate with your consumers.

Where else is "The Superstar Effect" applicable?

Just read an interesting article called "The Superstar Effect". It talks about superstar effect, how their rivals choke and how it affects their performance. I was wondering whether this phenomena is noticed anyway else. In our lives, careers, friends etc. What do you think?


Click on the link to read the article
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303960604575158122511930684.html

Name game shows Toyotas strength

As Toyoda deals with the Senate hearings in the US, the Toyota brand is still very strong. How do I know this? I was playing the name game with my workmates a couple of weeks back. The rules of the "Name Game" are that you mention any category, lets say countries, and start alphabetically until one falters. For example - Algeria, Bulgaria, Canada...get the gist. During the game, one of the categories was cars, and this is how it went. Aventis, Blitz, Corolla, Duet, Estima, Fielder, Gaia, Hilux, Ipsum, Jaguar, Kluger, Landcruiser, Mark II, Noah, Opa, Prado, Quattro, Rav 4, Spacio, Terios, Urvan, Vitz, Wish, X-trail, Yaris, Zonda, Avalon....and so on.

It is evident that in Kenya the Toyota brand is still very very strong and it is also clear that it has top of mind recall. Almost every other car is a Toyota of some kind, KWS uses Toyotas to do their work, most Tour Companies operate Toyota vans and buses. Brand loyalty begets brand evangelism, which begets high profitability.

How do you think this brand is faring in Kenya and other parts of the world?

Manners bringing down Kenyan Brands

For the third time this year, I ventured into a local mobile provider service shop in Yaya Centre, Nairobi. And for the third consecutive time, came away with nothing. On this instance however, I was bamboozled by the lackluster performance, rudeness and arrogance of the customer service lady (I think she was smiling on the inside). She did not even care about what I wanted to inquire about, she did not know the company products and when she received a phone call, she turned around in her chair and reverted to the vernacular and proceeded to provide salutations to Irene and regale her on her merry Easter weekend antics. It was at this point that I knew that most if not all Kenyan companies are doomed (research pending to confirm this). And was also very close to changing providers.

If this is how our biggest companies in Kenya and East Africa behave, then the brand value of said organisations will slowly and surely start to crumble. Brand value in an organisation starts from the ground up. Without this support system, organisations are going to sensationally come crashing down. Please big companies in Kenya, start instilling brand value and make sure all staff become brand ambassadors and then practice brand evangelism. People who are proud to wake up and go to work in the morning. People who are proud to talk about their company to the point of showing off. People who...People who...People who....You see where I am going with this.

Huhhhh finished venting. Thats my 2 cents. Let me know what you think?

Family Branding from SAMCRO

Just finished season 2 of Sons of Anarchy yesterday (great and highy recommended show). Now, I am new to the Branding market and scene so this may or may not make sense to you. But bear with me as I try and explain my view.

When SAMCRO is in trouble, the Motorcycle members go to the clubhouse and think of a retaliation to the situation. They then come up with a plan of action and execute it, mostly with dire or fatal results. But "their" end result is that they did it as a family. The support and loyalty in SAMCRO is immense.

The same concept can be carried out in organisations. When faced with a difficult situation, it is always best to regroup, brainstorm, come up with a plan and execute it, TOGETHER. The common situation of action to a reaction should stop. Working together as a family, an organisation can "adapt" and progress.

Assignment of the week - Watch Sons of Anarchy for lesssons on family.

What do you think?