Think Courageously

7 point digital brand alignment plan

2008-06-23T01:05:00.000-07:00

The following outlines a seven point plan which Daemon Digital recommends to any organisation as a starting point to managing their reputation in the digital media:

1. Find out where you stand

What’s being said about your organisation online and by whom? 270,000 users mention Coke in their Facebook profiles and 617,000 have joined groups dedicated to Ugg Boots. 1 in 5 Australian internet users have a Facebook profile and that’s just one social networking site. You cannot manage your organisations’ reputation if you don’t know what’s being said about you.

2. Know your audience

Is your primary audience online and active? Know your audience and understand their current online habits as well as basic demography like age, geography and profession, for example, and then go to them.

3. Trust your people

You cannot harness the participative web if you are not using it internally. You cannot expect your own people to champion the cause if it is new and alien to them. Practice what you preach and encourage your people to blog, share, wiki and network. Trust them to add value to your brand and to your organisation.

4. Get involved and stay engaged

Being actively involved in managing your message and managing your organisation’s reputation using the tools on the participative web can be invaluable to any organisation. Look at the potential and then if you consider it appropriate, get involved and stay engaged.

5. Keep it real

Don’t try and fake it, you will get caught out. Yes, communicate your messages and manage your own agenda, but do it honestly and do it openly.

6. Get to the point

You don’t own the space, make your point move on and let someone else have their turn. Also speak using language that your audience relates to and understands, don’t use technical language or jargon if it doesn’t add value to your point.

7. Measure what you are achieving

If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it and just because it’s new doesn’t mean it should not fall under the same maxim as all of the other communications techniques your organisation employs.

For more information please visit www.daemondigital.com

The participative web

2008-06-03T00:20:00.000-07:00

There are within the participative web or web 2.0 a number of phrases that are very quickly becoming mainstream colloquialisms. Interestingly, many of the ‘new’ web 2.0 applications have origins and provenance that stretch back over a decade, for example wiki, or weblog, however, these are still terms that not everyone is comfortable with. On that basis, here is a short yet sweet glossary:

Blogs

A blog (the term is the abridged version of web log) is effectively a small website, more often than not operated by one individual, which includes regularly updated information and commentary on one issue or on a series of related issues.

Mashups

The term used to describe taking content feeds from more than one source simultaneously and combining the feeds, or mashing them up, to create a new and improved application, for example, the combination of BBC News and Google Maps as a mashup to create News Maps.

Podcasting

A podcast is a digital media file which is designed to be downloaded to portable media players (mp3 players for example) or played through a PC. The term podcasting is in effect an amalgam of ‘ipod’ and ‘broadcasting’ and reflects the market dominance of Apple’s ipod in the mp3 portable market.

RSS

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and is a web feed or channel which takes content in an easily transported form from one web site, or a series of websites, and through an RSS Reader enables a user to access content from multiple locations at one time.

Social networking

Effectively the term which has come to mean a web based application which creates a community from like minded individuals, example of which would include My Space or FaceBook.

Widgets

A web widget is in effect a portable piece of code which can be implemented without the need for additional programming or development input inside another web site. One of the most common examples of a web widget is the Google application implemented on many blogs and smaller websites which links Google advertising to content on the site.

Wikis

A wiki is a web site or series of web pages in which all of the content has been created collaboratively by users of the web site. Wikis are therefore effectively community websites, or can be used as a component within a site to create user developed content, for example a wiki glossary of terms. One of the best known examples of a wiki is the website Wikipedia.

Water cooler conversations

2008-04-21T18:40:00.001-07:00

According to a report by Melcrum, an internal communications research and training business, less than one-third of 2,100 corporate communicators that they surveyed felt confident about using social media as part of an integrated communications plan.

Yet, 60% of respondent felt compelled to press ahead with getting started inside their organisations anyway. In the survey, the top perceived benefits for implementing social media tools are improved:

Employee engagement (71%)
Internal collaboration (59%)
Internal community development (51%)
Two-way dialogue with senior executives (42%)

This survey raises a couple of questions namely, given that social media in its widest definition are hardly new media opportunities, why haven’t internal communicators already started to implement strategies containing their use and secondly, if these same communicators are not confident in the use of these tools, how can they be confident that they will improve anything?

A Talent2 survey in Australia found that 40% of respondents got all, that’s all, of their information about the organisation they work for from ‘water cooler’ conversations. Given that organisations are concerned that sponsored use of social media tools could create an atmosphere where controlled messaging is more difficult, it’s good to see that organisations are currently controlling their message so effectively!

One word equity?

2008-04-14T20:20:00.000-07:00

In a speech in Cannes in 2006, Maurice Saatchi extoled the virtue of reducing a brand's proposition to one word only. In a world of media fragmentation and message divergence surely this approach makes sense - as consumers can we really be expected to recall any more than one word?

M&C Saatchi have christened this approach One Word Equity, which a white paper by Mohammed Iqbal from O&M Bangalore amusingly points out is two words too long to fit its own maxim!

Judge the merits for yourself at http://www.onewordequity.com/

Tangled up in the new web

2008-04-13T23:40:00.000-07:00

Web 2.0 is well established, and sites such as YouTube, Flickr, Facebook and Digg have turned the internet from a static source of information into a huge, interactive digital playground.
But where to next?

What will the next stage of web culture - which some people call Web 3.0 - be like?

The expectation seems to be that profound changes are on the way. If Web 2.0 is about generating and sharing your own content, Web 3.0 will make information less free.

Privacy fears, new forms of advertising, and restrictions imposed by media companies will mean more digital walls, leading to a web that's safer but without its freewheeling edge.

One serious leak or theft of private data could change opinions overnight and create a backlash against Web 2.0 sites.

Another factor that will restrict web freedom is advertising. Desperate to be noticed by people whose attention spans are a mouse-click long, advertisers will invent ever-more devious strategies to suck the punters in.

A few tricks are around already.

Say you are trying to reach Microsoft.com but you accidentally type Macrosoft.com. That will take you to a page for a company whose name has nothing to do with "Macrosoft" - they're just parked in that domain to get more exposure. You can find something similar at Mycrosoft.com.
Web advertising is likely to balloon from another direction, too. "Blogvertising" is expected to take off in the next five years and produce a stark change in the medium.

Bloggers stand to gain more of the advertising share because they can create custom content for their advertisers, and that is leading to a new style of blog on which the line between editorial and advertisement is blurred.

Enjoy Web 2.0 - while it lasts.

Extracted from an article by Annalee Newitz published in the New Scientist in April 2008

How many?

2008-03-13T03:28:00.000-07:00

If you are 1 in a million, there are over 20 people identical to you in Australia alone.

Shift Happens

2008-03-13T03:07:00.000-07:00

There is a video on You Tube and various other places called Shift Happens, which was produced by a high school in the US to demonstrate how both new technology and the speed of technological development are impacting upon on the world in which we live.

If you haven't seen this video you should. It is thought provoking and challenges convention and is a great introduction to technological change.

It is on You Tube or at shifthappens.wikispaces.com

ACCC issues Green Guide

2008-02-11T21:41:00.000-08:00

There is a strong general community expectation that businesses demonstrate strong corporate social responsibility and governance over environmental sustainability. Companies also see brand value in promoting their green credentials in public relations and marketing campaigns. However, a number of companies have suffered reputation damage due to unfavourable media coverage and charges of so called ‘greenwashing’.

As a result the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced it is beginning an inquiry into the way companies market their green credentials, and has just release a green marketing and trade practices guide. Companies should be aware of the guidelines, but also take extra care that their campaigns meet the ‘smell test’ – a higher standard than that which may be posed by the trade practices act. Failure to do so may attract unwanted media attention and cause reputational and brand damage.

Much of the environmental communication demands increasingly being placed on corporations – as in other types of corporate communications – are about providing transparency and demonstrating effective action and commitment, whether or not particular initiatives have been completed or even begun. Anything less will be viewed as suspect by an ever increasingly media savvy public.

The guide is available to download from the ACCC website at www.accc.gov.au/greenmarketing

Corporate Reputation Management

2008-01-31T23:07:00.001-08:00

Corporate reputation is a valuable asset. As the 2007 Aon Global Risk Management Survey noted, reputation is also one of the most difficult of assets to protect; it takes years to build but can be destroyed overnight.

Increased focus on corporate governance and risk management, including reputation management, have placed increased pressure upon directors to discharge their duty to ensure that management has identified potential risks to reputation and taken reasonable steps to minimise or mitigate them. Moreover, globalisation and an explosion in communication channels make this duty more challenging.

Corporate crises often arise through stakeholder dissatisfaction which results in a complaint being taken outside the company’s dispute resolution process, eg to the media, regulatory authorities, NGOs, unions or through the courts. Even the best run companies have had to contend with litigation, prosecutions or investigations by ASIC, the ACCC, WorkCover, the EPA, Today Tonight and A Current Affair. Even if the company is later exonerated, some mud may stick.

A company’s dilemma in such circumstances is how to reconcile potentially conflicting advice from different quarters and come up with an integrated solution to the problem, rather than piecemeal measures developed in separate silos.

2007 in review

2008-01-31T19:36:00.000-08:00

As we enter the New Year we at Daemon Group would like to take this opportunity to send you our best wishes for 2008 and also to reflect on our growth and achievements during 2007.

Thanks to our people, clients and partners around the world, 2007 was a very successful one for the business, with three completed acquisitions complementing awards for creativity and business achievement as well as a range of successful campaigns launched on behalf of clients across three continents.

Starting in early February, Daemon Group began to implement our strategy of continued growth through select strategic acquisitions with the purchase of 2iC Integrated Communications, a Sydney based PR agency. This deal was followed in May and July with the acquisitions of Spinner, a London based design agency and the Australian research agency MRA. All three businesses have been fully integrated into Daemon Group and continue to add value to staff and clients as part of the wider Group.

During October we were listed at number 35 in the BRW Fast 100, an increase of 29 places on our position the year previous, our first year of eligibility. In addition, the creative executions for the Jones Lang LaSalle employment brand campaign won three gold awards in the International Summit Creative Awards and the FEMA Award for best art direction.

2007 also saw the introduction of our new corporate identity, brand and web presence at www.daemongroup.com Throughout this year we will continue to share thoughts and ideas through www.thinkcourageously.com our platform for discussing issues of interest to our industry.

Last but by no means least, 2007 also saw the relocation to our new Head Office in The Rocks in Sydney.

2008 looks like being another exciting year for Daemon Group and we look forward to working with you and continuing to add value to your organisation.

Harnessing the Brand to Find Future Talent

2008-01-30T21:48:00.001-08:00

As the struggle to attract and retain talent continues, it is recognized that a well structured graduate program will contribute to providing an organization with strong talent for the future. However, this alone will not guarantee a successful graduate strategy. Companies must be able to harness all the strengths of their employment brand to attract talent, perhaps the most cynical group in the market.

For many years, the concept of 'Employment Branding' hovered in the realm of recruitment marketing and advertising where a promise, innovative attraction campaign and slick creative was enough to secure great talent. This is no longer the case. Companies who succeed in engaging talent at a functional, emotional and cognitive level will have the competitive advantage.

However, this is only 1 aspect of a multi-dimensional discipline. Success will also be determined by the effectiveness in which organizations harnesses their corporate brand and manage the propositions that integrate employment, customers and shareholders. The brand needs to live within the organization and Marketing, HR and the board need to align it to the business strategy.

Generation Y is astute and it has a conscience. They, more than any other single market segment will be seeking to understand the essence of the brand and how it aligns to their set of values, beliefs and expectations. Convincing them of the benefits of joining an organization will be based on a complex mix of perceptions, articulated benefits, social and political agendas and feelings. Managing a brand proposition that appeals to them at an employment level will require courage, tenacity and humility. When we look back in 10 years it will be the companies that put people ahead of profit, and really made changes based on key drivers who will be the winners. They will have the best leaders, a culture that is unique and core to their competitive advantage, a sustainable future and a profitable organization where people are engaged, excited and productive.