Tag Archives: how to write about your company

by | January 17, 2013 · 3:16 pm

Content Marketing in Asia Pacific Slow to Evolve

I’ve been a bit slow off the mark this New Year and hope everyone is already blazing into 2013. I haven’t been idle on my break however, as I’ve spent a lot of time assessing where my experience and value fits in the region. I’ve done this to understand how I can achieve more of my professional goals and make a real contribution in Asia Pacific.

One area I’ve been thinking a lot about over the last month is where Asia Pacific is in regards to readiness for content marketing? My conclusion is – not very far along at all. Everyone is talking about the need to do more content – launching a blog, creating more long-form-high-value content, etc… but not many are actually executing. As a person who has built a business around this field, it has obviously been frustrating.

However, one conclusion seems clear. The significant challenge faced in Asia is a shortage of skills and knowledge. Content marketing (or Inbound Marketing) is a new way of thinking about marketing. It’s got nothing to do with what a company wants to tell the world and everything to do with what the customer needs to know to help them be more successful in whatever field they are in – right across the board.

Content Marketing Asia Pacific

Essentially, content marketing is a requirement for businesses to become publishing houses for their customers, which means presenting stories that will make their customers more successful, and by default, loyal. This is not a new thing, with some of the global giants committed to the story telling path – Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Red Bull, SAP, Cisco, Intel, HSBC, and more. Here’s a blog on the Inc. 500 fastest growing companies and the content marketing focus.

It’s a dramatic change in mindset and we have a long way to go in Asia Pacific – but it‘s a very worthwhile path for organisations to take, and in the age of social media, it’s also vital. To address this challenge, the most important asset a company needs internally is someone who can manage an effective content marketing campaign – and that’s what we don’t have. We have people who’ve done marketing or PR the old way, but new marketing requires a complete change in mind set. Check out Hubspot’s “8 Ready Made Job Descriptions to Recruit an All Star Marketing Team.“

The most important skill this person needs? The ability to understand customers – what drives them, what information they need, their buying cycle, their pain points, what they care about, and so on. If you don’t understand what motivates and drives customers, the effort will be wasted – and it is a lot of effort.

Once you have the person who has this important skill and understanding of customers, they need to drive content creation across the organisation – whether it’s internal creation or outsourcing it to professionals. Insourcing or outsourcing is both do-able, (although check out this Hubspot blog on insourcing versus outsourcing) but it is an internal and talented communications professional, who has a real understanding of your customers, that is best suited to drive this function.

Content Marketing Asia PacificThe sort of activities they’ll manage include creating the content publishing schedule, defining the educational themes to wrap your stories around, managing the writers and digital content creators, launching and managing the corporate blog, positively inspiring internal customer-facing champions  to contribute to the campaign, running brain-storming workshops with executives and sales, finding content everywhere in the organisation and re-purposing it, capturing and building out stories shared over innocent conversations during coffee breaks, and so on. That is the difference between everyone in Asia wanting to do content marketing, and actually doing it successfully – a single person who really gets that core understanding of customers and of course, they have to be an excellent communicator and story teller as well.

I’m seeing a lot of companies in Asia start and fail, which is a shame because it makes them tentative to try again. But get that person on board who can really make this happen, and then we’ll see some magic. I can’t wait because I know that time is coming.

What do you think is lacking in Asia that is contributing to such limited success in content marketing? Or do you know of any local success stories that are worth sharing?

Cheers

Andrea

PS I’ve included a bunch of links here to previous SAJE blogs, as well as industry blogs on the topic. I share great articles across the spectrum of content marketing on the SAJE Facebook page - like it if you’re interested in this topic. We’re just sharing here, nothing for sale.

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by | November 30, 2012 · 12:25 pm

Messaging my Own Company – a Lesson Learned

Messaging and positioning, defining a company story, mission statement, vision statementSince launching SAJE in 2006, I’ve gone through a few messaging revamps. I haven’t done this because I got it “wrong” in the early days, I quite simply started out focused on one area – messaging and positioning. But I’ve come to the conclusion that you can’t work full time on this – there just doesn’t seem to be enough demand in Asia Pacific – even though I believe there should be. However, in the last two years, SAJE has evolved into an Inbound Marketing or Content Marketing Agency as well – both the strategy and the content delivery. As this industry has evolved and started to mature, it just made sense to align our business within it. It was like this new industry was created just for SAJE, but someone else came up with a better name for the services.

However, there has been a significant challenge in the mix for us these last two years. The content marketing is MY side of the business, whereas the other director, Steve Johnson, is focused on sales and marketing strategies for Asia Pacific, with a focus on technical marketing, as well as setting up effective distributor partnerships in the region.

While both skill-sets are very complementary, it has been challenging coming up with the language (or the words) to really define what SAJE is at a basic level – the sort of description everyone understands and can be easily created into an elevator pitch. Many companies go through this in the early days, because it is not always clear cut when you start out. You can often see industry trends coming along (such as the Inbound Marketing revolution in my case) or you notice that one aspect of your business is cracking and two other areas just don’t generate any interest at all. When that happens, you need to refocus on what is working, because your customers are telling you where you’ve got it right. In this case, the customer is definitely right.

When that happens, you’ve got to go back to the drawing board and redefine who you are and what you mean to the world. The challenge is, are you the best person to do it? I don’t know the answer to that, because here’s my quandary.

I offer this as a service in my business. I do it with companies great and small – whether it’s redefining the whole company positioning, a product or service messaging, or ensuring the story is relevant to target vertical markets. I think I’m pretty good at this :) and my customer feedback along the way has verified that, but when it comes to my own company – man oh man it’s been hard!

So is that a lesson for all? Someone (as in me) who knows exactly how to do this stuff and yet I struggle when doing it for my own company? It leads me to think that perhaps we aren’t well equipped to do this ourselves because we’re too close to it? Therefore, as a lesson learnt by someone who specializes in this work, perhaps if you’re struggling to get your voice heard in your competitive market, bring in an outsider who can look at your business with fresh eyes?

I know I could do with some fresh eyes on my words – in fact, maybe you could be those fresh eyes? Here are my new words to describe SAJE – have I got it right? And please, don’t look at the design. That’s just not one of my strengths at all.

As a final point – my job got easier recently. Steve is now engaged full-time with two companies doing what he does best – setting up a distributor network for a heavily technical business across Asia Pacific – which means I can take his services out of the SAJE story. Phew. That makes refining my company story a lot easier.  Maybe we should never have tried to bring the two together? But the skills were definitely complementary, it was the positioning it together as an easy-to-understand-company-story that was not.

I look forward to your feedback on my new company story if you can spare the time? It’s not long I promise and I’d sure appreciate it!

Cheers

Andrea

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by | November 26, 2012 · 1:05 pm

Start-ups Asia Pacific – 7 Ideas to Get Media Coverage

Startup.comI’ve just read this great article – How To Get Media Coverage For Your Start-up: A Complete Guide by Leo Widrich, co-founder of Buffer. One of the things I’ve noticed, having worked with start-ups in the US, EMEA and Asia Pacific, is companies’ in this region do not dedicate the same amount of budget or time to this process as the international competition. For example, when I worked in the US at the end of the 90s/early 00s, a start-up typically spent US$25-35,000/month just on its PR agency. How many start-ups in Asia Pacific are even spending $5K? I appreciate that time and money are of the essence with start-ups, but to become a truly global player – as many of the companies I’ve met want to be – or even a dominant regional player, investing in some level of content marketing can make all the difference.

The other challenge with start-ups in Asia Pacific is finding and attracting the right talent. It’s not just a skills-gap (although that is a strong reason), but culturally, start-ups do not appeal in this region – for a number of reasons. Therefore, perhaps making a bigger publicity splash can also help address the people challenge – because it will certainly appeal to potential employees’ egos? It’s something to keep in mind.

The article covers seven areas:

  1. Have your own start-up blog, learn to tell stories
  2. How to get to know writers via Twitter and Facebook
  3. Do your best to avoid the Alexias and Sarah Lacys
  4. The art and timing of sending that pitch off and getting in touch with reporters
  5. A story about your start-up is written and published now what?
  6. Four completely different types of stories you can pitch
  7. How to make getting covered a habit, not an accident

I think this is a great, straight-forward, common-sense article and many start-ups in Asia Pacific can benefit from it. Also, as Leo Widrich suggests, just do one thing at a time and build from there.

Start-ups Asia PacificHowever, having helped a number of start-ups get a corporate blog off the ground, can I please suggest that if you start this, you KEEP IT GOING no matter what? The start-stop-start-stop activity I have seen around blogging is frustrating for me – because I know what it is costing a company – and the budget is always the reason cited. If you can’t afford to outsource this, find someone within your organisation who has a flair for content and get them on the case. However, the best approach is to find the budget to bring in a professional who can get you going in the right direction – defining the stories your business needs to be telling your customers – and this professional can train your internal team to maintain it. You never know, you might find an internal content champion you didn’t know existed. Whatever happens, just keep it going!

I KNOW it’s hard, I KNOW you’re wearing multiple hats, but I also KNOW it’s vital for your business to succeed!

What do you think? Do you agree that start-ups in Asia Pacific could benefit from this information? And any thoughts on why you don’t think start-ups are culturally attractive in this region?

Cheers

Andrea

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by | November 6, 2012 · 1:07 pm

Softbank 30 Year Vision – An Asian Lesson

SoftBank Corporation is a Japanese headquartered telecommunications and Internet corporation, with operations in broadband, fixed-line telecommunications, e-commerce, Internet, finance, and much much more. Established in Japan in 1981, its market capitalization in 2011 was more than US$43 billion. It’s a global player and recently gained the media spotlight with its 70 percent acquisition of US telco Sprint. SoftBank LogoI was recently reviewing its Website for content and thought it is a fantastic example to share on how Asian businesses do messaging differently. Having worked with companies on messaging in Europe, the US and across Asia, one thing is very clear:

  • The US leads with boldness
  • Europe is a little less bold but has learned from the Americans
  • ANZ follows the US-style but tend to be less formal
  • and Asians go about this idea in a whole different way

My take-away for companies operating globally and focusing on growth in the Asia Pacific region – the bold, pushy statements we have all come to know and love (or not) actually make a lot of business people in Asia squirm in their seats.

Business people in this region don’t like words and phrases if they do not resonate with the truth. This has been a big lesson for me as I work across multiple cultures in Asia Pacific, because when I am proposing words like ‘trail-blazing’ or ‘thought leadership’ or ‘world-class’ or even ‘great,’ anything I suggest had better resonate with the truth or I am politely told to tone it down. It’s taught me to ask up front – are we going to be bold or would you prefer to be understated?

But it’s more than words and phrases, it is also sentiment and SoftBank is a great example of this. On its Website, it asks the question – “What does happiness mean?

“Different people will give different answers: to love and be loved; to live each day to the full; to express oneself or; to smile.”

Can you think of the last time you saw the word love or happiness on a B2B Website?

Continuing with its philosophy – “SoftBank believes happiness is a form of inspiration. Why is the Group engaged in its business and what does it aim to achieve? To bring happiness and give inspiration to people — a vision that has guided SoftBank since its founding and is encapsulated in its corporate philosophy.”

“SoftBank believes that the performance of computers has increased rapidly and humanity is facing its own ‘big bang’ — an era of ultra-powerful computers that will usher in an Information Revolution of unlimited potential. It is vital that this transformation be brought about in the right way, so that it adds happiness to humanity. Since its founding, SoftBank has sought to use the Information Revolution to contribute to the wellbeing of people and society.”

But SoftBank also has a 30-year vision – I don’t think I have ever seen any company with a 30 year vision – have you?

“Our 30-Year Vision is a driving force for the Group as it continues to pursue growth: becoming a corporate group needed most by people around the world.

“This long-term vision aims for the SoftBank Group to contribute to peoples’ happiness through the Information Revolution for the next 30 years.”

I just found this messaging really insightful in regards to how differently Asian business think and position their companies, let alone the fact they’ve put a stake in the ground for the next 30 years. That alone is amazing. Truth, empathy, humanity, sincerity and more, are important in Asia and it’s a great lesson in being more sensitive when marketing across this vast region. When you pay attention to the global companies coming out of Asia, they really do go about business in a very different way, and while it can be more understated than the US and EMEA counterparts, it is still very successful. They just don’t embrace the flashy ‘stuff.’

Something to keep in mind when working on messaging for any company that positions itself for the global market.

Can you think of any other great examples of Asian messaging you can share?

Cheers

Andrea

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by | August 1, 2012 · 3:18 pm

Toys “R” Us Asia Pacific – Vision and Mission – Really?

I’ve been struggling with ‘Toys “R” Us’ in Singapore recently. It’s a place I have to visit on a regular basis – not just because I have two young sons, but also because Singapore is one of those places where you are constantly invited to kids’ birthday parties and as such, there are always presents to be bought. It’s great for the kids of course, but not so kind on Mum and Dad’s wallets.

My challenge with ‘Toys “R” Us’ is its customer service. I estimate I have been into its various Singapore stores at least 50 times in the last 18 months. I can honestly say in all of those visits, I’ve only had one good customer service experience. The staff don’t smile at all – in fact, they don’t seem to enjoy being there. That is one issue, and for me, working in the world’s largest toy store – it’s a BIG issue! What’s more fun than toys after all? Let alone the pure pleasure kids get from just being in one of these mega stores? Their eyes light up before they even walk in the door.

Once again, yesterday, I was in ‘Toys “R” Us’ for some good old fashioned kiddie spoiling, as well as to get much needed haircuts (the kids’ hairdresser is a separate business within ‘Toys “R” Us’ and don’t even get me started on the grumpy hairdresser!), when I noticed the Vision and Mission statements for Asia Pacific – a tiny sign, I’m sure many miss.

The Vision

That is not a Vision Statement in my opinion, and it’s also a very bad Mission Statement. A Vision is something you constantly strive towards – to be the best, to be the greatest, etc.. Another important point – when you are already a dominant player, using words like this is not a positive reflection on your brand.

The Mission

Again, not a Mission Statement and it says nothing – which it should do. A Mission Statement clarifies an organizations’ purpose, and should include socially meaningful statements – the value you deliver to the world. It should take your business to a higher level.

Looking through the ‘Toys “R” Us’ Website, I noticed a couple of things. The Singapore store is part of ‘Toys “R” Us’ International (so it’s owned by HQ and not a licensed retailer) AND the vision and values expressed on this Website are not in-line with the ones I saw in Singapore.

According to the Website, here are the Values:

“At Toys“R”Us, Inc., we believe that by being rapid, real, reliable and responsible, we will best serve our customers, employees, shareholders, communities and kids!

  • Rapid: We believe that speed is a reflection of our culture. Our team is focused and clear with common, user-friendly processes and solutions; fast and urgent in decision-making and speed-to-market; and quick in adapting to change.
  • Real: Our team is urgent, sincere, authentic, helpful to work with and confident. We are “Playing to Win!”
  • Reliable: Being reliable means working as a team so everything can move faster. We are a company that is dependable, and we produce what we promise.
  • Responsible: We believe that honesty, integrity and compassion are the foundation upon which we work together and conduct our business. Keeping kids safe is a cornerstone of the brand.”

I’m sorry, but I don’t think the R idea is working. It’s corny and to me, comes across as insincere. Does anyone else agree?

As a publicly listed company, I appreciate that ‘Toys “R” Us’ have an obligation to focus on things like child safety, and the other educational benefits of the products offered. However, I would say that for the world’s largest toy store, they are certainly lacking the true benefits a well crafted Vision and Mission statement (as well as Values) can deliver to a company. They also aren’t translating these ideas into action in Asia – such as a focus on excellent customer service. I’m also a little curious why the vision and mission in Singapore is different to HQ, when it is owned directly? Localise it for sure, but it should be similar.

The only statement in the corporate section I think they got right is “At Toys“R”Us®, we love kids!” Yes, that’s right, that’s what your company is all about, so everything you write about the company and attribute to the company should reflect exactly that. These words need to be about the heart of your company, and as far as I can see – there’s very little heart in the words at all.

Here’s a little dabble at what I think would make great statements for your company:

Our Vision

To be the greatest toy shop in the world for kids and their loved ones

Or why not get cheeky, because it’s true…

To be the greatest toy shop in the world for kids and those responsible for the spoiling

Our Mission

I would suggest you check out Ben & Jerry’s for inspiration in how to approach your mission statement - as I think this is one of the most inspiring B2C mission statements today.

However, as a large company, doing great things in the community, I believe you have a real opportunity to come up with a meaningful yet delightful mission statement, that reflects what you do, as well as acknowledging your customers – kids with huge smiles on their faces whenever they enter your premises.  

A starting suggestion:

“Our mission is to fulfil kids’ fantasies by providing the best range of fun AND educational toys in the world. We inspire their imaginations and creativity. We inspire them to be better people. And we encourage them to be healthy and active, ready to embrace their futures. We achieve this by….. Over to your marketing team.

A bit of a moan about ‘Toys “R” Us’ but hey, don’t put your Vision and Mission Statements on display for people like me to see, ‘cos I never miss a bad one, but neither do I miss a good one.

Cheers

Andrea

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by | January 17, 2012 · 2:55 pm

Scoot is on Message

In April 2012, Singaporean travellers will have the option of a new low cost airline within the competitive mix – Scoot. I recently heard the CEO, Campbell Wilson interviewed on radio, and I have to say, I was pretty impressed. This is a company that has thought very deeply about what Scoot means and how it wants to be perceived in the market, something that will differentiate it in Asia. The CEO was brilliant in getting across all of the key messages that reflect Scoot’s image – even if its messaging is not complete.

It’s a great example of creating a great corporate story in line with the brand, and so far, it’s working. If you listen to the company spokespeople, it is not just an airline – it’s an experience, an adventure, and something people want to be part of. You can’t launch a low-cost airline subtly and win these days that’s for sure, and with JetStarand Air Asia firm competitors, it is bound to be a VERY interesting journey for Scoot as they work hard to gain a foothold. They appear to be off to a good start though, because nothing is subtle about Scoot, and as it’s Singapore Airlines’low-cost alternative, I’m sure SIA won’t let it fail.

My criticism so far, the Website is a bit thin, providing limited information and it’s not easy to navigate. I’m sure there is a super-dooper digital agency working on its official site as we speak, so I’d suggest they move pretty quickly, because right now, it could turn people away. I just hope it’s not the same agency SIA used last year…

From a social media perspective, its well on the way, with a blog introducing their team – giving them a human face – and interestingly, they’re using the Facebook page to select the company slogan – smart. (Check out this link for airline slogan examples). I voted for “Flying Just Got Fun” – my preference from their options – but I think they can do better. They’re definitely building social momentum, which has to be a core part of its strategy, and with nearly 30,000 members in its FB club before a plane has taken off, that ain’t too bad.

Scoot is all about “Scootitude,” because they claim to be an airline with attitude. As a company getting ready to go to market, I’d suggest it’s a pretty cool project for marketers to watch, as we have a great opportunity to see its marketing strategy take shape and evolve. What works and what doesn’t is going to be very public, so some potential lessons for all of us.

So what do you think – is a new, funky and hip low-cost airline going to be a success in Asia?

Cheers

Andrea Edwards

Managing Director

SAJE

PS if you like what you read, please do share it. Alternatively, if you know someone who’d enjoy it, pass it on. You can sign up above to get our blogs directly on email; you can like us on Facebook and get them in your feed; connect with me on LinkedIn; or follow SAJE on Twitter @SAJEIdeas. Come on, show us some love!

 

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by | May 13, 2011 · 2:05 pm

Part Two – If Your Company was a Person, What Sort of Person Would it be?

In the first blog on messaging I asked if your company was a person, what sort of a person would it be? Have you been able to answer that? Is your company the sort of person you think it is?

Now we’re going to delve more deeply into how to effectively tackle your company’s messaging, and the one thing that is required is commitment. It’s not a lot, but commitment is definitely needed and it’s needed from the top.

To undertake a messaging revamp, you’ve got to dedicate a day or two of executive time to get this right. However, once done, you’ve got great content that can be utilised across your organisation for years to come. Sure, it may need to be updated occasionally, but you’ve got the basic context around which you present your company to the world.

Once everyone is committed, it’s time to host a messaging workshop. This workshop MUST be attended by all senior executives of your company and everyone must be focused on the job at hand – to define who your company is today and in the future.

A messaging session could take one or two days, so getting the entire management team and key people in your organisation together can be a struggle (especially in Asia Pacific,) but it cannot be left in the hands of junior people and “sold up.” The senior management are the visionaries of any company, so their dedication to this process is absolutely vital.

I’ve run messaging workshops all over the world and had entire management teams in attendance. Every time senior management appreciates the opportunity to step back, look at their company objectively and be part of the creation process of the new message to market. If they are involved in this process, they are 100 per cent motivated to sell the new message throughout the company – a top down approach – and this is what makes new messaging “live.”

By not being involved, they are not bought into anything created and that means they will not assist creating the necessary culture dedicated to this messaging. Trust me on one thing. If it’s painful getting their commitment but you eventually get there, they will be very grateful you convinced them to be involved.

As an additional motivator to get them engaged, mention that in a world gone mad with social media, not having effective and unified messaging can be disastrous. Everyone needs to be bought in and it needs to start at the top.

The people that should be involved in a messaging workshop, at a minimum, are the CEO/MD, all other C-level execs, the head of marketing and the entire marketing team, the head of sales and lead sales people, the head of R&D and the overall head of operations. If there are quirky, creative people in your company who have great ideas, bring them in as well. If there are socially popular people within your company, involve them and they will “sell” the message internally better than anyone else. For regional operations, try to bring in as many country managers as possible, along with VPs in influential roles to further enhance the penetration and acceptance of your new messaging. Getting this group together will ensure great success for a messaging initiative.

To get the greatest results, I recommend that a meeting be chaired by an independent consultant who you rate, and it must be held off site, with all distractions switched off. People must be focussed. It also needs to be an environment where anything goes and senior people do not dominate the conversation. It will be the job of the host to make sure everyone contributes. The reality is, junior people have terrific ideas and can contribute stunning thoughts when given the chance. BUT they must feel comfortable contributing – something a lot of people struggle with if the company is hierarchy-based. No idea is a bad idea after all.

The reason I suggest bringing in an independent host, is to guarantee an objective perspective. This person must lead and direct discussion, as well as be responsible for bringing together the final messaging. Some companies use PR firms for this work, but it is not always appropriate as messaging isn’t just about PR and not all PR firms appreciate the big picture and all of the audiences a company must influence. There are exceptions in the PR world, so choose wisely.

You also need someone who isn’t afraid to tell you what they think, so if one of your agencies leads this activity, make sure it is led by someone who understands your market, your company, your competition, and your customers and partners. This person should never be afraid to disagree with the most senior people in your company.

 The key objectives of a messaging strategy session are:

  1. Define what your company is today and how you want it to be perceived globally
  2. Clarify messaging and positioning top level down – vision, mission, business overview, vertical market messaging, customer achievements, and so on
  3. Gain buy-in to messaging and positioning, because it will define you as a business for the short to long term
  4. Clarify your business strategy and map messaging to this strategy
  5. Establish yourselves as a company of vision

At the end of a messaging strategy session, you should walk away with:

  • Revised vision statement
  • Revised mission statement
  • Corporate overview and position in the market
  • Corporate tagline
  • One line statements and paragraph summaries that capture the essence of your business
  • Market overview/vertical positioning
  • Product/service overview and detailed information
  • A definition of where you sit in the competitive landscape – today and tomorrow
  • Press release content – tagline, boiler plate
  • Refreshed Web content
  • Social media supporting content

The resulting content created from a messaging workshop should be used in all Web, sales and marketing activities, as well as be the basis of how everyone speaks about your company in any environment.

An example of the questions to ask in a messaging strategy session:

  • What are the key words or phrases that should be closely linked to your company?
  • How do you want your company to be perceived?
  • What is the long term vision for your company? Or what is your ultimate goal?
  • What are your strengths?
  • What are your weaknesses?
  • What is unique about your business?
  • What is your value proposition to customers?
  • What problem do you solve?
  • Who is your major competition? What do they do better than you?
  • What is the competitive landscape of the future? Where do the challenges lie?
  • What are some of the competitive attributes that you admire?
  • Etc…

When messaging strategy sessions don’t succeed

If your entire management team is not dedicated to this process by actively attending and contributing to the messaging strategy workshop and any follow-up required to finalise the content, then you may not succeed here. Messaging must come from the top, and therefore, the senior team members must be actively involved throughout the process.

Set the tone up front for an honest and open exchange of ideas and thoughts.

Make the sessions open so that everyone feels comfortable contributing to the workshop. If people with great ideas are too timid to speak up, you will miss out on valuable feedback from people who know and understand the company, along with some very good ideas.

Put the effort in. Turn phones off, don’t bring in laptops or have internet access – focus, focus, focus – as only great things can come from this.

Don’t be afraid of voicing “crazy” ideas – the best ideas are always organic and start with a seed of brilliance.

Don’t be closed off or set in your ways. How you present your company can always be improved, so be open to new ways of looking at your company, and work with your team to build the company you want for the future.

Change and evolution, while scary to some, is a great thing, so put yourselves next to companies you admire, even if they’re not in the same industry. Consider what you admire in other businesses – even your competitors. And ask yourself are you capable of being more? Think big, think differently, be open.

Good luck

Embarking on an review of how you talk about your company is a very exciting process for any business, so I wish you luck as you move forward. By bringing together a team of exciting people – your people – you’ll be able to look at your company with fresh eyes, reenergise your team and you’ll then go to market excited and in tune with each other. Getting your message right has never been more important. You have more advocates and more detractors now than ever before, and many cannot be “controlled.” Therefore make sure that those you CAN influence are speaking in synch with what you want to say about your company, and you’re bound to be in much better stead than your competition.

Be honest, be open, be great.

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