FutureBrand news, views & insights: March 2024
Happy and healthie
Taking a 'sickie' has always been something of a rite of passage for workers in Australia.
Back in September 2020, the team here at FutureBrand started doing something different and we took our first ‘healthie’.
It’s like a sickie, only better, quite literally.
It’s a day off work, once every quarter, to do something – or nothing! – whatever you fancy, no questions asked. And we all take a healthie on the same day so that we all get to enjoy the benefits, together.
It’s always been one of my favourite initiatives for illustrating how we’ve transformed our own employee experience.
And it’s on my mind for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, because just last week we all took our latest healthie.
(I played golf, again.)
Secondly, because just this week I’ve had a couple of marketers talk to me about their employee experience, whether it’s how they use the brand internally to attract, engage and grow their employees or indeed how employees use the brand externally to attract, engage and grow their customers.
Naturally, one leads to the other – it’s why we measure both our client NPS (Net Promoter Score) and our team NPS – and one of my favourite statistics is this via the Harvard Business Review:
“Employee engagement explains two-thirds of our client experience scores. And if we’re able to increase client satisfaction by five points, we see an extra 20% in revenue on average, so clearly there’s an impact” – Head of HR, IBM
Happy clients? Healthie team.
Bunnings turns Bluey
When you have a brand as iconic as Bluey, you can transform an equally iconic brand like Bunnings, even to the point of changing its name.
Six Bunnings stores in Australia and one in New Zealand have been re-named Hammerbarn, inspired by the famous cartoon, complete with Bluey-themed kids DIY workshops in-store and exclusive Bluey products too.
Our Head of Strategy, Victoria was interviewed for the story by Mediaweek, this is what she had to say:
“You know a brand is iconic when it can play around with arguably its most distinctive assets like its logo or name. From the shape of the building to the car park configuration to the sausage sizzle to the range and service style, Bunnings is a fully-immersive branded experience so has earned the license to be playful.”
When your brand is that distinctive, it not only creates the opportunity for it to become more meaningful but also more memorable. Even when you toy with the details, people can’t help but see the bigger picture.
People power
One ingredient of Bunnings’ iconic success has been its employees and how they have put a human face to the brand and its advertising.
It’s a strategy all too familiar to our new Global Chief Growth Officer, Lauren Maynard, and it’s an ingredient found in a new article she’s written for the World Advertising Research Center (WARC):
“Lauren knows firsthand that your employees are the backbone of your brand. When every member of your organisation is on board and passionate about what you stand for, that's when the magic happens.”
It’s a great read, focused on five all-important areas of growth that take your brand beyond the logo:
Internal alignment for external impact: A robust corporate brand must resonate internally to effectively manage change and drive growth externally. Don't sideline employee alignment and engagement – it's the secret for success.
Meaningful purpose matters: Purpose-driven brands inspire and unite employees, driving them to go above and beyond. Purpose doesn't have to be grand; it must be authentic, actionable, and resonate with both customers and employees.
Employee engagement fuels customer satisfaction: Every employee is a brand ambassador, shaping customer experiences. Engaged employees lead to happier customers and higher profitability – a win-win situation.
Creating internal efficiencies: A well-implemented brand streamlines operations internally while enhancing effectiveness externally. Consistent brand management ensures a unified brand experience across all touchpoints.
Advice for tough times: In challenging economic climates, investing in employee engagement and brand clarity is non-negotiable. It's the foundation for weathering storms and staying ahead in competitive markets.
Feel free to let me know if you need help getting over the paywall, otherwise here’s a wonderfully simple summary courtesy of our client AirTrunk and the company’s CEO, Robin Khuda: “Quite often businesses forget that employees are their best assets and that employees should be treated the same way as customers.”
Clarity begins at home
Sticking with the theme of seeing a business and its brand from the inside out, we’ve been spending time looking inside our own business and brand.
Over the past six months, we’ve taken some of our own advice at FutureBrand in order to evolve our own strategy: in sync with how our business continues to evolve and grow.
Firstly, diving deep into the research via our quarterly client and team surveys.
Next, developing this new iteration of our strategy – how we understand our clients’ needs, identify our competitive advantage and position ourselves in the market.
Now, actioning the roadmap for how we deliver on our new strategy through the client experience, and of course the employee experience too.
It’s been an open, transparent and collaborative process in which everyone has participated, and if there’s one benefit I feel we’ve gained, it’s this: clarity.
We’re clearer than ever on who we are.
What we do.
How – and why – we do it.
And, last but not least, how and why that matters to our clients too.
That’s it for another month, I hope you found it insightful – and hopefully useful too – I do appreciate the feedback people share with me, even if only a quick comment or two, I’m always happy for you to email me.