As Britain slides down the rankings from position 10 to 13 in the Future Brand’s Country Brand Index, a global study of country brands, it shows how factors such as economic problems and unrest have a negative affect on a country’s brand.

It’s not surprising. One minute Britain is basking in the pageantry of the Royal Wedding, relishing our history and sense of occasion. The next, the streets are full of rioters and unrest.

Having a strong country brand is pivotal as it influences the perception of tourists, investors and buyers of British products. Can we recover? The signs are positive having just won the bid for the 2017 World Athletics Championship, and Brand Britain marketers are hoping that the London 2012 Olympics will give us an opportunity to showcase a fresh image.

Let’s take inspiration from the countries who’ve improved their brand. Japan’s increased its ranking despite the earthquake, and Thailand is showing a strong performance in tourism despite political upheaval in the country. Brazil has seen a boost following successful bids to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games, and Canada which took full advantage of promoting its natural beauty throughout the 2010 Winter Olympics tops the Index.

I’m hopeful that next year Britain will have a fantastic year. With campaigns such as Visit Britain’s tourism campaign to inspire the tourism industry to promote our country in the run up to the Olympics, we’re heading in the right direction.

I’ll be playing my part by working with British companies to help them market themselves effectively. We’re putting on a very British event, a family Olympics day and a Street Party celebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012 in Marketing Zone’s home town. And on the subject of Marketing Zone, we’re delighted to take our place on the CIM Marketing Excellence Awards Finalist List in the Retail Category.

John Lewis is using ‘Made in UK’ on over 4,000 products as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility programme. So I’d like to know if London members think that ‘Made In’ is relevant to today’s consumers.

My opinion is that it works for certain countries. Switzerland is synonymous with fine timepieces, Germany highly regarded for precision machinery, Italy is the ultimate for gold jewellery, and France is associated with perfumes and luxury accessories.

What does Made In mean?
It sounds obvious, but it needs defining. Currently, as long as imported goods are 51% produced in Europe, it can qualify as ‘Made In’. But we suspect that John Lewis has a more stringent category, because as a British retailer, their customers expect it to support other British firms when it can.

What does it mean for Britain?
What do you think ‘Made in Britain’ conveys? Is it design, creativity, quality, traditionalism? Let me know your thoughts on @CIMLondon Twitter. Certainly, ‘Made In’ triggers the emotions and branding is all about emotional connections.

So maybe its time to ride the wave of British Pride – keep calm and carry on style.

30 November 2011
8:30
LCCI, Queen Street, EC4
£15 for CIM members
£25 for guests and students
What’s it all about?
A century ago a group of sales managers met in London and formed the Sales Managers’ Association, which eventually became The Chartered Institute of Marketing. This paper suggests that the time has come for the two disciplines of sales and marketing to be reunited, after years of fragmentation. It asks if sales and marketing intrinsically belong together. Organisations that do create closer links between them seem to post better results, have more effective inter-departmental relationships and create positive culture change. Yet the challenges to successfully merge these powerful business forces are significant.

What’s in it for me?
Sales person or marketer – join the debate!
Get insight into how sales and marketing departments can intellectually fuse together, gain one hour CPD and receive a complimentary hard and PDF copy of the paper.

Sign in, find out more and book.

Elections are still a top focus
November will see the elections for the Board of Trustees (BoT) and we’re encouraging you to get involved and vote for the candidate who you think fits the bill. The deadline for voting is 16 December 2011.

What’s the role of the Board of Trustees?
The BoT is the body that oversees the operations and future direction of The Chartered Institute of Marketing. That means they have input into every aspect of your membership; from research and facilities, to events and qualifications. So it’s important that you know what their plans are.

Mocky Khan, Chair of the Greater London Region is running for the election this year.

The Women in Marketing Awards and Events supports the charity Women for Women International.

This film was first shown at The Chartered Institute of Marketing’s Women in Marketing Awards ceremony on 3 November 2011.

In this film, supporters including Annie Lennox, Todd Fisher and Joan Burstein speak about Women for Women International’s work and explain why they support the organisation.

Find out how to sponsor a Woman and more about the work of Women for Women International.

Whilst business today  is being implemented from one, three and five year business plans in accordance with rapid market changes it is time to give vital consideration to the next 10 years and the strategic plan. The shift of market focus is more than apparent in industries today but with media related ones more needs to be done in order to build critical bridges with telecoms companies and channels.

Manufacturers of entertainment products need to be aware that the most significant challenges are coming and if unmanaged the possibility of loss of control of the business will be through the channels that supply and deliver ‘purchase to consumers’. Such distribution channels will be critical for the survival of the music industry within the coming years and it will be highly appropriate for such companies to have a slice or at least an affiliation/sponsorship agreement of this sector. This will inevitably save organisations form being taken over and controlled but a somewhat silent competitor ahead.

An awful lot of focus is spent on product, place and promotion and rightly so but to the senior executives and director a clear reaction is needed to acknowledge the shape of the things to come. The processes, management and strategic positioning of the new communication corporate could allow them to gain significant competitive advantage. Short term focus has gained generous business results but this is not sustainable. The cold call is starting to ring loud from organisations outside of the competitor thinking box.

Telecomms companies will see that they control the key channel that media companies and customers are using. Digital is here and growing faster ever day and the physical elements are in their end of product lifecycle. Digital provides commercial elements and tactics to telecomms companies that will be trying to make robust strong decisions and plans in business to ensure they are getting the best ‘profits and opportunities’ out of these ever reliant markets.
The genius about all of it is (from the telecoms side) is that it will happen it is just a matter of timing. A guaranteed pay day ahead it seems? So, what should be done now? If music companies could buy/invest into a telecoms giant then that would be an incredibly smart move for a sustainable business model. However as with most acquisitions and mergers there will be regulatory aspects that would need consideration (and probably a lot more than has already been given prior thought to at this time).

Getting ahead of the pack has always been the game in the business world but sometimes the curve ball up ahead is always the one to be most concerned about. Music and entertainment products are a desire, a want. Communications (Business and personal) are an absolute need. Therefore in many aspects the ‘Comms’ model has already won the race and it will be up to music and media related  companies to solve how much business they want to retain for their organisation or face the inevitable change of the new super race of telecoms breed that will be able to dictate critical decisions within the market.  What is most definitely clear, is that a strategic plan and action is needed in order to limit damage in the years to come.
Kevin Tewis MCIM Chartered Marketer

Photo credit: Vaughan Williams

Effectively monitoring the wider business environment to continually support strategic goals is not an unfamiliar concept however for marketers who design effective short, mid and long term plans they will now face their toughest professional changes in the months and years ahead. Recent reports from sources such as the Financial Times and the Economist have shown that even the most senior analysts are not able to accurately predict the business reactions within the current economic crisis.

The fact that there are currently many business variables globally will mean that any fast paced planning should be much more considered as this will likely effect the marketing plan. Traditionally these highly effective analytical economists have been the benchmark when predicting business and will demonstrate to marketers that they will not only need the ability to create and design robust plans but will have to ensure that a reactive mechanism and a fast radar sensing factor built within  plans in order to account for fluctuations within the business world.

Having a strong ability to react well to fluctuating market changes which influence the commercial ability of businesses will be of great importance to marketers as identified in Marketing Week August 11, 2011; 19 ‘How Marketers can climb to CEO level’. Building corporate empathy and having a broad and detailed understanding of where marketing actually fits in to the corporate platform will likely win respect from the commercial or sales director.

The commercial team will have the most influence and decision power towards the board of directors in turbulent times of order to recommend how best to manage financial fluctuations in order to remain top of the business game. By demonstrating that marketing not only understands and reacts well to the sensitive economic environment but also to find effective solutions, (‘Fix’) and advise on business challenges through their own marketing expertise.

Through concise and regular monitoring of the market (constant analysis/research and radar sensing) marketers will be able to assess both traditional and digital platforms in order to make flexible informed decisions that can then be demonstrated within marketing plans. It’s time for marketers to fully reach out to commercial teams in order to grow to assist the business in order to grow this to a new strategic level so that finally marketing gain total corporate recognition and credibility.

Consumer trends, slower and erratic market growth and the threat of a double dip recession will at the very least provide justification for marketing professionals to be even more meticulous to detail and look even wider than ‘out of the box’ in order to identify and close possible gaps and then have a contingency plan to suit. The difficulty then will then not be with the currently designed strong plan that does reflect quality marketing messages but the economic and analytical front line now ‘blurred’ by the current dimensions of the disruptive business world.

As always the 999 call must be for marketers to ‘Fix’ and cope with the challenging corporate terrain in order to retrospectively demonstrate that the marketing function is much more than sales, corporate events and a catchy campaign or tag word. From here on marketing will provide total clarity, strong leadership and a brighter futuristic understanding for the corporate world to embrace.

More from Kevin

Hear more from Kevin by reading his other articles; Leadership Verses Micro Management, and The New Leaders of Marketing.

Marketing leadership from Kevin Tewis. Photo credit Vaughan Williams.

This year, 2011 has seen a profound and interesting change in how CEO’s/board of directors and executive managers view employee’s internal knowledge and what commercial skills sets that they have across all areas of the business when performing in business. Marketing staff who would like to gain further recognition in order to either raise their game/be considered for a promotion will be required to have not only excellent business foresight (recognising a broad understanding of the organisation’s needs) to anticipate market trends but also to what extent may these trends and any recommendations may impact on the wider business environment.

Understanding and incorporating what the corporate needs are when generating marketing reports/ plans will be critical to the success of any documentation from a senior level perspective. Demonstrating that employees can assess the impact to a department shows that they have a clear understanding of the scope of the business and a credible acknowledgment of relevant internal stakeholders. When practicing it is crucial to give consideration to key business areas such as finance, legal, human resources, deployment, IT and faculty when a proposal/plan is presented.  

It will be crucial for marketing staff to factor in cross function departments and fully appreciate the effect this may have on the overall outcome of the marketing recommendations. Sound obvious? Perhaps then quite worrying that applied in practice within today’s business world that vital consideration is overlooked and plans immediately floored. By achieving a meticulous assessment, marketers will likely be much more effective at justifying plans and answering questions from the executive management with regards documentation thus allowing the plan a high chance to become implemented. Marketers who identify the ‘bigger picture’ in business well will impress the executive management by showing their strategic ability to think outside the box regularly.

Understanding the core markets of the organisation is one thing but to accurately anticipate market changes and new market opportunities effectively will show highly effective thought leadership within your field. Wider impacts of such actions should lead marketers to inspire other colleagues within the organisation by highlighting exciting opportunities rather than the perceived gloomy challenges. Part of the selling of the recommendation or plan should include motivating the team and developing a winning internal strategy in order to complete goals successfully.

This recent shift by senior managers has evolved from the recent economic downturn and has now provided these executives with a new template to design and train new/existing staff to think broadly and consider other limitations within the corporate world in order for them to make more competent commercial decisions.  This is an excellent move to support any commercial strategy that can be then successfully implemented across organisations now that it is a principle set in stone in order to provide a back bone to commercial growth. Employees who embrace this new strategic vision and show flair with robust professional practices will likely be considered to be cutting edge and perhaps future leaders of the firm.

Marketing insights from Kevin Tewis. Photo credit Vaughan Williams.

Widespread amongst the large corporate environment are insightful visions from strong leaders and key business executives who try their best to engage stakeholders in order to achieve a more efficient working practice in order to meet strategic goals. This breath of visionary fresh air should be a defining and positive moment in reshaping the future of corporate culture in order to develop and provide the finest performing employees possible.

However on the other side of the coin exists a widespread and somewhat oppressive micro-management style from some senior staff that strive to make their own management mark by controlling other staff and manipulating them in order to achieve their own agendas, not in line with the inspired vision/strategy of the CEO.

Whilst such managers are well embedded into most corporate environments and difficult to remove it is important to note no matter how obvious that this negative behaviour only stifles employees and dampens organisational spirit. Playing corporate ‘mind games’ will only ever result in a negative outcome; it is just a matter of time before employee feedback is relayed to the CEO through an executive management team.

Most employees need help and advanced training regularly in order to complete their tasks to an exceptional level and it is also fair to address the fact that across this ever changing global fast-paced digital climate, unification would be a hugely beneficial tactic rather than a pre-historic suffocation and control. The digital world has provided unparalleled clarity into business and personal lives, so where does the line blur? Digital platforms can provide opportunities that can allow employees who practice micro-management the chance to spy on their staff and use information to influence a work based decision.

Let’s be very clear this is not a practice which is legal or ethical but do not close your eyes to this two way process. The digital age has brought back a key concept that should be at the forefront of an employee’s mind which is keep your work and personal life as separate as possible. You do however have control and can create an internal advantage at work by responding to unfair micro-management tactics.

Remove your digital work life from your personal one, particularly if you have a view of moving up towards middle management within the organisation. If you have mutual friends on B2B social media platforms then it isn’t as simple as deleting one or two people without causing further negative influence within the workplace.

The advice is to extra vigilant with what information you allow to appear on line and also be aware of what you own account security settings are. It is important that you effectively manage what you blog about/upload to the outside world. Some websites will display when you have been updating your CV/joining new groups which could lead a manager to think that you are job hunting which could have further negative impacts on your working life. 

Allow the inspiration of leadership to make your corporate life flourish and excel. When you are promoted up, you can then tackle internal issues effectively and put an end to micro-managemnt and ensure true leadership and quality management practices are at the heart of the organisation.

Last night I watched “Made in Dagenham”, the true story of the late sixties campaign by women at the Ford car plant in Dagenham for equal pay. It wasn’t until 1970 that the Equal Pay Act was passed by the UK Parliament – a fundamental right that we now all take for granted.

It was really a story about reward and recognition – it wasn’t just about the money, but about the company recognising that regardless of gender there should be equal pay for men and women doing the same job.

So reward should go hand and hand with recognition. To quote a line from Love and Marriage, the 1955 song made famous by Sinatra, “you can’t have one without the other” if you want a relationship to last.

This was certainly the message given by Giles Pavey from dunnhumby at the CIM Summer Marketing Conference in Chelmsford last month. Giles talked enthusiastically about the good old days when the owner of the corner shop knew all his customers personally and this desire for detailed customer insight is really the driving force behind the success of the Tesco Clubcard.

Giles opened his presentation with this quote from Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, “There are only two sources of competitive advantage: the ability to learn more about our customers faster than the competition and the ability to turn that learning into action faster than the competition”. Which is exactly what Tesco does – it collects vast quantities of transactional data on individual shoppers and uses the knowledge it gains to influence customer behaviour in real-time by issuing personalised “rewards” in the form of direct mail vouchers, point of sale incentives and online offers.

There’s a lot more to it than vouchers and price promotions though – if you want to know more you will find a copy of Giles’ presentation on the marketing conference micro-website. You’ll find several other conference presentations there too.

Even though you may not have the resources of Tesco or dunnhumby you can still apply the principles. Basically, if you can understand what motivates behaviour then you can design incentives or interventions to influence it.

Just don’t overdo the generic promotional offers though, as they will encourage promiscuity rather than build loyalty. It can also be expensive as this recent snippet from the CIM’s weekly Cutting Edge news bulletin highlighted:

Discounting during the recession has led to an estimated fall in UK profits of more than £20bn, according to a recent KPMG survey. It says that 49% of respondents have entered into pricing wars with competitors and many feel that they don’t have enough time to create a long-term pricing strategy.

So, perhaps it’s better to personalise your product offering or customer service; or maybe just say thank you every now and then.

We all like a bit of recognition. That’s true not only from a marketing perspective but also in the workplace and in life too. Blimey, I’ve gone all profound!