BARQ & A

Posted By: DSR

I’m working on container terminal with 750 employees, and I’m planning to change the strategy for choosing employee of the month which is based on a random selection per dept. and then senior managers vote for the winner, and of course the selection is always based on the manages friends and who they best like. So I think its a de-motivation tool and should be changed but the problem is to apply a fair criteria since we have operators working in fields, (Blue Collar and white Collar) so what will be the best way to select and evaluate operation and admin. performance?

BARQ’s response:

DSR:

What are your reasons for naming an employee of the month? Motivate better performance? Raise morale? Appear magnanimous?

EOM programs should be part of a planned “internal branding” strategy. Often the most overlooked audience of a company’s branding efforts is the staff. Your entire payroll should be fully informed as to what your company represents — your core values and character. That should be reflected in all company communications, including job descriptions, performance reviews and employee manuals. Even bulletin board notices and emails.

If you have set the standards by which each employee is to best represent the values of the company, then a simple point system of how well an employee meets those standards day-to-day could be used to elect the EOM. Be sure to include ALL aspects of the brand character. If you value loyalty, then part of the point system should include years of service. Just make sure it is broad, balanced and flexible enough so that no particular sector, division, job title, race, gender, nationality or age group has an edge.

And be sure to celebrate the reasons why each employee each month has won. Make sure everyone knows what went into the decision. But don’t forget, you first need to plan and implement your internal branding strategy, and thoroughly communicate the parameters of the EOM program. Otherwise it will just look like another popularity contest.

Good Luck,

BARQ
SELMARQ Brands’ Best Friend

Posted By: AGH

I am looking for some insight on what should go into the “footer” of a press release? It was my understanding that the footer is a generic description of the company and its products. But I haven’t been able to confirm this.

Our current company footer sounds like advertising rather than an objective description of our company. I have written plenty of press releases and have developed guidelines on writing good press releases, so I know that the body copy should not sound like advertising. But does the same concept apply to the footer? Are there standard guidelines for how to write the footer?

Would appreciate any thoughts or insight you have!

AGH

BARQ’s response:

AGH,

The ideal press release is crafted in such a way that any editor or reporter with integrity could lift the entire content of your PR and make a good article of it. The purpose of the “footer” (“boilerplate” in PR terms) is to give credibility to what has been said in the PR. If you shamelessly promote your company with superlatives and hyperbole, it does NOT sound credible, and would be excised by all but the most corrupt of editors. If it makes your company seem to be an expert regarding the subject of the PR, it is a good boilerplate.

Remember that the ultimate objective of any publication is to be a trusted and credible source of timely, relevant industry information for their target audience. That gives them stature in the industry — a powerful tool for generating revenue.

Also remember that, like a good reporter, you should put the information most pertinent to the publication’s audience first, and the least important last. That enables quick editing… they can cut from the bottom up. You might think this puts your boilerplate in jeopardy, but PR is a LONG TERM game. If you build a reputation for trust and integrity (brand) with the editor, eventually you boilerplate info will be included.

BARQ
SELMARQ Brands’ Best Friend

Posted By: ILM

We are a manufacturer with a well-known brand. Our competition has lower prices that we are unable to meet for similar features. Sales have dropped dramatically over the last few years.

We think we have a quality advantage but the consumer is unaware of the difference. Because the consumer ranges from basic/beginner to advanced/expert knowledge, that quality difference is lost to the
basic/beginner category. The basic/beginner line has become commoditized and our competitor’s products meet the needs of the consumer at this level.

Management does not want to advertise a product that is not producing the returns it once was. They’e very hesitant to innovate new features, fearing failure. And they will not sacrifice quality on
this line, for fear of hurting the higher quality line. They know the situation and how dire it looks, but they are just too afraid to move in any direction.

Am I missing something other than innovation and advertising? Is there another solution that I have completely forgot about? I am sorry to be very general, but I would prefer not disclosing too much information.

BARQ’s response:

Dear ILM:

It happens to every company. You either compete on innovation (and on brand) or on price. If you compete on price, everyone loses (usually to Wal-Mart).

Advertising is just a subset of marketing. I offer these 2 insights from the late Peter Drucker:

• “Because its purpose is to create a customer, the business has two basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results, all the rest are costs.”

• “The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.”

It sounds like you don’t know your potential customer well enough to be able to attract his/her attention to YOUR BRAND over your competitors’.

Having a well-known brand does you no good if there is not a corresponding value to that brand. Brand is what allows you to charge MORE than commodity prices. If you can’t get that, then your brand must be known for other than value. Is that the brand you are afraid of hurting by lowering quality?

There are six basic methods for influencing your market’s buying habits:

• Reciprocation (you gave them something of perceived value, they feel obliged to buy something from you)

• Commitment and Consistency (they buy what is consistent with their beliefs or behavior)

• Social Proof (everyone else is buying it, so it must be OK);

• Liking (they like the seller — good ol’ boys and neighborhood sales “parties,” like scrap booking “crops”)

• Authority (it is what is recommended by someone in a position of perceived authority — government agencies or celebrities); or

• Scarcity (get it now before it’s gone forever).

All of these are methods for marketing your product. If you are not going to market it, sell the line — otherwise your share will shrink to nothing and the line will be worthless. Someone with marketing savvy will buy it and do what it takes to make money on it (if the market still exists).

Cris Ashworth of United Record Pressing in Nashville has turned around an antiquated vinyl record manufacturing company by taking advantage of the old vinyl pressing people who either couldn’t market this classic recording media, or didn’t know when to get out of the biz. He’s not using innovation or high tech equipment, but thriving on the niche global market of vinyl recording aficionados. He’s making a fine profit — and growing!

Without marketing or innovation, I am afraid your situation is not solvable from within. If you don’t get outside help (a consultant or hired gun) this could be a downhill slide.

Try to find case studies of turnarounds in similar markets or industries that identify how a brand was lifted above commodity status. Your product doesn’t need to BE better than your competitor’s; it just needs to SEEM better in the minds of your markets.

Good luck!

BARQ
SELMARQ Brands’ Best Friend