Abiah.com, Christian Organization and Ministry Brand Development

It's not easy being green

Today is Blog Action Day when 15,000 bloggers are all talking about the environment.  I'm an environmentalist and I'm a blogger, so hey, here I am.

From a brand building perspective, concern about the environment is once again gaining momentum.  I say once again because I remember when Earth Day started and when environmentalism first became a big issue. 

How does your position on the environment and climate change impact your brand communication?  Should it? 

For a brand to be strong, the messaging has to be authentic and built on truth.  If you're organization is only embracing environmentalism as a cheap ploy to grab marketshare, the environmentalist in me is happy to have you on board for whatever reason I can get you, but the brand strategist in me will tell you it will be hard to sustain a fake position.  The best copywriters would have a hard time making a half-hearted position sound like a passionate one.

More and more people in various demographic segments are trying to buy in a way that's consistent with their passions.  What are you doing to make the world a better place and are you communicating that to your market?

And we all know the addage to "think globally and act locally" so what are you doing in your office to minimize the trash you generate?  Have you gotten rid of the styrofoam cups?  Are you using regular plates instead of paper ones?  Please tell me you're at least recycling...

You know that shredded paper isn't recycleable right?  Well, it IS biodegradable so if you have any gardeners in your office pass the paper over to them.  It can be used as mulch (wet it and put regular mulch or stones on top of it or even put dirt or compost on top) or worked into the soil or even tossed into a composter.

How about in the bathroom?  Save those cardboard tubes from the toilet paper and paper towel dispensers.  They can also be composted. 

Stop throwing out rubber bands.  Re-use them in the office.

Don't destroy padded envelopes.  Those things aren't recycleable and many of them won't break down for eons so save them and just slap some labels on them to re-use them.

It might require some adjustments on your part to make your office more environmentally friendly but the world will be a much better place because of it.

Little things mean a lot

A member of the Abiah family shared a story that was so good, we wanted to share it with you.

Marge went to a local convenience store & deli that had recently been sold.  It's one of those great local shops that have virtually disappeared from most communities.  While the new owners have made some cosmetice changes, the food has remained as good as it's been in the past.

Marge ordered her usual sandwich and expected to receive it wrapped in its usual wax paper wrapper.  She was really surprised to have it presented to her in a styrofoam carton placed on top of a red and white checked paper napkin. 

Marge was so impressed with this presentation that she actually showed it to the staff in her office.

This experience hammers home some important points to all of us brand builders and business owners.  I'll share a few:

Walking the talk

Hello Brand Builders-

Yesterday I got the latest issue of Workforce Management magazine.  If you're HR staff doesn't get this I highly recommend it.  They also have a great website that's got tons of great free HR articles.

The cover story, Flexibility to the Fullest, is about Best Buy's radical decision to allow its corporate employees to work anywhere, anytime, and in any way necessary.  In other words, people don't have to actually show up to do their work.  They can work from home, they can work from the park.  Best Buy's only concern is that the job gets done.  If an employee gets her work done and gets it done well in 3 days, who cares? 

I don't know your thoughts but this just blows me away!  First of all, lots of companies SAY employees matter, work - life balance matters, but for those of us who have worked somewhere and tried to have work-life balance and got dirty looks when we left early, or were left out of important projects or meetings because we weren't in the office, Best Buy's position is absolutely gigantic.  Here's a company actually taking action that's completely in line with their values.  How many companies can say that?

Let's analyze this decision a little more.  Businesses all over the country have been complaining for years about how hard it is to find and retain good help.  What do you think this new strategy does to Best Buy's recruitment efforts?  Makes it easy as pie, doesn't it?  Can you imagine being the recruiter who tells a candidate about this benefit?

And how about the impact on turnover?  Who would leave a place like that?  Maybe if you won a 200 million Powerball jackpot. 

What about the impact on performance?  People are going to be focused on doing their best work in the time when's best for them. 

In addition to your brand in the consumer marketplace, your business has a brand in the labor market.  Do you know how the company is perceived by applicants?  What about by new hires?  Is there a disconnect between the picture you paint to sell the company to the applicant versus what they discover is reality when they arrive and start working?  In other words, does your company live up to the brand promise it makes to the labor pool?

If you're not living up to that promise, or if there are other internal issues that are limiting or holding your employees back from fully buying into and delivering on the brand promise, you're not going to be as productive or as profitable as you otherwise could be.

Check out that article and give some real thought about how your organization lives its values and delivers on the brand.  Drop us a note or a post and share your thoughts.

Hope this gives you some ideas that will give you a strong return on your brand.

Until next time-

The team at Abiah Designs

PS.  Want even more brand building information and ideas? Drop on over to our website and sign up for our newsletter.  We've got some exciting stuff planned for the 4th quarter and we don't want you to miss out.

Why should customers choose you?

Hi Brand Builders-

This weekend I was getting ready to clean my bird feeders (I have 5 of them) when I discovered I had no bleach (a critical ingredient).  I ran to the local CVS and the only thing they had was Clorox(TM).  Luckily it was on sale.

I'm a big store brand person.  Frankly, I don't see a lot of difference in many of the products out there so I buy store brands as much as possible, and I usually by store brand bleach. 

I can tell you that's not going to happen again.  I'm a Clorox(TM) user from now on!

I clean my bird feeders every 2 to 3 weeks because it helps minimize the spread of house finch eye disease.  Anyone who has 5 feeders wants to help the little guys, not hurt them, so I want to get my feeders as clean as possible.

I was shocked when I saw the obvious difference the Clorox(TM) made in the cleaning!  The gunk came off easier and I got more of it off.  I'm now sorry I didn't buy Clorox(TM) sooner!

This is a great example of how you can take a product that's really a commodity in many people's minds (hey, it's just bleach...one is like the other so I'll just choose by price) and turn it into a value laden item.  Clorox(TM) has value for me now that it didn't have before!

Now there are lots of bleaches on the market.  Why Clorox(TM)?  Why don't I keep experimenting with other name brands?  Maybe one of them would be even better.

Well, one reason is, like most consumers, I'm a little lazy (hey, I clean 5 bird feeders every 2 to 3 weeks, so I can't be THAT lazy).  I don't want to schlep.  I'm cheap (to a degree) so I don't want to spend more than necessary.  But, the big reason is an emotional one.  Clorox(TM) produced when I used it.  It made me feel good that I was getting my feeders extra clean.  As marketers, we can't ignore the fact that, although we all like to think we're rational decision makers, there's a big element of emotion in every decision.  When a business can make a positive connection to the consumer, the ground has been laid for that person to become a brand champion. 

I'm on my way to being a champion for Clorox(TM). 

Where do you stand on your quest to turn plain consumers into Brand Champions?

Want to talk about it?  You can post your thoughts here or drop me a note and we can discuss it.

Hope that provides some fuel for bringing you a great return on your brand.

Until next time-

Winnie and the rest of team at Abiah Designs.

PS.  If you want to learn about birding and gardening, pay a visit to my personal blog.  I talk about what's going on in my yard and how that relates to your business, career, and life.