Tag: brand

Sometimes things do go wrong - this is a reality of business and life. How one responds to an issue or how one resolves an embarrassment, determines how your business and personal reputation is scarred or strengthened in a time of crisis.

Read our exclusive cover story titled REPUTATION CRISIS! | HOW TO TURN YOUR MISFORTUNE INTO OPPORTUNITY by Willem S Eksteen, Chief Executive, Stone, as well a host of other topical management articles written by professionals, consultants and academics in the October/November 2020 edition of BusinessBrief.

COVID-19 has brought about the notion of people working together for the greater good, rather than a world where people exist for their own survival. Humanity has been tasked with looking out for one other because what we do now has a ripple effect on others. In saying this, brands also have the responsibility to consider more than just their businesses but also their communities, cities, people and every element that they directly and indirectly impact.

In 1994, I wrote an article in which I stated that ‘the ‘eggshell issues’ of racial discrimination, bias, prejudice and stereotyping, until now far too sensitive to discuss openly, needed to become the subject of continuous debate at all levels of the organisation.’

The photo of Julius Malema outside a Click’s store, Monday went viral for all the wrong reasons. Sporting a magnificent pair of Prada loafers, Malema joined the protest that had been called for by his party. It would unlikely have been the image that he would have chosen to represent the Eff’s image, given that it will set you back no less than R6,000, for both the left and right shoes.

Most of South Africa’s corporate marketers are bypassing the youth market, a 46% slice of today’s consumers who, although they may not yet have the buying power of their parents, are key decision makers when it comes to identifying trends, promoting brands and ultimately influence the majority of household buying decisions.

In the film 'Field of Dreams' an out-of-luck farmer played by Kevin Costner sees a vision for a baseball field in his cornfield. He builds the baseball field from his vision spurred by the voice telling him that if he builds it, 'they' will come. Before long, dead baseball players take to the field and Mr Costner’s character wins all his detractors to his vision. The same adage applied to business hasn’t seen such a happy ending and has proved to be one of the biggest marketing fallacies of all time.

Picture this, it’s 1975 and paper diary research is state-of-the-art when conducting FMCG brand research. It’s now 2018, with exponential advances in technology and statistical methods available to the research industry, and yet in some circles, archaic diary surveys are still being implemented.

A popular burger chain’s logo appears above an uncomfortable close-up of a naked woman on a porn site, while a food retailer’s banners appeared next to fake news articles on a highly disreputable website. Chances are these brands have no idea that their brand adverts are appearing in such brand damaging environments.

The reason for leadership to make building a purposeful culture a priority is not to have happy employees - nice as that is - but to inspire employees with the organisation’s purpose in order to deliver on the brand promise.