There is a debate raging right now in offices across the country. It's an annual debate and one that started about 15 years ago with the increased use of electronic communications. Should we or shouldn't we send out Christmas cards (the secondary debate is should we or shouldn't we call them Season's Greetings cards).
I am going to start sounding like a broken record but in this case, that's a good thing. I'm being consistent. Whether or not your company sends out Christmas cards in the mail depends on what your brand is all about. When you have a solidly defined brand, a lot of the questions become much easier to answer in areas such as communications, marketing, human resource management and so on.
For example, when I was at St. Boniface Hospital Foundation, we had established that our brand was first and foremost about compassion. Everything the hospital, research and foundation stood for was in support of human compassion for those who were ill or were family or friends of the ill person. So as much as I personally don't like to send or receive Christmas cards, it made a lot of sense that as a Foundation we should send out Christmas cards to our biggest supporters - both donors, volunteers and suppliers.
Back it up a few years to when I was at Agricore United where we had established our brand was integrity. Everything we did was done with integrity - how we interacted with our farmer customers, how we interacted with government, with competitors, with suppliers - had to be done with integrity, adhering to moral and ethical principles. Among those ethical principles was a commitment to controlling costs. There was little advantage for us as a corporation to send out copious amounts of Christmas cards. It was contrary to our brand. However, sending out a handful of personal greetings to key customers and supporters from individual officers of the company did make sense. Did it have to be cards? Not necessarily - many of those greetings were made by phone which is more personal.
The debate on whether to send or not to send Christmas cards is going to carry on for years to come and now there is an added wrinkle in the mix -- the option to send an e-card. I suggest that you think about how you feel when you get an e-card from someone you regularly do business with before deciding if you want to send one out to your regular customers and suppliers. It may be more cost effective, but does it have the personal touch you are intending in the first place when deciding to send out cards?
If, after reading this entire blog, you are still unsure what your company should do I have one final suggestion for your Christmas card dilemma. Calculate the cost of printing and mailing the cards, add in the time required for your staff to sign, address and stamp the cards. Take that entire total and make a donation to a cause that is closely aligned with your organization's mission. Then add a post script line to automatically come up on every email going out from your company throughout the month of December that says something like: "To honour our clients, suppliers and supporters, ABC Company has made a donation to DEF Charity this holiday season. Thank you for your continued support."
Don't forget to put the same message on your website - front and centre - with a small explanation of why you chose to go this route, including some information on the charity and its mandate. You can also provide a comment box so that visitors to your site can let you know what they think of this idea - evaluation is the key to quality future planning.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Sunday, October 31, 2010
In a Crisis
Anybody who thinks sitting down and banging out a crisis communications plan on their computer is the end of that project has a lot to learn. Mostly because a crisis communications plan (CCP) is a living document and it is never at an end.
Well, arguably once you have to implement a CCP full scale you might consider it to have reached an end, but that just means you have all that real life experience with which to start a new CCP.
My experience with CCPs is quite extensive, having worked in two industries that face very serious, dangerous situations daily (forestry and agriculture) and another two industries that face very serious, reputation damaging situations daily (insurance and finance). Different types of crisis, but often the same type of response. And that response starts long, long before the crisis.
This is where having a truly strong brand in place makes a world of difference. If you have built a brand that includes a strong commitment to the community and social responsibility, based on actions not just words, it becomes much easier to manage public opinion in a crisis. And if, while building that strong brand, you have also built a solid relationship with the media based on the basics of media relations you'll find in another post on my blog, you're in a good position to call upon them to help you get out your message when in a crisis.
The thing with crisis is that you never know exactly what is going to be thrown at you - but if you and your colleagues on the crisis response team have done your homework - you have a pretty good guess. Preparation and planning involves a lot of 'what if' scenarios and research. The best crisis response team that I have been a part of was led by Mike Maida, a member of Agricore United's Risk Assessment Department. He was relentless (in a very good way) in making sure we had examined every possible crisis and disaster that we could face. It was great leg work and when we had a collision of an anhydrous ammonia truck with a civilian vehicle, we knew what to do. Everybody knew what their role was and who to call. It was a horrible situation that was made just a little bit less horrible by a quick and compassionate response from the company.
Most CCPs are designed for a massive disaster, such as an earthquake or explosion at your headquarters. It's a good way to think worst case scenario, whereby your entire plan would have to be implemented. In reality, though, most crisis are going to be a bit smaller in scale and will call upon only a portion of the entire plan. And taking it one step further, you could spend a lot of time drafting that plan, meeting with your crisis response team regularly to make sure it is current and understood, and never have to use it. That would be the ideal situation.
Well, arguably once you have to implement a CCP full scale you might consider it to have reached an end, but that just means you have all that real life experience with which to start a new CCP.
My experience with CCPs is quite extensive, having worked in two industries that face very serious, dangerous situations daily (forestry and agriculture) and another two industries that face very serious, reputation damaging situations daily (insurance and finance). Different types of crisis, but often the same type of response. And that response starts long, long before the crisis.
This is where having a truly strong brand in place makes a world of difference. If you have built a brand that includes a strong commitment to the community and social responsibility, based on actions not just words, it becomes much easier to manage public opinion in a crisis. And if, while building that strong brand, you have also built a solid relationship with the media based on the basics of media relations you'll find in another post on my blog, you're in a good position to call upon them to help you get out your message when in a crisis.
The thing with crisis is that you never know exactly what is going to be thrown at you - but if you and your colleagues on the crisis response team have done your homework - you have a pretty good guess. Preparation and planning involves a lot of 'what if' scenarios and research. The best crisis response team that I have been a part of was led by Mike Maida, a member of Agricore United's Risk Assessment Department. He was relentless (in a very good way) in making sure we had examined every possible crisis and disaster that we could face. It was great leg work and when we had a collision of an anhydrous ammonia truck with a civilian vehicle, we knew what to do. Everybody knew what their role was and who to call. It was a horrible situation that was made just a little bit less horrible by a quick and compassionate response from the company.
Most CCPs are designed for a massive disaster, such as an earthquake or explosion at your headquarters. It's a good way to think worst case scenario, whereby your entire plan would have to be implemented. In reality, though, most crisis are going to be a bit smaller in scale and will call upon only a portion of the entire plan. And taking it one step further, you could spend a lot of time drafting that plan, meeting with your crisis response team regularly to make sure it is current and understood, and never have to use it. That would be the ideal situation.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Brand Consistency
It takes a lot of work to establish a brand - both with your employees and the public. However, it can take very little to undermine it. One of the easiest, quickest ways to undermine your brand is to show inconsistency in what you are delivering to your audience.
Some people find it hard to understand why this is so important - why is something like always using the same font, for example, necessary? These are the same people who will unwittingly erode your brand by making little changes to suit their personal tastes. That's bad news.
A good example of this is a former colleague who was responsible for sending invitations to various stakeholders. The invitations were to brunches, lunches and special events. To ensure consistency of the brand, I had templates created for a variety of documents, including an invitation template. The template included the correct logo, approved corporate colours and the approved, single font in the body. It was easy enough to use: simply place your cursor on the area that needed updated (ie. date, location) and fill in the new information. The font stayed the same.
For this former colleague, however, invitations represented a chance for her to stretch her creative muscles. On one invitation she had sent out, prior to the template creation, she used five different fonts, a variety of colours and clip art. Not a very professional representation of the organization.
Even with the invitation template, this person, like some you will work with, still needed to have it explained why she couldn't use more than one font on an invitation. She really wanted to use a variety of fonts and script types to 'dress up' the invitation. She needed to understand that consistency, even in use of font, helps to show that the organization you work for is also consistent. Being consitent is a very good attribute for any company - so long as you are consistently good at what you do. Being consistent removes the guess work for your audiences -they learn what to expect from you and grow to appreciate and demand that consistency.
Whether it is using the same font, the same layout, the same logo, greeting with the same positive attitude and smile or serving the same delicious food or drink, a consistent brand is a winning brand.
Some people find it hard to understand why this is so important - why is something like always using the same font, for example, necessary? These are the same people who will unwittingly erode your brand by making little changes to suit their personal tastes. That's bad news.
A good example of this is a former colleague who was responsible for sending invitations to various stakeholders. The invitations were to brunches, lunches and special events. To ensure consistency of the brand, I had templates created for a variety of documents, including an invitation template. The template included the correct logo, approved corporate colours and the approved, single font in the body. It was easy enough to use: simply place your cursor on the area that needed updated (ie. date, location) and fill in the new information. The font stayed the same.
For this former colleague, however, invitations represented a chance for her to stretch her creative muscles. On one invitation she had sent out, prior to the template creation, she used five different fonts, a variety of colours and clip art. Not a very professional representation of the organization.
Even with the invitation template, this person, like some you will work with, still needed to have it explained why she couldn't use more than one font on an invitation. She really wanted to use a variety of fonts and script types to 'dress up' the invitation. She needed to understand that consistency, even in use of font, helps to show that the organization you work for is also consistent. Being consitent is a very good attribute for any company - so long as you are consistently good at what you do. Being consistent removes the guess work for your audiences -they learn what to expect from you and grow to appreciate and demand that consistency.
Whether it is using the same font, the same layout, the same logo, greeting with the same positive attitude and smile or serving the same delicious food or drink, a consistent brand is a winning brand.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Branding - So Much More Than a Logo
One of the main challenges of working in communications is helping an organization to identify what its brand is and then reinforcing that brand over and over again. For too many people a brand is easily dismissed as being the logo or colors - that is the visual identity of a company, not its brand.
Brand at its purest is an organization's "personality". It doesn't start with how you want to be seen - it starts with how you are already being seen. What is the impression people have when they think of "ABC Company"? Do they have a feeling of delight, warmth, compassion or is it more likely to be a feeling of antipathy, fear, distaste? And who wants to give that second impression to their customers unless you're the Mob?
The best way to determine what your brand is at this given time is to do a lot of research - ask your customers, your employees, your suppliers. Everyone has a different relationship with your company so will have slightly different viewpoints. Once you know what people already feel about your company, determine from that what you want to keep (reinforce) and what you want to toss (regroup).
Building a brand to be what you want takes a lot of work and very little of it actually comes from the communications department. Certainly all the materials prepared by communicators must have the tone and message that you want to reinforce. However, building the brand starts with your people - how does your receptionist greet guests, customers, suppliers? How do your people act at meetings? How do your people treat suppliers? Who are your ambassadors and what are they saying about your company? If you can get to the point where your customers are your ambassadors, recommending you because you represent exactly what they want in the type of service you provide, you have achieved brand nirvana.
If people on your team can't accept the brand that you want your company to represent - then they aren't going to be very good at living and breathing that brand. But before deciding that it is time for them to move on, be fair and give them a chance to really understand what your brand is - what is that feeling you want your customers to have when they think of your company? If your people still can't grasp that, then it is time for them to move on while you build your team with the right people with the right attitude.
It's not unusual to want to be a brand that makes people feel really good and positive feelings - but not every type of service or product is going to instil those kind of feelings. The important thing in identifying what your brand is, is to first be very honest with yourself about what you provide, and what is possible. Then dream. Then build. Then achieve. Branding is so much more than a logo, isn't it?
Brand at its purest is an organization's "personality". It doesn't start with how you want to be seen - it starts with how you are already being seen. What is the impression people have when they think of "ABC Company"? Do they have a feeling of delight, warmth, compassion or is it more likely to be a feeling of antipathy, fear, distaste? And who wants to give that second impression to their customers unless you're the Mob?
The best way to determine what your brand is at this given time is to do a lot of research - ask your customers, your employees, your suppliers. Everyone has a different relationship with your company so will have slightly different viewpoints. Once you know what people already feel about your company, determine from that what you want to keep (reinforce) and what you want to toss (regroup).
Building a brand to be what you want takes a lot of work and very little of it actually comes from the communications department. Certainly all the materials prepared by communicators must have the tone and message that you want to reinforce. However, building the brand starts with your people - how does your receptionist greet guests, customers, suppliers? How do your people act at meetings? How do your people treat suppliers? Who are your ambassadors and what are they saying about your company? If you can get to the point where your customers are your ambassadors, recommending you because you represent exactly what they want in the type of service you provide, you have achieved brand nirvana.
If people on your team can't accept the brand that you want your company to represent - then they aren't going to be very good at living and breathing that brand. But before deciding that it is time for them to move on, be fair and give them a chance to really understand what your brand is - what is that feeling you want your customers to have when they think of your company? If your people still can't grasp that, then it is time for them to move on while you build your team with the right people with the right attitude.
It's not unusual to want to be a brand that makes people feel really good and positive feelings - but not every type of service or product is going to instil those kind of feelings. The important thing in identifying what your brand is, is to first be very honest with yourself about what you provide, and what is possible. Then dream. Then build. Then achieve. Branding is so much more than a logo, isn't it?
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
The title will have to wait
I have a weird kind of writing style whereby I usually sit and come up with a title for what I'm going to write before I get into it. For this one, the title will have to wait until I've written down the content because this one is too personal - this is about communication with a loved one when they are dying.
I'm not an expert on this by any means - no more than anyone who has lost a loved one and can relate to the experience. Sometimes we hear people say that they wish they had told someone who has passed on what they meant to them, how much they loved them. I feel so blessed that I don't have that regret with my mom.
Mom passed away 15 years ago on July 25. I can't believe that she has been gone that long because in so many ways it seems like she was just here. That's probably because she is here all the time in my heart. One thing I definitely shared with my mom was good communication. I know that she knew how much I loved her and admired her. Simply because I told her. And she told me how much she loved me and what she was proud of about me.
Sometimes I'll forget about those conversations but all I have to do is transport myself back in my memories to a time when we were sitting in her living room on either end of the sofa, each reading a book and enjoying the quiet. Those were the times we had our best conversations, between chapters, we would lift our heads and talk. Just talk. About anything and everything - I never felt like a topic was taboo with my mom. She worried for me because I would get my feelings hurt so easily - maybe I've toughened up since then so she doesn't have to worry so much about me now, where she is.
Having regrets after someone dies that you never communicated with them well enough about your feelings is not a regret you have to have. There are so many ways to tell someone you love them even without words. A regular phone call to chat. A quick visit to help with some chores. A birthday or mother's/father's day card. But if you're really lucky, like me, you'll have memories of good, lengthy and sometimes very thought-provoking conversations with your mom or dad. Those are the memories that you can cherish even 15 years and longer after they are gone.
I'm not an expert on this by any means - no more than anyone who has lost a loved one and can relate to the experience. Sometimes we hear people say that they wish they had told someone who has passed on what they meant to them, how much they loved them. I feel so blessed that I don't have that regret with my mom.
Mom passed away 15 years ago on July 25. I can't believe that she has been gone that long because in so many ways it seems like she was just here. That's probably because she is here all the time in my heart. One thing I definitely shared with my mom was good communication. I know that she knew how much I loved her and admired her. Simply because I told her. And she told me how much she loved me and what she was proud of about me.
Sometimes I'll forget about those conversations but all I have to do is transport myself back in my memories to a time when we were sitting in her living room on either end of the sofa, each reading a book and enjoying the quiet. Those were the times we had our best conversations, between chapters, we would lift our heads and talk. Just talk. About anything and everything - I never felt like a topic was taboo with my mom. She worried for me because I would get my feelings hurt so easily - maybe I've toughened up since then so she doesn't have to worry so much about me now, where she is.
Having regrets after someone dies that you never communicated with them well enough about your feelings is not a regret you have to have. There are so many ways to tell someone you love them even without words. A regular phone call to chat. A quick visit to help with some chores. A birthday or mother's/father's day card. But if you're really lucky, like me, you'll have memories of good, lengthy and sometimes very thought-provoking conversations with your mom or dad. Those are the memories that you can cherish even 15 years and longer after they are gone.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Too Much Information
I admit I am guilty of tuning out - tuning out the news that is. In recent weeks there has been repeated stories in the newspaper and television news about a dog neglect situation near Winnipeg. You would think that as a communicator and news junkie that I would want to hear all about it and have my two cents put in. But no - I simply cannot handle hearing about someone neglecting animals, especially dogs, but any animals in any way. The fact that this is to such a horrific degree as to be 'news worthy' just turns my stomach. Literally, I change the channel, skip the page and have not informed myself about the situation at all. Forgive me for not being a better advocate for animals.
A strong advocate would learn everything and be vocal about change, about legislation, about penalties. A strong advocate would offer to take some of those poor, neglected dogs into their own homes and nurse them back to health and a long and happy life in a loving home.
I'm not that strong advocate but boy do I ever admire the people who are. For me, it hurts, physically, to see that kind of neglect and pain heaped on defenceless animals. All I can do is cuddle my Cleo and promise her she will never, ever be subjected to that kind of cruelty or abuse at my hands. But thank you to those advocates who do take care of the neglected and abused - in my books - you are akin to Saints.
A strong advocate would learn everything and be vocal about change, about legislation, about penalties. A strong advocate would offer to take some of those poor, neglected dogs into their own homes and nurse them back to health and a long and happy life in a loving home.
I'm not that strong advocate but boy do I ever admire the people who are. For me, it hurts, physically, to see that kind of neglect and pain heaped on defenceless animals. All I can do is cuddle my Cleo and promise her she will never, ever be subjected to that kind of cruelty or abuse at my hands. But thank you to those advocates who do take care of the neglected and abused - in my books - you are akin to Saints.
Monday, July 12, 2010
To email or not to email
So often it is easier for people who are very computer literate and accustomed to talking by keyboard to send an email rather than have a face to face meeting. Especially if the topic under discussion could present some form of conflict, minor or otherwise. Probably the best way to handle a situation like this is just to suck it up and go talk to the other person and you'll discover that it wasn't such a big deal after all. We human beings are very good at imagining the boogy man is much bigger than it is.
But there are those times when an email is a good way to communicate something - to one or a group of people. Many times I have been on the receiving end of emails that just make me shake my head and wonder if the person who wrote it took the time to self-edit before sending. Pretty sure they didn't. Pretty sure I have to constantly remind myself to do this too. Once you get typing BAM you can say a lot of things in a few, often insulting, paragraphs. Might not be your intention but there you have it.
When it comes to emails, no matter to whom or about what, always read it before you hit the send button. Check for spelling and punctuation, sure, because your email represents you. However, what is really important is to read it as if you were the receiver. How would you react to what you are saying? Is there a better way to say something so that it doesn't lose the message but doesn't come across as insulting, blaming, uncaring or belligerent? Do you have to use the words "must" or can you change that to read "should consider". Harsh directives by email get an equally harsh reaction so if you can soften it, try to do so.
But there are those times when an email is a good way to communicate something - to one or a group of people. Many times I have been on the receiving end of emails that just make me shake my head and wonder if the person who wrote it took the time to self-edit before sending. Pretty sure they didn't. Pretty sure I have to constantly remind myself to do this too. Once you get typing BAM you can say a lot of things in a few, often insulting, paragraphs. Might not be your intention but there you have it.
When it comes to emails, no matter to whom or about what, always read it before you hit the send button. Check for spelling and punctuation, sure, because your email represents you. However, what is really important is to read it as if you were the receiver. How would you react to what you are saying? Is there a better way to say something so that it doesn't lose the message but doesn't come across as insulting, blaming, uncaring or belligerent? Do you have to use the words "must" or can you change that to read "should consider". Harsh directives by email get an equally harsh reaction so if you can soften it, try to do so.
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