No brand for you.

By 2012 the Australian government will require that cigarette packets will have no identifying branding whatsoever. The packaging will be generic along the lines of grocery items that used to roll off the shelf in black and white wrapping. Cigarettes will become totally commoditised in that you won’t be able to distinguish one packet from another.

Marlboro according to Interbrand is worth $21 billion worldwide. A price value that is measured on how well the brand will ensure future sales. It’s about the promise a brand makes, so that your clients see you as the only solution and because of that, you are able to charge a premium. This begs the question of how they will tackle the issue and still stand out from the crowd no matter how generic they may look. They have a lot to protect.

So ask yourself the same question on a personal level. How would I stand out if I could no longer be reconised by my business brand or worse still my own personal brand? I get a vision of a science fiction future where everyone is 175cm with the same facial features and no distinguishing marks.

Think about airlines with no branding. How could you tell one from the other? Why would you choose one over the other if you get the same product from everyone? What are you loyal to? Is it an idea, a style, a service, a relationship, a lifestyle? How would you influence people and change their minds to use you and your services? A commoditised airline product would certainly put pressure on for better service, stronger relationships and anything else they could come up with to get you onboard that silver canister. Not a bad thing when you think about it.

If you can’t use the visual what else is left to you? Branding expert Martin Lindstrom puts forward a powerful argument that you could get by without the visual when he states, “83% of all communication appeals to our sense of sight, leaving only 17% to our other four senses. These statistics seem to make little sense when we consider the fact that 75% of our emotions are stimulated by smell. The fact is by including 3 senses in your branding approach; you can double the effect of your brand.”

So I’m off to the perfumery to find my scent, then to a voice coach to work on my timbre and finally to the cooking school to hone my skills because if you can smell me, hear me and like the taste of my cooking I’ve just doubled my brand effect. I was thinking about rolling around in spices but I’m not sure that’s what he meant about taste either.

I’m kidding of course but you have to ask yourself the questions, when was the last time, you thought about your brand, what it stands for, how you are perceived and what you can do to change it?

If all the visual stimulants were taken away tomorrow, how would I recognise you or your business?

Another box to tick.

The entry card that needs to be filled out prior to landing in most countries has the ubiquitous questions on plant and animal products being brought in along with other sundry questions alluding to your good standing within the community. Aside from the irritation of trying to fill this card in during the bumpy landing process, the majority of passengers don’t make too much of an issue with the paperwork. They may want to look a little closer now that customs is adding a box to indicate if you are bringing pornography into the country.

Of course we understand the rationale behind trying to capture the world’s child molesters but the question begs naivety along the same lines as other customs asking if you are a drug smuggler or Nazi? From what I have seen, no one from the world of “Underbelly” is likely to answer yes to any of those questions. How many drug smugglers have been caught without a beagle to help out?

This opens a whole raft of privacy issues which I’ll leave to the civil libertarians and the Sex Party (who votes for these guys at the elections?) to rally against.

So what to do with those risqué pictures you took of your honeymoon bride in the dental floss bikini? What to do with your Playboy that you only buy for the articles? How to manage the embarrassment in front of your kids, when customs rummage through your luggage and extract those toys and DVDs you normally keep locked in the garage? Will there be beagles specially trained to pick up Hefner like signals?

Will it be up to the customs officers to ascertain what is and isn’t considered porn? Who made them the censor?

Going through customs is already an arduous process brought on by the global fear of terrorism and people generally trying hard to fly under the radar, keep quiet and just get out of the airport with the Bali copies of the latest movie release or the items of copy clothing they said would be fine on the street in Bangkok. So adding another wrinkle won’t make it any easier on your already anxious state.

So will customs give us a list of what they consider porn?

I generally have great travel porn along with food porn and when that is combined in a luscious issue of the Gourmet Traveller, it can get the pulse racing. What about chocolate porn or the ever present motor mechanics racing porn? One man’s porn can be another’s poolside reading. So do we have something to worry about as we pass under the electronic gaze of the airport security cameras and will we be dinner stories for customs if we answer honestly about those photos on the Caribbean cruise that were only meant for our eyes?

The jury is out on the results to be tabulated, or not, over the next few months. Today Tonight will no doubt send their most trusted and credible journalist to report back.

There ain't no second prize.

Not sure Jimmy Barnes had this right but I’ll tackle it with experience from my extensive sporting success.

How sweet it is to hit the winning home run in the under 13’s baseball final. How satisfying to score the winning basket in the district school championship game. Okay, enough of my sporting glory, as fleeting as it was. Sporting analogies are often used in the world of business to designate success for companies and individuals. Seems everyone is striving to be number one.

So is second place worthwhile or is that just the loser in a grand final? Maybe it’s next year’s winner, knowing what they have to change to win? From a sporting arena it’s easy to pick winners but in the world of business it’s a much more subjective argument.

With only one so called winner, does that relegate everyone else to second place and beyond? Does it leave a lot of us working on our game (more subtle use of sporting analogy) to find improvements which can equate to future success?

The adage of how you play the game strikes a chord in me and today’s business is as much about the way you conduct yourself and how that defines you in the business community. How do you want to achieve your success? Is it at all costs or can you play the game with integrity and fair play?

The business game today is more concerned about acquisition and consolidation, making it hard to pick the winner. Number ones are often the targets for takeovers. Turnover and gross profits can disappear overnight with bad press and falling share prices, so maybe being number one is not all it’s cracked up to be?

Companies playing in the same field can continue to compete at all costs to attain the top spot along with bruised employees or be creative and find an empty field to play on. The analogies never end. Think about Cirque du Soleil competing with those lions and tigers until they decided to replace the real animals with human animals. With no direct competition on that playing field, success was assured.

Looking for new playing fields is one way to avoid that second place but what about admitting who you are and what you do, are good enough, and that you’ll try harder than the other guys. That would certainly appeal to my sense of fair play and it has worked effectively for Avis on a local and global level without losing their integrity along the way, with a win at all cost thinking. The trick is, they now find themselves in that number one spot in many areas, so they have convince their clients that they are still trying harder than the next guy.

So unless you are always going to be number one, you had better figure out some strategies and work on a game plan (last one I promise) that will bring you success regardless of your position at the end. More and more today, it’s about how you finish and not where you finish to give you that winning feeling..

Thankfully I have the memories of that home run to sustain me into my golden years. I couldn’t imagine what third place must have felt like.

Amateur Hour.

In a recent conversation, I was called an amateur. Not something I’m used to being called and truth be known, it wasn’t directed at me per se, but at the world of online blogs and social media. I of course took umbrage as I now find myself adding to this world of online commentary.

The so called amateurisation of journalism seems to be causing concern among the “real” writers and reporters, who see their sphere of influence shrinking. The thinking that if everyone can do it then it can’t be professional or legitimate is a concern shared by many in the legacy media.

Everyone is of course a very broad brush stroke and I had to find some numbers for a comeback on my new amateur status. There are approximately 130 million blogs, according to research sites such as Blogpulse and 1.73 billion internet users according to Internet World Stats. That equates to a little over 7% of web users involved in blogging and that percentage would likely be less as there are bloggers with multiple sites.

Of those 130 million blogs, 75% are written for personal satisfaction, an urge to write and to communicate with a close circle of readers. This leaves 1.75% of web users looking to expand their blogosphere via opinions, commentary and reporting of issues and events? Some in this space have millions of readers and are a direct competition to the front page newspapers and 6 o’clock news reports. They usually come from a journalistic background but the rest of the blogging community shouldn’t be a threat to the old style media journalists. After all, I’m talking to a few individuals (hi out there) willing to read my scribbles whereas the legacy media is shot gunning at large crowds.

So why the concern?

Certainly there is an element of profit and market share loss. A good example is Flikr, with 4 billion photographs to share, which allows anyone the opportunity to use professional or amateur photos for their own purposes. Along with the digitisation of photography, there is no longer a need to source a professional for your photographic needs.

Yet the main concern seems to be around the issues of control, brand integrity and management of information. The only thing to say on that matter, it’s too late. The reason that blogs are thriving is reader attention and isn’t that what the newspapers have always been after?

Amateurs Rule, is the order of the day and the data reporting a doubling of blog sites every 6 to 9 months bears out people’s need to communicate and read via other media channels.

I feel much better about being an amateur. After all there are now over 130,000,000 of us and we can’t all be wrong.

Consolidation rules.

The news that United Airlines and Continental have merged is the latest in a long line of consolidation to happen in the airline industry. It won’t be the last as airlines seek new partners to re energise their share price or look for greater market share. The trick will be to make sure the merging cultures assimilate and work as one unit. With a swag of unions involved and staff carrying the ubiquitous baggage it will be difficult in the short term to turn mergers like this into finely tuned machines of profitability.

So how long have they got? A piece of string comes to mind as the market will decide in the end if the process is worth the wait.

Years ago there was talk of 6 major global airlines but this has not come close to fruition as the proliferation of low cost carriers continues while the legacy carriers look for new partners to sustain their longevity. I don’t know why American Airlines doesn’t merge with Denim Air. Think of the marketing opportunities they could link up with Levis, as American Denim, “Flying by the seat of our pants”.
Or the tastier compilation of Malaysian Airlines merging with LACSA working with the local coconut milk producer splashed across their planes, as supplier to Malaysian LACSA.

Aside from deciding on the best branding for the merger, companies must decide how to divide up the management team and this can be the most serious decision as it filters down to all others engaged in the merger. The cultural direction will come from this new team and they need to decide on how this decision will play out in the short term and the long term. Do they bring old culture with them, do they adopt the culture of the other team or try and bring in a fresh approach. All three are difficult without employee engagement, guided by proper communications outlining a clear direction. The fallout can be disastrous if knowledge and intellectual property is lost via management reshuffles and employee cost cutting.

British Airways is a good candidate as an airline in flux needing a serious partner to bring stability and profitability but how do they find each other? It’s not like there is an airline bar they all frequent to chat over martinis and gaze longingly at each other’s profit and loss statements?

A third party consulting team who have the best intentions of both parties at heart, is difficult to find nowadays. Everyone is working for one side against the other so that there is an advantage to be held. A great marriage broker who understands the baggage (get it airlines?) each party brings to the table is the ultimate requirement to get it done.

Right now Willie Walsh would likely accept overtures from any party as long as they had hair and teeth, so to speak. I’m thinking Jamaican Airways would give them a more laid back approach, especially when it came to negotiations over morning tea and those special cookies with the Rastafarian ingredients. Or what about a merge with the competition? British Virgin has a ring about it.

I’m sure it’s crossed Richard’s mind.

Time has to be running out.

A fork in the road.

Another world exists in our minds along with a parallel universe where we come out the winners every time, whether it be for business or personal gain. We are fascinated by what could be and what might be, if only we did things differently.

So why don’t we do things differently? Why are you still working that job you wanted to leave last year? Why are you still hanging around with that loser when all your friends want to push him off a cliff? Maybe you need to be thinking more about your options and thinking critically about what could be?

Standing at that fork in the road, along with a Walter Mitty mindset of being Richard Gere and saving the heroine in the last scene can sometimes trap us in daydreams we never wake up from. Before you know it, you are close to long service leave and the handcuffs are tighter than ever.

Steve Jobs stands in front of his mirror everyday and asks himself the same question, “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” If his answer is “No” for too many days in a row, he knows he needs to change something.

Pretty confronting for most of us who don’t even have time for a coffee in the morning. So are we using other things such as time constraints and work stresses to hide from the hard questions? Mortgages and car payments seem to drive us hard towards goals that may not matter in the end. The point isn’t to end up with the most toys but to feel good about ourselves and what we do. To that end, the most important components to a rich life are often continued learning and serving a purpose.

This is not about New Year’s resolutions for the tuck shop arms or the extra notch in the belt that wasn’t there last year. It’s about getting outside of yourself and being satisfied with your direction, your milestones, your relationships and your future. If you aren’t satisfied, then do a Steve Jobs and change things.

So try not to look at the fork in the road with dollars in your eyes or personal gain but how you can make a difference to yourself and others. You might be surprised to find the dollars will follow you anyway.

Pareto's Law.

Everyone has heard of the 80/20 rule and it was our Italian friend Pareto who put together the first economic installment when, after extensive research observed in 1906 that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. He then carried out surveys on a variety of other countries and found to his surprise that a similar distribution applied.

We casually use the rule when describing our business life referring to all sorts of examples that fit into that paradigm. Useful, profitable, successful, all denoted some way by the 80/20 rule. Yet if we hone in on the 20% for all categories, we could turn our business and personal life around. The biggest hurdle to the above, making the hard decision.

A decision based on your clients, accounts and even colleagues, friends and family. It’s all very well to talk about the 20% of clients that make you 80% of your profit but what do you do with the 80% of clients that hardly make you any money? By all accounts you should get rid of as many of the 80% as possible and concentrate on the 20%. All part of the “Captain Obvious” plan but so often neglected as we strive for numbers, no matter what their return.

Have you really asked yourself the hard questions on how that would affect you? You could be just as successful and have more time for more important things in life. There goes “Captain Obvious” flying by again.

If you concentrate on the 20% sector, you have to ask about the good and the bad issues and then take action from there. The “Most” question could be used across business as well as your personal life to target the areas of, I really need to concentrate on that and I’m cutting cousin Louey from the will.

Ask yourself about –

The most profitable clients and accounts.
The most dependable and trustworthy clients and accounts.
The most stressful and time wasting clients and accounts.
The most negative and soul destroying clients and accounts.
The most inspiring and credible colleagues, friends and family.
The most fashionable and good looking people to hang around. Sorry that just came out of a Who Magazine but it probably describes some people you should be avoiding anyway.

So the above is the easy part. Coming up with the answers can be confronting but actually making the decision to surround yourself with only the best in business and personal life is the toughie.

When was the last time your company or you made a conscious decision to cut a client or account because they fit into the 80% of not producing or providing you with suitable reward or success on the money and integrity side? When was the last time you decided to not attend a function or meeting because they were of no benefit in the end? Companies today work on acquisition and accumulated numbers to show how powerful they can become and then try and use that bulk to overpower others.

In life it’s a bit similar with a landscape of accumulating so called friends and connections to show the world how well known you are or how powerful that can make you feel.

Are we afraid of the results if we make some hard decisions to free us from the confines of the 80/20 rule? Are 200 Facebook friends enough? Do you really know and like all 1500 people you have on your social network?

I’m not really cutting Cousin Louey from the will. He’d say things about me on Facebook.

Sex.

Easily the best attention grabbing headline. Now that I have your attention, it has come to my notice that I should be working harder on my “Erotic Capital”, or so says Professor Catherine Hakim in a controversial article in the European Sociological Review. Looking hot is the way ahead in personal and business relations according to the professor.

So how do I get around that when the gym sessions and vitamin supplements obviously aren’t doing the job? What about a full session of liposuction, collagen injections and suitable plastic surgery? Think about it, this could lead to a niche medical practice specializing in R.O.I. facial construction. If I looked like George Clooney or Brad Pitt, could I be running a global company? Consider the “Donald” look to become prosperous in real estate, or even better, the “Branson” look for aviation success. Richard is always busy and would no doubt appreciate a double to help out with all those lavish parties.

The issue of course, is there needs to be substance behind that hot façade. From a business view the look may get you into the meeting but you’ll be found out quick enough if there are no skills to back up the look. The wrapping has to reveal integrity, credibility and business acumen for any long term success.

The old adage of “sex sells” may work for the first date (insert business meeting) but “eventually you’ll have to talk to them”, then what?

Even in the technology world the professor would probably see some good examples, like the many MP3 options that looked good but couldn’t hold a candle to the iPod, remember the Zune? Apple has the sexy look backed by volumes of applications and innovations to carry off the ultimate product in its field.

Professor Hakim said “being attractive to both sexes can earn you up to 10% to 15% more in wages than those without”. I can see it now, the new “Super Model Airline” not knowing where they are flying to, when they are leaving or where the airport is but they sure look good doing it.

Don’t let the wrapper fool you. Peel back the layers to make sure there is enough substance for a business relationship, unless you just want that first date.

I’m thinking a couple of collagen shots maybe worth a 5% wage increase, what do you think?

Middle Man.

I recently had a drink with friends and work colleagues and the conversation moved to discussion on my middle man skills, in helping them move on, connect or reconnect and find information that they could not find themselves.

I wasn’t sure I liked the description initially, as we generally disparage that image of the middle man who in old days, got in between the buyer and the seller. The middle man has often been described as those who have nothing to sell and everything to gain. They were often ill considered and portrayed in politics and TV as the shady character who knew things about everybody and used that to their advantage.

So I got to thinking how that perception has changed over the last few years. The whole time poor perception of today’s society wrapped in a need for speed of information, along with the collection and reconnection of relationships has evolved an entirely different middle man. A middle man with unusual names like Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn and Google. A middle man who ends up being an aggregator of knowledge and relationships.

Now more than ever it is important to have your relationship and information channels defined and structured in such a way to enable you to stay ahead of the trends. Your brand, your integrity and your credibility need to be entrusted with channels that rise to those heights and never compromise those pillars of being.

It’s important the above are the driving force to build that platform of trust based on never selling out the relationship and never compromising the high standards you aspire to.

There is a technology landscape littered with so called middle man sites that have not upheld the required standards to engender the trust required for longevity. It’s too easy for sites to promise and intrude but so hard to deliver and exist by the standards required. How many people do you really trust? How many sites do you really trust? Find the good ones and hang onto them because it’s only going to get more crowded and confusing with new players promising to keep you connected, informed and in charge of your life.

For individuals it’s even more important as you are the keeper and trustee of all that your friends hold dear about their relationships and integrity. It’s a line that some may cross for their own advantage but those that hold the line are the true middle men, not looking for advantages but looking to make a difference.

I feel better about being a middle man but I’m thinking of changing my name, what about Oface or Ospace or my favourite Ooogle. Do you think they’d go for that?