Price for everything, and the value for nothing

“More Than 40% of Americans Use Facebook Every Day”, “1 Out of 4 People Friend-Request Before the First Date”, and “How Can Twitter Make It Easier to Report Hate Speech?” is only a few out of dozens articles about how social media are changing the way we live our life today. All people are trying to cope up with the changes, entrepreneurs race to invent the new ‘it’ thing, and all companies has gone ape shiz trying to be the leader of the pack.  

If you take a moment to stop and think; those endless efforts, articles, tips and tricks, research insights is trying to tell you one thing: “How can we leverage our strengths, and maintain our relevancy?” isn’t it? Though it is not incorrect, but it will not sustain and it will only worn you out eventually. The way I see it, it should go beyond leveraging strengths and maintain relevancy, and start figuring out how could we build a better engagement instead.

en·gage·ment

noun \in-ˈgāj-mənt, en-\

a : the act of engaging : the state of being engaged

b : emotional involvement or commitment <seesaws between obsessive engagement and ambiguous detachment — Gary Taylor>

Notice the emotional involvement and commitment word there? Yes, engagement should not be only about what the company tells to the people, instead the company should shows it commitments and galvanize public’s emotional involvement.

Before anything else, a company should be able to listen what the people are trying to say, and be able to understand what are the longings and expectations are. Once they understood the ‘who, what, why, when, and where”, then they are understood how to connect and be relevant in creating the conversation with people. By the time a flowing conversation with the public is established, emotional involvement starting to develop, and all magic could happen (metaphorically speaking of course).  This is where you as a company could deepen the emotional involvement through encouraging participation, and together create and co-create stories that you would like to share it with others.

Take example of the brilliant Heineken’s The Candidate campaign that won 2013 Cannes Lions, Gold Lion PR award. Heineken’s understood, as world’s leading beer manufacturing company, its every guys (some girls) dream to be able to join their company. From thousands of applicants, same interview questions, and its prepared answers; how can they choose the best of them all then?  

This campaign identified understood how to be connects and be relevant to people in starting the conversation, simply creating a job interview with a twist. Then Heineken take it further from connecting with people, and deepening people’s emotional involvement through the vote for the best candidate.

You see, simplest way to do things right is by 1) Listening, 2) Understanding, 3) Participating, 4) Create and Co-creating. And always be appreciative and sincere in every step of the way, let people embrace and feel valued.

Feel free to leave comments below, and let me know what you guys think,

Tha! xx FNW 

Meeting the legend.

Having huge admiration for Starbucks as a company is one thing, and meeting the man responsible for all the game-changing strategy is another thing. I have the opportunity to meet the legendary Howard Schultz last month during his trip to Indonesia. And I got to say, he left a huge impression that enough to make me awestruck for a week (even now, I still can’t believe I met ‘the man’).

Back then,as a marketing student, i have to learn and observe many companies and brands strategies; Starbucks is one of the companies that we discussed in class quite often (and often featured in my assignments).  Listening to Howard Schultz’s speech in the Ministry of Trade Republic of Indonesia feels like a ‘refresh’ button for me. In his speech he mentions about what separates greatness and mediocrity, and the answer is simple, Consistency. Being consistent in delivering the best, growing, and innovating; it will make a difference (eventually, consistency does not have the five-seconds-of-fame kind of impact, yet it gives you the hard-work-pays-off kind of  feeling).

Having said that, I reflect what he said on Starbucks, and now I finally understand why they are awarded the fifth most admired companies by Fortune magazine. They consistently delivering what their promises, to “inspire and nurture human spirit”, which it is clearly shows through all facets of the company’s strategy. From the ethical sourcing, environmental stewardship, to community involvement, and do I need to emphasize their culture? Do you notice their culture the moment you step into one of their store? It’s the baristas, the employees that makes Starbucks an outstanding brand. 

I think, it simply a great case study for my previous post that indicates that brand is about consistency in every corner of your corporate representation.  As for Starbucks, their strategy is not a mere business tactics, but instead, it is their commitment to really inspire and nurture people to not just being the bystander, but being involved to a change, a change for a better things ahead.

That’s what I admire the most from Howard Schultz and Starbucks.

Feel free to leave comments below, and let me know what you guys think,

Tha! xxFNW