By George Aveling
It’s all too common in Malaysia.There is an issue that has been vexing me for some time. I have had some memorable brand experiences in my life. But most of them haven’t been in Malaysia. The issue on my mind is, “If branding is so important, then why are so few companies in Malaysia excelling at it?” I believe that a key problem is that leaders of organisations simply don’t get it! They are using outmoded models, leading to hugely under-performing brands.
Now before people in the industry get their feathers ruffled, I want to say that I’m not talking about the creative external branding. Rather, I’m talking about the people side of branding. I’m talking about efforts to build cultures that are aligned with organisational brands. Managers and employees are brand ambassadors. Just imagine if Mickey Mouse came to work in a bad mood one day! Can you imagine the bad word of mouth and email spam that would follow? Mickey, or rather, the people who play Mickey, knows that Disney’s brand promise is fun and entertainment, and he delivers, day in, day out. This doesn’t happen by accident. Rather, it happens because great companies like Disney spend an enormous amount of resources to engage employees who deliver on the brand promise. My observation is that most companies in Malaysia have a long way to go before they can create great service brands. One of the key concerns is the way that organisations and people are managed.
I spoke to the manager of a major international company in Malaysia. He lamented the declining state of his company. The CEO of this organisation has called (once again) for cost cuts across the organisation. The only problem is that employees are already under-resourced, stressed to the max and drowning under the workload. The CEO informed his team that if they could not handle the (increasing) workload, he would find people who could. This is not the best way to motivate your hardworking, stressed team! The senior team mirrored the behaviour of the CEO and seemed to be forever busy in their offices. They focused on action plans and KPIs. They talked about customers, but, frankly, the words left their lips only to go into thin air. The problem is that they have forgotten about the importance of their people. And they definitely don’t appreciate the importance of culture in building strong brands.
They pay lip service to “people are our most important asset” by driving their people into the ground with work! Oh, I almost forgot to mention. This major company has a brand promise. The only problem is that the promise is not alive in the organisation. The senior team is too busy chasing sales and cutting costs to be building a culture that delivers on the brand promise. And, if you were an employee and read the company’s annual report to find out what the brand promise is, you would be too stressed and de-motivated to deliver the brand experience. The CEO of this company gets an “F” for Failure for his ability to build a sustainable competitive advantage through the brand experience. He will continue to lose good people. His profits will continue to slide. And he will continue to blame ‘market conditions’. In short, he simply doesn’t get what it takes to build a strong service brand. If that leadership team were to go on a “Branding 101” course, they would learn that a brand is not just about advertising. It’s not just about a logo.
The value of your brand is held in the hearts and minds of your target market. Your brand is your reputation. In short, you have to devote a significant amount of resources to engage your people to want to deliver on your brand promise. My question to you is, “Does your company’s leadership behave in any way like the real live example that I have just given you?” If so, your senior management team is clearly focused on short term goals rather than building a sustainable brand. Senior managements come and go, but the lousy brands that they leave behind can last for years! My observation is that this style of management – Brand Lip-Service Leadership – is too much the norm in Malaysia.
Brands that “get it”
Customers form a set of expectations about their experience with your company. Your external brand image has a big influence on how these expectations are formed. If customer expectations are met, your brand may be safe. If they are exceeded, you will create ambassadors who tell others about your company. But if their experience is below their expectations, then your brand will be eroded. So, here comes good brand experience example number 1: My favourite Indian eating places: Nirvana in Bangsar and Nagas in Brickfields. I know what to expect in both of these restaurants –consistently good food, low price and fast attentive service. I’m welcomed back by Amutha from Nirvana and Anthony from Nagas. I’m a very satisfied, repeat customer. Let’s step it up a few notches. A TMI colleague who was visiting Malaysia from Ireland wanted a Tag Heuer watch for his wife. We had a very good brand experience at the Mid Valley outlet. The staff spoke with good knowledge and good humour. We felt important. They spoke proudly about being on the Tag Heuer team. The company had given them opportunities for development and is interested in their ideas. One of them had met a visiting celebrity, care of Tag. The staff seemed connected with the company that employed them. And they were engaging brand ambassadors. The result? My colleague bought a watch and we have become ambassadors for the Tag Heuer shopping experience. Let’s ramp it up a little more. My favourite hotel in KL is the KL Hilton.
When you approach a staff member, you are acknowledged. If you ask for directions, the staff member will walk with you. People are always there to help and make you feel important. Once again, this is no accident. Paul Hutton, the General Manager as well as the senior management team have done a fine job in creating a people-centric organisation. I am most proud when Paul says that he was influenced by TMI many years ago as its service philosophy is to put your people first. He does this – and gets great commercial returns in the process. Paul and his senior team put in a huge amount of effort to engage their team. There is free food in the cafeteria for all employees. Managers and staff dine together in a very nice eating space with a great view. Each morning, based on customer feedback, members of the senior team hand out RM20 to an average of around 25 employees who have been nominated as excellent service providers by customers. It’s not the money.
Rather, it’s the impact of a Senior Manager taking the trouble to personally acknowledge your good work. If you go to the staff area, you will see life size cardboard cutouts of employees of the month. Good news is infectious! And the Hilton has a number of fun activities throughout the year. At the end of year bash, there are very substantial prizes offered to outstanding employees. The KL Hilton certainly spends a lot of time and money on its employees. Management spends time building a culture that delivers the unique Hilton experience. And the rewards are great. The Hilton’s occupancy rates and premium rates are more than enough to keep the owners happy.
Their employee engagement scores are at world’s best practice level. And, of course, they get customers like me who rave over the Hilton experience. It’s customers like me who help to build the Hilton brand. After all, the value of the brand is in my heart and mind! So, if Malaysian companies want to build strong service brands, they need to think beyond external branding. They need to look inside their organisations to build their brands from the inside out. It’s going to mean a change in leadership paradigm in many organisations, where it is recognised that investments in intangibles – on creating a branded culture – will reap rich rewards. It means going from Brand Lip Service Leadership to Brand Leadership.