Top tips for twenty-twelve (#1) – Breaking down silos

If I had to name and shame the biggest problem that exists in most organisations, it is the old favourite: silo mentality. It is hard to quantify, but if it could be the difference between below- and above-average margins or levels of service delivery.

How much is it costing you?

This is the first in a series I’m running over the next few weeks to shape your planning for 2012. It s designed to prompt your thinking about what might you need to do early in the new year in order to break down the silos in your organisation.

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How to move your brand forwards, not backwards

There is a good market for people who know about branding. Why? Because we live in an age where the value of brands can be as volatile as the Australian rugby team’s performances.

In the early 2000s, BP responded proactively to the market implications of climate change by constructing its own internal carbon trading system – a system that regulators have since used as the basis for carbon trading markets. After the Gulf Oil spill in 2010, its name was mud.

On the flipside, for the past 10 years or so whilst Steve Jobs was in charge, Apple has become so well known for quality innovation that it has become Fortune magazine’s most admired company in the world. Incoming CEO, Tim Cook, has big shoes to fill.

To understand why branding matters more now than it used to, we need to look at the drivers of societal change because they are dictating how brands should move forwards.

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Who’s winning the Coca-Cola versus Pepsi race?

To keep an eye on how business is changing there are few better places to look than to high profile consumer companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsi. There is a pitched battle going on that highlights the complexities of brand management.

There are lessons for all organisations here: branding is about more than a logo. It is about the perceptions held by anyone who deals with or is affected by the business. Given that the flagship products of Coca-Cola and Pepsi consist of brown, sugary water, they need to be acutely aware of societal trends when forming their business strategy.

Pepsi took a break from its 23-year history of advertising during the Super Bowl this year. Instead it launched its “refresh everything” campaign, designed to fund ideas for improvement in local communities to the tune of $1 million per month. Naturally, you get more voting power if you buy certain Pepsi products!

The project has not been without its hiccups, but it does confirm a re-positioning strategy that Simon Mainwaring of We First refers to as a move from ‘celebrity’ to ‘celebrant’ brand. Pepsi wants to sit alongside its customers, recognising their aspirations and celebrating their successes, rather than coming across as a brash, attention seeking celebrity.

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