Pret's profits prove our point

Reading the Guardian's recent piece about Pret a Manger's profit boost brought a smile to my face.


Reminded me of course of my Aussie friends' delightful insistence when first arriving in London on pronouncing that great sandwich place as Pret a Manger- rhymes with hanger (say it out loud with an upward intonation at the end and you'll crack it!)


That and the 500 new jobs Pret are creating aside, the profit boost is a cracking endorsement of Woodreed's favourite and much vaunted 'Service Profit Chain'*.  We often cite Pret in the client workshops we run as a great example of an organisation who gets the importance of a healthy internal culture which is firmly grounded in their brand values. So it's great to see yet more hard evidence for why this matters.


The Guardian writes "Service at Pret tends to be better than in comparable chains. Staff smile, chat a bit, make life marginally less horrendous...Pret treats its staff better than similar organisations do. Mystery shoppers visit every branch every week and report on the service they experience. If a branch is awarded "outstanding", as about 86% are each time, every member of staff gets an extra £1 for every hour they've worked that week. The reward is for service rather than sales."


The knock-out punch is in the final line - the reward is for service rather than sales. So there you have it - engaged employees deliver bottom line profit - FACT!


Read Guardian article in full   *The Service Profit Chain - James Heskett et al

Dear Ms Another...

Oh what a hall of new business email shame has appeared through the hallowed walls of the Woodreed server this week. It never ceases to amaze me how useless companies are with customer service and new business approaches. When first impressions in new business count so much and in an economic climate that dictates that we all have to try that little bit harder, how can it be that we get not one, but three shockers this week?

Is it honestly that hard to make sure when approaching a new prospect the email address matches the name of the person you are addressing the email to? Or just taking a moment to check that, when sending an email to the MD of the company you are pitching your new business lead generation services to, (oh the irony) you get the name of her company right (that’ll be the one in the email address on the screen in front of you, pal) or at the very least make sure you’ve put the name of a real life person after ‘Dear’.

Attention to detail people.

Here they are for your delectation…

Dear Ms Another - 


I hope you won't mind this brief message, as I realize that you are busy and believe that an email would be preferable to a call. 


(Insert name of shamed recruitment consultant here), would like to introduce an outstanding candidate, who is immediately available for Temp or Perm work. 

________________________________________________________________________

Sent to my in inbox, (For the record I’m Charlotte and no one in the office received a call plus I haven’t been receiving the magazine)


Hi Chris,


I tried calling you earlier in the day but was advised might be best to send you and e-mail instead.


I just wanted to inform you that your FREE trial magazine subscription is due to end on 31st May 2012. I hope you have enjoyed your subscription so far and are looking to continue it for another year.


________________________________________________________________________

Or perhaps my favourite

Hi Jo,
I thought I’d drop you a quick email as I now have clearance to offer companies like WCCT a rock solid guarantee on their lead generation activity. If we don’t get you sales leads you don’t pay us a penny.

And Jo’s response which is a classic in my opinion:


Oh good – do please go ahead and offer to WCCT.  I always find personalised new business approaches work best…

Pitch in a Lift??

Whilst trying to fight my way through the tidal wave of year 7 to 13 school kids at my local train station this morning I thought I had picked up my free copy of 'Metro'. Unfortunately it was a discarded copy of City A.M. and I felt my heart sink.....

With the prospect of a delayed train journey I tentatively started to browse through the pages and came across the headline: How to get hired: 30 seconds in a lift with your future boss

It turns out that Saatchi & Saatchi X are holding open interviews today where they are inviting graduates to turn up to their offices with just their CV and a pitch. They will then wait for the chance to impress a group of senior executives in 30 seconds whilst travelling in a lift. If they're sucessful it could then lead to a bootcamp, a short summer placement and then a job for at least a year.....

Now that gives a new approach to first impressions count......hope no one suffers from claustrophobia

Ales that become legends

Once upon a time a gentleman living in Nottinghamshire decided to follow his dream and start his very own micro brewery. Proud of the city, loving its people and sincerely calling Nottingham his home, he was inspired by the legend that is Robin Hood and decided to create another brand for the people of Nottinghamshire to be proud of.

Reflecting this heritage Lincoln Green was born. The name derived from the colour of dyed woollen cloth associated with Robin Hood and his merry men in Sherwood Forest. Then came a beautifully designed set of beer pump badges for its four beers, their names all being a respectful nod towards Nottinghamshire's legendary character. Next came a set of ads created to launch Lincoln Green and its 'band of merry men' (and one woman!) in eager anticipation of the first delivery of beer during May into it's happily every after home... drinking establishments of Nottingham. Click here to view the ads

Most good brands can distinguish themselves from the competition because they have a story. Take Nike for example, its brand story challenges people to be empowered in life and 'just do it.' That story inspires and strikes an emotional chord with consumers around the world. Castle Rock Brewery won the Best Marketing Award at the SIBA awards for its 'Kiss me Kate' Royal wedding beer launched last year to coincide with the Royal Wedding. Never did they imagine sales of this beer to be as popular as they were however people find stories, legends and fairy tales (including Royal fairytales) irresistible and compelling but most importantly memorable. 

The Lincoln Green story is based on pride, heritage and a quality product. I'm very excited to see how the next chapter of the story will unfold. http://lincolngreenbrewing.co.uk/

Simplicity in its purest form

Sometimes you see a piece of stunning design work and you quite simply want to tell the world.

The designer: 20 year old Jonathan Mak head hunted after creating the Steve Job's tribute poster.
The brand: Coca-Cola.
Campaign headline: Open Happiness

It is so simple it is inspiring - two hands in the shape of Coke's iconic white ribbon passing a bottle.

Bravo Jonathan.

And the band played on and on and on.....

100 years on from the sinking of the unsinkable, this weekend marked the actual anniversary of the last night of Titanic's fateful maiden voyage.  

One particular activity which caught my attention has been on Twitter. Since mid-March @titanicrealtime have been tweeting in the guise of officers, crew, passengers (all classes), engineers etc.  I've been unsure about this all along - is it insightful or unnecessarily voyeuristic?  So many of the tweets seemed so obviously written with the benefit of hindsight - references to numbers of lifeboats, safety measures etc - that it seemed hackneyed to say the least.


Then last night - the tweets increased in volume with a moment by moment, sometimes second by second narrative of the collision, sinking and final rescue of the 700 survivors by the Carpathia.  I don't deny I was gripped but it made me wonder why?  I can claim it was out of professional interest to see how a publishing company with product to sell treated the topic, but that would be disingenuous. What is it that draws us towards this subject time and time again?


There's been the commemorative Balmoral cruise with everyone dressed up in period costume to sail the exact course and dates - judging by the look of most passengers this was a great jolly, like some glorified murder mystery event rather than a more genuine commemoration of 1500 lost lives.


It made me think about other anniversaries and how we respond to them and how we might respond to them in the future.  What about a hundred years on from 9/11?  Will future generations dress up in turn of the century business garb and re-enact the last hours of the twin towers or take commemorative flights?  I think most would agree the idea is abhorrent so what makes the Titanic different? What turns something from being a sombre cause for reflection into an excuse for a big party?  And what is it about the story that has such staying power?


Oh and if you're interested the same publishing company behind @titanicrealtime are planning a blow by blow Twitter account of the Ripper murders from the perspective of the police involved.

What makes a good manager?

I have long considered the role of a manager and what it takes to be a good one. In my early career my experience of managers was mixed. While some were good, most I questioned how on earth they got there. And my theory is that more often than not people are promoted to managerial positions because they are good at what they do and I recognise that this is an important factor in promotion. But being a good and competent manager is more than just about being good at what you do, isn’t it? Surely you have to be good with people? Don't you need to bring out the best in them and recognise and maximise their potential so they are able to thrive in their environment?

Don’t you have to have the skills to lead, mentor and train? What about care? Doesn’t a manager need to be able to engage with their staff beyond the usual delegation of work? I think these skills are often forgotten in the workplace and most importantly overlooked when recruiting for managerial positions.

At Woodreed we have long believed in the importance of the line manager in driving a productive workforce, employees don’t quit their companies, they quit their bosses after all.

In light of this I think companies need to recognise the value in having happy and motivated staff and recruit managers with the skills to create positive atmospheres. After all engaged employees have a real impact on the bottom line, one example being the cost of absenteeism.

One step forward, two steps back

Treat employees like customers....(please)

I came across a thread on linkedin today on one of the employee engagement forums I’m part of that has seriously twisted my melons man. Yet another internal comms professional casting around for free creative ideas for an employee marketing campaign amongst the Linkedin community.

Grrrrr.

As Peter Simpson, the ex commercial director of employee engagement pioneers First Direct once said “Why would you want to be one kind of brand to customers and another to employees?” He’s so right. Emotional engagement is four times more valuable than rationale engagement in driving employee effort. There’s proof everywhere you look. Why oh why do companies still insist on lavishing all their time, effort, ideas and budget on consumer marketing while treating employee communication with a lack of reverence so acute it verges on the insulting. Crazy when you think that there’s a direct and proven link between quality internal comms and increased revenue and profitability – look after your employees and they’ll look after your customers.

For what it’s worth, here’s how I responded.    

Alas, it's one step forwards two steps back in the quest to have internal communications treated with the same reverence as external. Would anyone really ever use linked in to say 'Hey - we're launching a new consumer ad campaign, anyone got any ideas for what we can put in our ads?' Of course they wouldn't. Honestly, we are never going to get internal comms and employee engagement taken seriously as a discipline as vital to a company's success as consumer marketing unless we all start treating our employees with the same respect as we do our customers.

Take a look at this for some ways to start treating employees more like customers http://bit.ly/HkDjcQ

*Gets back in box*

Brand campaign takes to the skies

After two and half long years of research, prototyping and testing, all of us at Woodreed were especially proud to witness the product of our labours at the weekend.

When we first decided to raise our own brand awareness, we wanted to do it in an energetic, thought-provoking and witty way in line with our own brand.

After several empassioned brainstorms we eventually came up with our idea. Next step was to make it happen. We partnered with 'Hot Air Media' who, realising the potential of this new media, invested time and skill to get the project off the ground.

After months of brilliant teamwork, the three products rose high into the sky above the towns and villages of South East England.

Made of high density sailing materials and tactically weighted to maintain tension in all weathers, the brand panels simply roll up for take-off and landing and are easily released at the optimum height to maximise audience exposure.

Our own brand campaign success aside, the project has attracted huge interest from brand owners excited by the medium's unique potential to rise above the competition.