I had an enjoyable chat over coffee with Anol and Josh from B2Bento last evening. Among other topics, we spoke and debated about how ‘social media’ can be an organisational tool to encourage employees to be advocates of their employer’s brand. I got stumped over a few tough questions, but nothing is more enjoyable than intellectual stimulation.
Among Anol’s many questions, one particularly touched the very foundation of my arguments for enhancing social connectivity in the workplace. Here it is, paraphrased.
What then is the winning formula to encourage employees to speak openly and favourably of their employers’ brand? How do you create employee brand ambassadors?
Not an easy question to answer. I have argued for leadership figures to lead and implement fundamental changes to encourage open discussion and endorsement of employer’s brand. It is a tall order, as Anol pointed out, because the undertaking seeks to overhaul culture that has probably been ingrained for years within an organisation (especially true in a Singaporean context, many examples of conservative people structures exist). Is there another way in then?
Finding out later that Anol is an Apple fanatic and aficionado was an important discovery (particularly in that moment). The immediate answer then (not theanswer, but probably one of many probable answers and solutions) became more apparent to me.
Selling Cool
About a month or so ago, I swallowed my ‘Google boy’ ego, bit the bullet, took a vow of geek celibacy and resolved to remain above the fray:
I vowed never to get into another argument about which smartphone or mobile operating system (OS) is better. No more iPhone vs (somebody), iOS vs Android, etc.
Technology serves a purpose in making our lives better, so the more of my peers, seniors at work and people in general adopt the smartphone as a tool for learning, the better I will feel. Everyone has the right to access real-time information and knowledge, just as I do, for work or daily life. In any case, I do openly admit that the iPhone is such a usable, intuitive and easy-to-use device. And most certainly not everyone needs a ‘WIFI hotspot’ in their pocket.
But I also realised something that will not keep Apple down or weaken it in the face of competition from the likes of Motorola, Samsung, HTC or any of the other mobile device manufacturer. Simply because…
You can only fight cool with cool.
Let’s face it, Apple is the epitome of cool. No doubt about it. The real hook in their messaging to customers and their admirers is that ’you can be cool’. Anol mentioned a Don Norman’s concept about us wanting to see ourselves in the objects that we own (correct me if I’m wrong). That’s exactly what Apple addresses in its ads. Apple sells you ‘cool’, a state of mind enhanced by how you think others will perceive ‘you’. Here’s a comparative study using video ads. Watch this iPod ad from Apple.
I brought back the iPod ad because it was the beginning of Apple mad love for most ‘non-design’ people that ultimately led to the current obsession with the iPhone. Now contrast that with this Motorola ad for the Droid. “Android 2.1”? “Xenon Flash”? Only the geeks will truly appreciate it. Sterile.
Here’s where Apple triumps again. Nothing in the following video mentions the iPhone (except the end caption). What Apple did was to connect that delicate human moment with the iPhone 4. No hard sell, but gentle tugging at our emotions. Cool.
Now this is my phone. In my opinion, if OS is a winning criteria, quite possibly the most powerful phone in the world right now. However, I’m in no doubt that Google sucks bad at marketing its products (other than their cash cow aka internet ads) and this video reflects that. This video is all about features, features, features. No ‘you’ or ‘me’ in it.
‘Selling cool’ has certainly helped Apple to maintain its mystique.
So if ‘selling cool’ works for products, can it work in an organisational context? Can companies sell ‘cool’ to their employees?
The Cool Organisation
I say, why not? What’s stopping anyone from internally marketing their company’s brand as ‘cool’? Isn’t communicating the virtues of the company’s brand, in relation to market competitors’, a sure way of keeping employees’ morale up? No one wants to work for a No. 2 or No. 3 brand.
Or am I wrong? Or ‘cool’ is just not feasible in employee relations?
But if you agree that ‘cool’ has its merits in creating employee brand ambassadors, the challenge is then, how do you create a ‘cool’ organisation? How do you create an organisation’s brand that employees will talk about openly and passionately?
Here’s another quick case study on ‘cool’.
Is YOG ‘cool’ enough to be passionate about?
In this CNA article, Zainudin Noordin implied that the Youth Olympic Games is not getting the kind of passionate support that it needs. That what is needed now is people “coming to action” to be passionate about the YOG. After the JJ Lin YOG cheer fiasco, I am sure YOG ‘cool factor’ has lost some of its shine. Is there a fix? Can ‘cool’ be produced on demand?
But most certainly not if someone’s brilliant idea of YOG cool is Ris Low, as in the next video.
What do YOU think? Is ‘cool’ cool enough to change how we perceive our employers’ brands? What will be the stumbling blocks? Is it the type of products or services that will determine ‘cool’? Can management folks appreciate ‘cool’? Do share below with your opinions, I would love to hear from you.
Ever wonder what’s the fuss about social media? Why is it important to understand social media’s impact on how we communicate and share information? And the fact that, just like the internet and email, the social and technological changes brought about by social media are irreversible?
Look Who’s Back
For the second year running, the folks from Six Degrees are back to present Social Media World Forum Asia 2010 in Singapore. This year’s event promises to be bigger than last year’s and will present a host of speakers from many sides of the social media story.
This post first appeared in an internal employee ‘email-cast’ by yours truly. Adapted for general reading.
Singaporeans like to complain, right?
We complain about everything! Why is it flooding in Orchard Road? Why are MRT fares expensive? Why watching World Cup on cable is so expensive? Why is the weather so hot/cold? Okay lah, let’s say we call these: ‘feedback‘.
Now look at the photo on the right. This is the message from the video display screens around Gatwick Airport in London:
Daniel Pink has a big compelling statement to make:
There’s a mismatch between what science knows and what business does.
Pink is the author of the best-selling book ‘Drive: The Surprising Truth of What Motivates Us’, a study that argues long-held conventional beliefs in human motivation are actually hampering effective, high performance.
That is my sole conviction. Just as the practice of paying bloggers in dollars to endorse products is a thorny and questionable issue, providing employees with monetary incentives to engage on the social web comes with considerable risks to reputations, both employer’s and employees’. The integrity of the corporate and personal brands will be questioned. Don’t forget, we are dealing with social media, everyone is ready to pounce on you at the whiff of a questionable practice or the slightest mistake (see Google search results on ‘I Hate Tiger Airways’).
Furthermore, to quote Daryl Tay: ‘Will paying get the same kind of emotions and authenticity? Will your paid post even be remembered a week from today?’
But I know you will still ask, why would employees openly and willingly talk about their employers on social media when they are not compensated for it?
‘Can treating employees like customers increase job satisfaction?’
The Satisfied Employee
Here’s my initial response to Brenda’s question (with edits):
It is crucial that we treat employees as ‘internal customers‘. Making that differentiation can make a lot of difference to how they perceive their jobs/roles and contribution to the company. Job satisfaction will equate to retaining of talents and knowledge assets, which is something a lot of managers are grappling with (especially in a positive economy).
Peter Drucker said ‘management’s duty is to preserve the assets of the institution in its care’*. In that respect, all employees must be equally treated with the same care typically reserved for customers. In today’s information-producing workplaces, even more importance and care must be given to increasingly-mobile employees. Unlike the manual worker (who peddles his strength and energy), today’s information-driven employees retain their practice’s knowledge and developed skills and sought to bring them along to the next employer (and, in some cases, including knowledge of the ex-employer’s strategic and operational secrets).
Which of the two is a good strategy to increase Twitter followers for business purpose and not play number game?
1) Follow large number of members who will follow you in return to increase your followers.
2) Tweet interesting topics, value insights so that others automatically follow you. I understand initially you need to follow people to allow for others to follow you but in the long run which strategy you will adopt to increase your followers. I mean real followers who can actually be beneficial to your business later on or you can benefit from them.
Will you follow twit(s) (Somebody who uses twitter) who will never follow you?
A fair number of people on LinkedIn mentioned ‘Buy your Twitter followers on eBay’ and I totally agree with that. It is fairly easy to increase your followers count if you are really keen on doing that and there are published methodologies on how to go about doing it. An example, certain keywords that you tweet on will somehow automatically get you followers, for instance, ‘social media’, ‘holidays’ and the very popular ‘sex’.
Sometime in 2006, I started to frequent a Malay barber guy in Race Course Road, close to where I used to live on Petain Road. Operating out of a shop underneath a HDB block, the joint has probably seen better days; it is now sparse and functional. Three of them (all in their 50s) worked out of the same premises and it took me a while to get comfortable with one particular guy. Other than being cheap (SG$8 per trim), a haircut at the barber gets the job done quickly and efficiently, none of the fussiness of the salon and its army of stylists.
My Malay barber’s a quiet man. Apart from pleasantries, Vespa stories and the weather, we hardly got personal. But all the same, my sessions with this guy had been very pleasant. We had a well-established, mutually-beneficial relationship. His colleagues knew that and respected this relationship well to never court me to sit in their chairs, even if the place was swarmed. I was this guy’s regular and loyal customer.
I had an enjoyable chat over coffee with Anol and Josh from B2Bento last evening. Among other topics, we spoke and debated about how ‘social media’ can be an organisational tool to encourage employees to be advocates of their employer’s brand. I got stumped over a few tough questions, but nothing is more enjoyable than intellectual stimulation.
For the second year running, the folks from 
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