Strengthening combinations

Co-branding can be very effective. When the fashioncompany H&M - which has quite a budgetimage - works with upgraded brands of guestdesigners like Madonna and Victor & Rolf, interesting things happen. As long as both brands are strong, they can handle this and take advantage of it. H&M is wellknown almost worldwide. The company has a large and attractive targetgroup which may be a bit off to the side for Madonna and Victor&Rolf under normal conditions. By cooperating with H&M they can get in touch with this targetgroup and still hold on to their upgraded image.

The trick is to know when co-branding works and when it does more harm. Common values may be a guideline, but it isn´t always the answer.




Bild: H&M

Invisible food

Effective branding does often apply to many of our senses. We get visual, auditive, olfactory and taste impulses. The more impulses we get, the more we are influenced by the brand. If we like the impulses we may like the brand. If we don´t we may not.

There is a restaurant which serves food that you can´t see. Imagine that. Your visual sense will be met by darkness, nothing else. Your other senses will need to do the whole job in order to give you the proper information. The brandmanager will need to stimulate your other senses more than usual in order to convince you.

If you would like to experience this, visit Svartkrogen at Almåsa, just outside of Stockholm. Notice that the restaurant is actually named after the sense that is missing. It is branded by the not existing value.

Svartkrogen



Photo: Svartkrogen

Employer - to - do

When we build our employer brand, we can save time and effort by working in a systematic way. There are some actions that are especially effective ways of moving forward:

* Implement the vision of your company in your employees. Live as you learn. Make them proud ambassadors of your company.
* Find out why your employees are loyal and stay in the company and what it is that attracts new employees.
* Review your recruitment communication. What does your offer look like? What is your message and who do you turn to?
* Communicate the things that make you different from other employers, especially your competitors.
* Make sure that the recruitment follows and is a part of the marketingstrategy of your company.

When the world changes

If a decision is made in the European Union, it affects 500 million people in 27 countries. People travel and network all over the world and call themselves global citizens. Multinational companies run their businesses on the global market.

The original geographical boarders are no longer practical boarders. Will there be global laws in the future? Who is the final decisionmaker when it comes to global issues?

Matilda´s Food Paradise

There is an Italian Restaurant in Täby, Stockholm, where the chef is an important part of the brand. He´s in his 60´s, I guess. He wears his chefhat with a nice twitch and he makes the pizzas in a woodfired baking oven which is part of the restaurant.

Without him and his oven, the place would be a lot more ordinary, although the food is good. He´s the guy that gives this place a good Italian image. I should have brought my camera for lunch today. I´m sure that he is quite photogenic.

Matildas Matparadis

Keep or loose your customers

I deal with two insurance companies - one for my private stuff and one for my company. One of them works great. The other one has consequently given me quite a bad impression through parts of the staff. Bad knowledge about the services and a scrubby attitude. Everytime I have to contact them, I seem to loose energy. I either need to make a change in my choice of insurance companies or in allowing it to spoil my good mood. Maybe both.

Isn´t it amazing how much the employees mean to a company! Every contact with a client is extremely important in order to keep selling and increasing results. In some cases it has to do with the employer brand. People may not feel at ease with their employer and it affects their own accomplishments. Then it may be time for them to search for a different employer. And sometimes the employer needs to search for a different employee. Go out and find some better sheep for the herd.

Go beyond the conditions

We were skiing and skating in Dalecarlia - a bit up north in Sweden - this weekend. It was snowing on Sunday. Bad sight - but good powder to ski in! It was thaw on Saturday, which covered the ice on the lake with water - but it was quite an adventure to skate in it!

We could have chosen not to ski and skate because of the weather conditions. We could have stayed home and sulked about the weather. It would have been quite boring. Instead we had a great weekend with lots of fresh air, a couple of good workouts and new experiences.

Conditions can be good or bad. We can choose how we look at them and how we handle them. Usually there are positive experiences to find, if we choose to look at things from a positive and constructive angle.