First Impressions are Lasting Impressions

I was invited to a meeting once and when I got there on time, the person who had called the meeting was not there. Twenty minutes later, she sauntered in with an apology and a sandwich, which she had already started eating, wrapped in foil. She sat down and continued eating her sandwich, in the foil, and with crumbs attached to her face. This was my first impression of this woman. It was not a very good one. Sadly for her, it is the one thing that sticks out in my mind when I think of her.

This morning, I went down to the ground floor and there was our VP, Customer Service at the door greeting customers, along with a couple of his team. As a customer, this would have been a great first impression - prompt 8am start with a senior executive member at the door meeting and greeting.

While it is indeed cliche, you really do only have one opportunity to make a first impression. There is generally no rewind button and what you give is what stays etched in the mind of the person or persons you interact with. First impressions are the last thing anyone forgets. And be it via your frontline staff, your telemarketing team, your website or your sales pitch - your first step is the one which will determine how successful you will be. First impressions are motivated by our need to influence others, have them act in a certain way and the ultimate onjective is to gain a reward of some kind. And first impressions usually are centred around really small things like a prompt response to a complaint, or the usability of a website. This morning I tried finding info on flights and the first website did not really inspire me to make a purchasing decision right then and there. However, the second site, which was clean and easy to navigate, and which also was complemented by a Twitter customer care channel grabbed my interest and more importantly pushed me closer to making a purchasing decision. All the scrolling ads, pop up windows and flash in the world on the other site did not resonate with me as a consumer, who wanted to be in and out of there without the hassle. And hassle it was.

So it is important to take the time to make that first impression count. Think about not only your presentation and how it can build your brand, but also how your presentation relates to your customer. Think of the criteria with which that person will judge your brand based on the first impression you create.

• Do they trust the brand?
• Does the brand inspire confidence?
• Is it a professional image?
• Is it a company that cares about people - both its customers and its staff?
• Is the brand understood and well represented by all staff, across all levels?

And the list is endless. But these are just a few questions one can ask when evaluating how you present yourself and your brand to your audience, because first impressions last!

Zeroing in, or out...on your brand

When Twitter zero'ed out last week, lots of faces crumpled in anguish, in sheer terror because the legions of followers they had built up over the past few weeks, past several months were suddenly gone, leaving them in an empty room, with no voices, no chatter, no hero worship. Among these were the brands who had painstakingly set up fancy Twitter pages, all nicely branded and boiler-plated. Luckily for all of them...us...it was a temporary glitch and in no time at all, the world had righted itself and following and followers had been restored.

But what if it hadn't? What if Twitter had screwed up your online "popularity" forever? What if you had lost all your followers - all those people who reached out to you during the day asking questions, retweeting your links, #FF-ing you? Would you have survived?

And more importantly for brands, do you have any idea who these people are? Now chances of knowing them all, may be slim to none. But is the rapport with them strong enough to withstand a crash such as this, and make them come back on their own, without you having to sit at your desk, trying to remember their Twitter handles?

It's something to think about isn't it? One lesson brands can learn from this is to not put all their social media energies into one social media basket. Some folks love Twitter and that's the extent of the relationship, but as we saw last week, it can be doom for the one-way brand. It's not an excuse to now go out and populate the SM universe. Be practical and relevant and go where your audience is sure to be. Be practical if you're a one-man show and it's just you managing social media.

But the other question coming out of the Great Zero is...

Would you have been able to keep on going without them?

There are some who have relied so heavily on social media that perhaps the traditional forms of engagement and communication have taken a bit of a hit. So on a day when the technology hits the skids, are you prepared to keep it going without missing a beat? Have you managed to create a synergy with your online tools and your traditional strategies to build a loyal offline community?

I often wonder where I would be if one day I lost my old phone (not a smartphone, so I guess it's a dumbphone), chock full of email addresses, phone numbers and texts with important info - all of which, sadly, is saved nowhere else. I think about a life before advanced mobile technology and how my telephone book was just that - an actual book, and I could rattle off numbers without blinking because I did not have mobile phone books to depend on. Now, with maybe the exception of my mother's mobile number and those of a couple close friends, I am just terrible with remembering data like that now. At the same time however, I am not limited by emails and tweets when it comes to my real life relationships. It makes it more fun, more convenient, yes...but it does not beat going out in the real world.

So really the question is How else are you building your brand?

• Is your website a hot mess because you have sold your soul to Facebook and Twitter?
• Do your followers know how else to find you, i.e. via your website or other platform, or do they think your Twitter URL is your...well...your URL?
• Is your non-virtual frontline customer service below par because you are a Twitter customer service superstar?
• Have you done away with in-depth articles or blogs because you've got 140 characters?

It seems ludicrous but it's a serious question - one which we all should be asking ourselves because at the end of the day, these are merely tools and not the whole enchilada. If the basket of eggs should fall, would that be the end for your strategy?

Social Media Contests: And the Winner Is...

Now I follow a few organisations on Facebook and Twitter. Why?

- I have an interest in them
-I have an interest in what they are selling
- I have an interest in the industry in which they operate
- I am looking for exclusive updates and offers

Now I have had the opportunity to win a prize via social media and that was great, but it's not my main motivation. I hardly have the time either. I joked with my cousin, who coincidentally won a prize from the community discussed in this post, that one had to almost live on the internet, stalking updates and tweets in order to get a chance to win, and then you're competing with hundreds of people who have the same idea at the same time. It's a bit much for me. But that's just me. Lots of people go looking for goodies and there is absolutely nothing wrong with this. I think it can be a great way to engage your community and get them talking or participating.

But I have seen where communities are formed and built with no real brand focus.  There is a recent example of where a community (same one where my cousin won his prize) has exploded with daily trivia and the like, giving away product-related prizes. The product related prizes are great. Simple, not too flashy. Gets people wanting to come get them. The trivia I was not too enthused about though. It's some of the most random things, not even closely related to the brand, not to the company, not even to the industry. Just stuff you could probably go on any arbitrary "Party Games" site and pull down. I must say, this was a tad bit disappointing. Yes, it's a pretty strong brand we're talking about, so some may say they don't need to do much, but give away stuff. But where is the value in that? Whats the point then?

The prize I won was related to the brand, and got me to come in and see the place (though I have seen it many times), but HOW I got it was also creative and forced entrants to think, discuss and share about the brand itself.  They focused the contest around an event they were having, and the trivia was about the event, the origins of the event in its native format and cool facts one never knew about the event. So one had to go searching out the info and in effect, one learnt about the event with the end result being the opportunity to win something related to it. So I was more informed, more interested and ultimately better positioned to make a purchasing decision based on the whole contest experience.

This current contest experience does a lot to build the following, but not much to build value. The other content being shared as well is soooo random. No product updates, specials, company updates. There are a few photos from brand events which are great but when I saw the random YouTube videos, quite like the ones you may share with your friends on your profile page, I was a bit astonished.  I am hoping that maybe the first objective was to build the following and then engage them once they had them. But seeing that they are now in the tens of thousands with the following, can we start the value-add?

I know we love numbers and big numbers at that, and that's fine, but social media should not just be about numbers but a meaningful community. I love getting feedback from my community on things related to what we're peddling and on the general financial matters, which I think help them and help us as well. And while we may not have flashy stuff to give away, I think there is a greater value in hearing what customers like, don't like, want, don't want and empowering them to voice their opinions. Not saying we don't give stuff away. We do, though not as much as others. But what we do give everyday is something which focuses on the brand and the helping the customer. I think that's worth a whole lot, but again...that's just me.

What do you think? Great strategy or could be better? Who's the winner here?

5 Tips for Creating a Successful Social Media Contest

Are you Happy and Engaged?

I found this video to be hilarious, but the not so funny part of it is that the strategies mentioned here for engaging employees are very real in many organisations, leaving a lot to be desired.



Engagement ends with management - How many times does your management team go on retreat to discuss strategic direction, and somehow the real meat of the matter never gets back to you? You're just told, "this is how it's going to be" and are expected to tow the line, no questions asked.

The email - Do you feel valued or engaged when important issues, which heavily impact your core functions, your team or your welfare are communicated via a company-wide email, which most times may get lost in your inbox and you only go search for it and read it after someone who has read it asks your opinion on it?

The ad - Do you know what's happening in your organisation before the wider world, or are you just another nameless face in the sea of nameless faces targeted by expensive advertising? Do you feel empowered to sell what your company is selling, because you have been fully involved in the process from conception to development to implementation?

The Power Point, with loads of clip art - Are you huddled into the staff training room and with your eyes taped open, confronted by a 100 slide Power Point presentation, with charts and tables and revolving text and clip art, which may be full of relevant information, but not dynamic enough to "fire you up" and get your buy-in?

"Noone says they're not". - Are you motivated? Do you feel like you're making a difference and that your work is appreciated and makes an impact on the overall operations and strategic direction of the organisation? Do you feel like getting up in the morning to go do what you do? But more importantly, does management care if you do? Do they ask? Is there any engagement initiative internally to gauge employee morale and solicit feedback?

I can't find HR - Is your well-being shackled to the people in Human Resources? Do you have to be depend wholly on them for any type of information that impacts you, or is there an organisation-wide tripe C structure of communication, collaboration and consultation, which makes giving and getting feedback painless?
Are you an important part of a well oiled machine or just one of a million screws trying to hold it all together? Is internal communications a vital part of your organisation's strategic plan or is it an "aside" that gets remembered when it's time to set targets and deliverables?

Are you happy and engaged?

Bo Obama - PR Superstar!

This weekend I discovered Bo. Bo Obama.

Now while I knew about Bo, what I did not know is that Bo had such a huge online presence. And I am not just talking about articles about Bo, but official and unofficial blogs and tweets and Facebook pages Bo is a social media superstar. Is it any wonder, considering that his master used the tools so skillfully in his presidential election campaign?

Ole Socks has nothing on Bo the dog! (rest his soul)

Now what I like about Bo, besides being a dog lover myself, and loving anything doggie, is that Bo is just another piece of the Obama brand and a piece that has not been forgotten. Of course all eyes are on the President when it comes to policies, both home and foreign, and all that other presidential stuff, but the President is also a regular guy, with a family and of course, a dog.  And say what you will about it, Bo is part of public relations gold, because there will always be an audience out there who is interested in the other parts of the president's life - what he likes to eat, read and what's going on with the kids, and the dog. While the parents may not want to open up the kids to such public scrutiny, I don't quite think Bo Obama minds being such a public sensation.

Politics aside, most people would agree that President Obama is a masterful communicator. Obama is really our nation’s first public figure to adeptly embrace the full power of the new media buffet. - Aaron Kwittken

It's just another part of the brand machinery behind the President, who has opened up the White House to the world as never before, and who has leveraged both traditional and new media to keep in touch with the public on both business matters and not-so-much business matters. Though there have and will be missteps where this is concerned, he continues to have a broad appeal and you can be sure that the peek into his everyday life has helped that.

In much the same way, customers want to do business with real people and though I hardly advocate pets' blogs in order to achieve this, the insights which can best be shared via social media should be encouraged. And whether it's sharing information on staff activities in communities, or creative peeks at the daily operations of the business, now is the time to start building communities not just around your products and services but around your people, ultimately humanising your brand. Brands should not be afraid to talk about themselves and of course there are still issues around employees and how they use social media to promote the brand, but the time to start not just thinking about it, but doing it is now.

I still love Bo though. He's such a star!

More Bo?

Official Bo photos from the White House
Bo on the official WH blog

As well as
Bo blog (too cute)
Bo videos

Who's managing your brand?

Yesterday afternoon, after a week of craving, I headed to this particular fast food outlet to just get it over with. What I saw when I got there was alarming to say the least. There was one girl at the counter, and she was both cashing orders and packing them. That is a problem in itself but that was not the issue. What struck me was her appearance! The young lady was wearing the company branded shirt, and it was riddled with holes. Not tiny pinholes but gaping wounds in the fabric. I looked at her in horror as she stood there, non-plussed about her appearance, casually serving people their artery blocking meals.

There was a huge hole, probably the size of a 50 cent piece in the front of the shirt and she simply wore a matching red tank under the shirt, in some lame attempt to disguise it? I don't know. I cannot fathom what purpose this was supposed to serve. There were holes at the back of the shirt, some sloppily patched up with black thread, which by the way, was a stark contrast. There was, what looked like a bleach stain on the back,  and the shirt's collar looked as though rats made a meal of it. But yet on the breast was the brand EMBLAZONED for all to see.

I am not sure what the managers of these outlets are responsible for, but I would hope they would be caretakers of the brand in the absence of a Marketing VP. It is NOT the responsibility of a Marketing VP or Human Resources VP to monitor how the brand is represented to the public. Did her manager not realise she needed a new polo? Was a request made for one? I shudder to think that a request was made and denied, or that they don't have extra polos lying around. It was pretty distasteful and I don't care if you're frying french fries or giving a speech on global television, there is something to be said about image and how your employees maintain the image of your company. Even if this employee could not give 2 hoots about her ratty shirt, someone else should have.

I was just rather stunned by this as you can tell. It reminded me of any evening, at happy hour, I saw a young lady, resplendent in her bank's uniform, going down low with glass after glass of spirited drinks in her hand. And I thought, "Couldn't she go home and change out of the people's uniform before she came to embarrass herself in this manner?" There is something to be said for engaging your employees about how your brand lives everywhere, even in their appearance and actions. Every individual in an organisation is a brand ambassador. It's not solely the responsibility of the people in the Board Rooms to protect and manage the brand. It starts from the frontline and goes all the way up. Clearly this escapes some.

I don't think this franchise is in dire financial straits that they cannot afford polos for their staff. The long lines on any given day, at any given time remind me that fast food is king in Trinidad and Tobago. And while not everyone may care about the image of your brand and just want their box of oily mess, good Lord...the employees should care. How much do you care about your corporate brand?