Lunch or launch

Ok… so you have this great campaign. The agency has put an absolute gem of a commercial together for you. You’ve got a new brand and a full set of stationery. You’re ready to hit the streets… or are you?

Time and time again, I see this happening and, in a market where recruitment is harder than finding someone in Queensland that voted for John Howard, it’s high time that businesses begin to understand the importance of their staff in the process.

In today’s labour shortage, it’s imperative that businesses find new ways to maintain their staff. Money is a short term solution but puts the business at risk. A much smarter alternative is empowering them.

We find this to be the case, more so when a new campaign or branding process is undertaken. Too often the staff are the last to know what’s happening, and find out through a friend who says “Hey, love the new ad Jill!!” There’s a better way to do it!

In recent times, we have been asked to be more involved with many organisations’ personnel in a process where we explain what it is we are trying to do. Whether that be a re-branding process, a new TV commercial or even a marketing strategy, it doesn’t matter. The principal still applies. Empower your people and they will maximise the exercise – it’s a guarantee.

To give you an example, some years ago we created a very unusual campaign for a client. We suggested that they set aside a half day to bring all their personnel together, where we would present the new campaign and the rationale behind it. It also gave us the ability to offer suggestions on how to maximise the enquiry that the advert would receive. This never happened. So the inevitable happened… they didn’t embrace the campaign, and thus the campaign never reached the potential it could have.

On the other hand, another client of ours went the whole hog and dedicated an entire day to an explanation of the new strategy, a release of their new brand to their people, plus a presentation of newly branded uniforms, backpacks and business cards to each and every one of their staff, this was all before being released to the public arena. You couldn’t imagine the empowerment it delivered to those people on that day. They walked away and they felt part of the brand and part of the future of that organisation.

Marketing is not always about your end consumer or your clients. It’s often about your people. They’re your front line and if they don’t embrace the new direction; if they don’t maximise its effectiveness, then it’s simply a false launch and a cheap lunch!