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Branded, Part 2
Oct. 23rd, 2003 09:15 amThe branding meeting...I already had a headache and a cough (I may have a low-level flu bug, but since reviews are hard to reschedule, I'm going in for a few hours. I'll try to get away early), and I already was going into the meeting with a cynical attitude.
Our "facilitator" was someone from investments that was told to engage us in discussion, and she was very unprepared, but cheery about the company's initiative. She handed out several colorful handouts that have already hit my trash can at my desk. One of my favorites was the "poem" that filled a whole page with lines that exemplified the whole branding thing and "solutions building". A couple of the lines were:
I am different.
I am the American Dream.
I am solutions that work.
I am the brand.
I'd give you more, but as I said, I already threw it away. It truly got worse. Something like "I am Peanut Butter" or something.
So we discussed why this was so important. She had several pat questions to ask to drive discussion, as the whole idea was to get you thinking about this and to drive it into your head. It was an indoctrination. There was a low-level buzz of peer pressure to try to get you to buy in. At one point, the facilitator actually said, "If you don't really take to this idea, don't talk about it in the elevators or at your desk and ruin it for others." Just a little pressure to quell dissent. There was that little hint of, if you don't buy in, you will see this reflected in your future reviews.
I don't take well to threats, and this was really making me aware that the company is really off-course. During one of the discussions we talked about successful companies, and looked at how many of them had a recognizable leader who drove the vision for the company. Steve Jobs and Apple, Bill Gates and Microsoft, Michael Eisner and Disney, among others. There's one person at the top that creates the drive for the brand. Our company used to have that man in Mr. Bauer, he was a nice, grandfatherly man (with a crazy trophy wife that went missing for weeks!). He showed up at meetings, and kept the lines of communication open. He knew what the company needed, but he retired 3 years ago and sold the company to a corporate group that has taken over. There's a CEO, but he's new and no one knows him.
This whole branding thing comes from an ad agency. It's just a purchased package that comes from outsiders who I guess looked at our company and went, oh, we have something that will work for you. You just need all of your employees to buy into the new corporate culture that we want to set up for you.
Since when did ad agencies make corporate culture?
Corporate culture takes leadership, and this just reassures me that our company is completely adrift, and void of leadership. We're just watching the stock price (and I can't wait until I can sell my shares).
I threw the whole thing off, asking a tough question that wasn't something that our facilitator could answer. I asked, "Our company isn't well known. You want us to take this message in and then communicate it to our clients and others, what is the company doing to back up our efforts to give the message?" Well, the answer is, apparently nothing. There's no known ad campaign, nothing but putting the tag line (your goals, our solutions) on the web page and some literature. Supposedly this is better than the old tag line, "Invest with Discipline", since it really doesn't say exactly what we do. Vague is the new black.
Before we left, the facilitator told us that her department had all put the tag line on their emails, and it was really generating a buzz. You know, I don't need to be creating a buzz through my email, nor do I feel like selling something I don't support. It's silly and it doesn't address the real issues the company has. Don't get me wrong, our products (mutual funds, mostly) are decent, there's not a problem there, but the actual treatment of employees has worsened, and I don't know how much longer I can hold out. I wanted to quit yesterday, but my conscious told me better.
I truly need some luck to drop into my lap now. I need to get out.
Our "facilitator" was someone from investments that was told to engage us in discussion, and she was very unprepared, but cheery about the company's initiative. She handed out several colorful handouts that have already hit my trash can at my desk. One of my favorites was the "poem" that filled a whole page with lines that exemplified the whole branding thing and "solutions building". A couple of the lines were:
I am different.
I am the American Dream.
I am solutions that work.
I am the brand.
I'd give you more, but as I said, I already threw it away. It truly got worse. Something like "I am Peanut Butter" or something.
So we discussed why this was so important. She had several pat questions to ask to drive discussion, as the whole idea was to get you thinking about this and to drive it into your head. It was an indoctrination. There was a low-level buzz of peer pressure to try to get you to buy in. At one point, the facilitator actually said, "If you don't really take to this idea, don't talk about it in the elevators or at your desk and ruin it for others." Just a little pressure to quell dissent. There was that little hint of, if you don't buy in, you will see this reflected in your future reviews.
I don't take well to threats, and this was really making me aware that the company is really off-course. During one of the discussions we talked about successful companies, and looked at how many of them had a recognizable leader who drove the vision for the company. Steve Jobs and Apple, Bill Gates and Microsoft, Michael Eisner and Disney, among others. There's one person at the top that creates the drive for the brand. Our company used to have that man in Mr. Bauer, he was a nice, grandfatherly man (with a crazy trophy wife that went missing for weeks!). He showed up at meetings, and kept the lines of communication open. He knew what the company needed, but he retired 3 years ago and sold the company to a corporate group that has taken over. There's a CEO, but he's new and no one knows him.
This whole branding thing comes from an ad agency. It's just a purchased package that comes from outsiders who I guess looked at our company and went, oh, we have something that will work for you. You just need all of your employees to buy into the new corporate culture that we want to set up for you.
Since when did ad agencies make corporate culture?
Corporate culture takes leadership, and this just reassures me that our company is completely adrift, and void of leadership. We're just watching the stock price (and I can't wait until I can sell my shares).
I threw the whole thing off, asking a tough question that wasn't something that our facilitator could answer. I asked, "Our company isn't well known. You want us to take this message in and then communicate it to our clients and others, what is the company doing to back up our efforts to give the message?" Well, the answer is, apparently nothing. There's no known ad campaign, nothing but putting the tag line (your goals, our solutions) on the web page and some literature. Supposedly this is better than the old tag line, "Invest with Discipline", since it really doesn't say exactly what we do. Vague is the new black.
Before we left, the facilitator told us that her department had all put the tag line on their emails, and it was really generating a buzz. You know, I don't need to be creating a buzz through my email, nor do I feel like selling something I don't support. It's silly and it doesn't address the real issues the company has. Don't get me wrong, our products (mutual funds, mostly) are decent, there's not a problem there, but the actual treatment of employees has worsened, and I don't know how much longer I can hold out. I wanted to quit yesterday, but my conscious told me better.
I truly need some luck to drop into my lap now. I need to get out.
