British Airways has seen a massive fall in bookings for flights as travellers put off making reservations or switch to rival airlines in fear of “disastrous” strike action. Since BA cabin crew voted in favour of industrial action last week, price comparison website travelsupermarket.com said the number of customers making inquiries about BA flights on its site has fallen by a third.

In an era where ‘controlling the brand message’ is paramount for many marketing departments, having a unionized workforce must be a nightmare…!

I’m all in favor of treating workers fairly, and I have to admit to not knowing enough of the specific facts in this case, but surely Unite, the union in question, is risking more by pissing off BA’s diminishing customer base? I believe the airline is seeking a pay freeze, and looking to switch 3,000 employees to part-time status. It hopes to reduce costs by 140 million Pounds in 2010. Is that unreasonable in the current climate where the airline is losing more than a million Pounds a day? OK, it’s not much fun if you’re one of those whose income is frozen or whose hours are cut, but surely union members have to live in the real world like the rest of us?

Personally I don’t understand the rationale; it’s as if unions still think they are operating in the insular economies of the 1970s, rather than the global marketplace of the 2010s. A strike in the 70s got results; today it just adds inconvenience and turns people off a brand that once proclaimed itself to be the World’s Favourite Airline.

Today the consumer has a choice; 30 or 40 years ago we were more limited. But now, rather than choose to fly BA from Phoenix to London direct, we’ll go on Virgin via Vegas, or US Airways via Charlotte, or any other number of combinations. Would we rather fly direct? Absolutely, but why risk being caught up in the chaos!

That’s why this union action could irreparably damage the BA brand. Striking to protest redundancies will inevitably damage an already struggling business, and that in turn will lead to more lay-offs. I know I’m just a lowly marketeer, but why don’t the staff and the union see this? Long term, they are risking all their jobs!

Brand management is all about managing relationships; when you have a third party like a union involved, the brand management team lose control, and the customer relationship suffers. So what can Brand Managers learn from BA’s problems? Not having a unionized workforce is a start, but beyond that you have to retain control of all your customer contact points.

Give DGR Communications a call to find out how you can better manage your brand’s relationship with your customers.

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Small partnerships need to do more networking; and I don’t mean attending lunches, trying to gain new business over nibbles and business card exchanges; although that is a useful tool…

No, what I mean by networking is building your own network of complementary enterprises; forging links with people who have the skills and expertise to increase your profitability as a business. A network of suppliers, partners, service providers (whatever you choose to call them) that complement your business will enable you to share clients, share experiences and grow profits…together.

Every successful small business has a distinct set of skills in house; take us for example. Our skills are in web design and development, copywriting, brand consultancy and project management; we don’t claim to be a ‘Jack of all trades’, but what we have done since our arrival in Arizona in 2006 is get to know people. We’ve formed links with Social Media specialists, PR partners, E-Learning consultants, Designers, Database developers…the list goes on and will continue to grow.

Why? Because as a small business operating in this economy, it’s hard to have to say ‘no’. But equally, we don’t want to sell skills that we don’t have; that’s not how long term client relationships are built. If a client trusts you, he/she will trust you to bring in skills that you trust to get the job done; you can use your skills to manage that process or just take heart from a referral, hoping that it will be reciprocated one day.

So whether you’re a Landscaper who wants to incorporate a Pool service, or a Tax Specialist who’d like to offer clients monthly Bookkeeping…partner up. The great thing is, if you pick your partners well, the relationship will work both ways.

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Much has been written and said about Toyota recently; millions of product recalls, problem after deadly problem surfacing with their vehicles.  I don’t need to add my comment on the damage this is doing to the brand, but does an ad like this do anything to assuage the publics’ opinion that Toyota is in trouble?

If you haven’t seen it, just watch this for a moment…

The point I wish to add to this maelstrom of comment and brand bashing is this; does a TV ad like this go any way to restoring public faith in a company? Or is the brand marketing department merely scratching an itch and reacting to the situation the best way it knows how? The next time you’re considering a car purchase, will this ‘band aid’ commercial do anything to stop the bleeding and bring Toyota back into your portfolio of choice? I’m not so sure.

Perhaps they would be better running this segment from the hugely popular, slightly off the wall, UK TV show ‘Top Gear’. In 2007 the team did their very best to ‘kill’ a Toyota pick up truck. They drove it into the ocean, took a wrecking ball to it, even set fire to it…and still it ran…watch this and tell me if a montage of this abuse wouldn’t make a better, more engaging brand building commercial…

And if you want to see how it ends… watch this…

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In a times of economic uncertainty, keeping your staff reassured via good internal communications is more important than ever. When dealing with people, it’s the small details that matter… Not just in recruitment terms where a strong employer brand can make a difference, but in staff retention too. If your staff are confident that their positions are safe, they will be more committed to doing their best to help you ride it out. Getting them to buy in to your company values, reassuring them of the stability of the business, even getting them excited about their future will help with retention. It will also serve to increase morale and motivation and can passively attract new talent to your organisation when things pick up.

Externally, good employer branding will help preserve the image and reputation of your brand during this rough ride; then when things pick up and confidence returns, which it undoubtedly will, your company will be well placed to sit high on the best candidates’ shopping lists. Many employer branding programmes fail because the message is not personal enough; their internal marketing isn’t compelling.

Too many firms worry about their external branding without considering their internal messaging. In many businesses your staff are your biggest asset, don’t lose sight of what’s important to them; they  can be your loudest advocates or your harshest critics.

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Many business owners often confuse the idea of a product and a brand.  Put simply, Products exist to expand choice while Brands exist to simplify choice.

Think about this scenario for a minute – If you’re stood in front of a fixture in a store, you will be confronted with a seemingly endless choice of products, be they running shoes or washing powder. You have a huge selection of products to chose from within that category. You see, that’s what I mean when I say Products expand choice.

But if you go in with a predetermined idea that you are going to buy Nike shoes or Tide washing powder, then your ‘emotional’ connection to that brand has narrowed your options – Brands simplify choice.

“But wait!” you cry, “I don’t have an emotional attachment to washing powder or running shoes!” - Well you might be in the minority, but I’m afraid most of us probably do. 

Brands are fundamentally emotional because they seek to persuade you by the pull of what they stand for; think about it a moment – Nike tempts its target audience with the promise of fitness and an athletic lifestyle – Just Do It!   That’s why many people if they can afford it, and often even those who can’t, make the ‘emotional’ choice and pick the $120 running shoes with the tick  over a pair of very similar (in terms of features) $40 non-branded shoes. That’s the emotional pull of the Brand.  

A Product is fundamentally rational because it seeks to persuade by its features, not the lifestyle it can offer you! The $40 pair probably still has the air cushioned sole and the waterproof lining, but they don’t carry the promise of fitness and athleticism, or the tick !  Those shoes won’t allow you to be seen to ‘Just do it!’  And let’s face it, they were probably both made on the same exploitative production line somewhere, but let’s not get into that! 

So when thinking about your business or your product, you need to ensure that you, your website, your copy and all your marketing communications create that emotional connection with your target audience, because that’s what will start to turn your Product into a Brand, and increase the loyalty of your customers.

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Anyone who wants their website to be noticed, and let’s face it, why bother creating a website if you don’t, needs their site to be optimized for search engines. Moving your site up the Google or Yahoo organic page listings is a not an easy task; it will take a while and it can be expensive to get to the top.

But if you don’t have a big budget to pay an SEO agency $$$ every month, try these few tips that will help you move up the listings…

Factors which determine rankings

• Site architecture – Search Engines need to be able to find your content in order to index it
• Content – Relevant, keyword-rich, text based content needs to be visible, correctly structured and accurately match a users request
• HTML compliance – Pages need to be coded correctly – meta-tags, alt tags, title tags etc and must be optimized for search engines
• Link equity - where your site sits within the overall community

6 ways to optimize you site

 
1. Identify keywords
2. Optimize your website with well structured content
3. Submit website to search engines and directories
4. Build inbound links
5. Measure search engine results and site statistics
6. Maintain, and update your website regularly

There is a 7th option – Give us a call and we’ll take care of it for you…without the need for a big budget!

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At DGR we believe it’s important, not to mention healthy, to have a relaxed attitude to life. Business is important, but every now and then you need to take a break, smile or think on something new. Hence this post – a collection of idle facts/figures or thoughts that might just make you think, smile or ponder further…

Taxing Times…

Income tax is a relatively recent invention. It was first introduced in Britain in 1799 – with a top rate of 10% – to help pay for the Napoleonic Wars. Progressive Income Tax – increasing in proportion as income rises – was developed in Prussia in 1853 and has been used in Britain since 1907, in the USA since 1914 and in France since 1917.

Could you say that again please?

There is a small village in Wales called Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. No, that isn’t a typo, it’s 58 letters in length. Translated it means “Saint Mary’s Church in the hollow of white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of Saint Tysilio of the red cave.”  Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.com is the longest one word .com domain name in the world.

The First Barcode

The first item sold after being scanned with a UPC barcode was a 10-pack of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit Gum. The sale occurred at 8:01 a.m. on June 26, 1974 at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio. The gum is now on display at the Smithsonian American History Museum in Washington D.C.

The Lone Star State…

The number of US states could increase at any time from 50 to 54. Texas could still exercise an option granted by Congress after it broke away from Mexico in 1845. On joining the United States, Congress decreed that the new state could divide itself into as many as 5 different states whenever it chose.

Mole…

The word ‘mole’ for a long-term agent who burrows into a rival intelligence agency was devised by an author. British thriller writer and former MI6 officer John Le Carré coined the term in 1974 in his novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy – and the word was later adopted by real spies.

Famous last words…

General John Sedgwick, Union commander in the American Civil War, shot at the Spotsylvania Court House in 1864 while looking over the parapet at the enemy lines: ‘They couldn’t hit an elephant at this dist…’

Why Money is Valued…

Money is by itself not wealth. It is simply a means by which people can exchange goods or services that do have value. While a pile of banknotes is being kept in the attic by a miser and never exchanged for anything, it is worth less than a pile of old rags. Money is a promise, a piece of trust which is passed from hand to hand and can be easily stored without perishing. It has value only if the trust lasts…

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Welcome to the DGR Communications blog – Idle Thoughts.

When creating this blog we started to think about our first post, what should we talk about?  Our good friend and expert blogger Guy – www.bigandsmallscreen.com - recommended that we start with how DGR got started. That seemed as  good a place as any.

The germ of the idea that would become DGR Communications started back in early 2006 when David (my husband and partner in this business) and I were still living in England. We both had successful careers working in advertising and web design agencies in the Bristol area, but we had been working towards a change of lifestyle and a change of location for a few years, culminating in the plan to move to the US.

In 2006 it all started coming together. We sold our house and started giving away most of our possessions, and in July that year David  (after a 2 year wait!) finally got his Green Card. I’m American by birth, via Argentina and England, (sorry…long story) so I didn’t need a visa.  After Dave’s visa was approved we quit our jobs the very next day, then enjoyed numerous leaving parties before leaving England’s shores for the last time in mid August.  We spent a wonderful couple of months traveling around the world before we landed in Phoenix, Arizona to start our new life in October 2006.

Once we  settled in, our thoughts returned to work; what are we going to do?  Remember that the main reason for us moving to Phoenix was to change our lifestyles, to be able to spend more time with each other and have more freedom in the workplace.  We also realized very quickly that we were going to have lots of family and friends visiting, so we needed the flexibility to spend time with them.

We put our heads together and came up with a plan. Together we have over 25 years experience in marketing, having specialized in branding, copywriting and website strategy & development.  Knowing that small business are “big” in America, much more so than the UK, we felt that we could apply our particular knowledge and expertise to helping small businesses improve their communications and develop their brands.  We decided early that working for ourselves would also give us the freedom to dictate our own work/life balance.

So DGR Communications was born in late December 2006 at a dining table in a small rented apartment in Ahwatukee, AZ.  Just over 3 years on, we still work from home but we’ve moved into our own house with a bigger office with 2 desks (the dining table is still downstairs!) and 2 laptops, but the plan remains the same. David specializes in branding and copywriting and I design,  build and develop websites for small and medium size businesses. My background in digital  brand strategy allows me to look at things slightly differently to other web designers. So in between regular visits from family and friends from overseas, we somehow find the time to work with small businesses, do freelance work for digital, design and marketing agencies  and occasionally, very occasionally, sneak the odd day off together to get out and enjoy everything the lovely state of Arizona has to offer.

If you are interested in knowing more about us, or you need our help then please contact us.  We would love to help you develop your business.

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