How to develop a powerful brand

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How to develop a powerful brand

• Paul Middleton
• Westminster City Council

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• Westminster

• Billion pound city manager
• 3,000 staff in over 40 locations
• 24 hour operation
• 250 different services
• Flagship local government
• 110,000 households / 8.5 sq miles
• Satisfied residents
• Low council tax
• Strong communities and excellent services

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1,400

• Why is branding important?

1,300
1,200
1,100
Council Tax Retail price index
Satisfaction with LG
1,000
32
900
20
800
What was the last thing you bought for
1,000? What factors affected your choice?
700
600
500
400

1989
1991
2001
1999
1997
1995
1993
2007
2005
2003
2008

• Source CIPFA

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• Once upon a time, a brand was a logo

• Brands began as hot iron marks to signify the
  ownership of livestock
• They were also used to signify the classification
  of clergy, fugitives, galley slaves, gypsies,
  vagabonds and brawlers

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• But on 13 May, 1931 this changed

• The McElroy memo at Proctor and Gamble
• Product differentiation less competition
• Brand management was born with the aim of
  increasing the perceived value of a product or
  service
• Its initial focus was visual identity but
  branding gradually began to effect the 4Ps
  (Product, Price, Place, Promotion)

Neil McElroy (1904-1972)

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• By the 1980s brands had grown up...

• Measurable financial assets
• Brand proliferation
• Customer commitment
• Personality
• Image
• Projection
• Experience

"I am irresistible, I say, as I put on my
designer fragrance. I am a merchant banker, I
say, as I climb out of my BMW. I am a juvenile
lout, I say, as I pour an extra strong lager, I
am handsome, I say, as I put on my Levi jeans" -
John Kay

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• So are you stuck in the 70s?

To some the brand is a visual identifier on the
product or service To others the brand is an
identifiable experience within the product or
service

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• Five steps to a powerful brand

• Customer insight
• Stakeholder involvement
• Proactive brand communications
• Effective reactive communications
• Consistent brand experiences

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• 1a) Customer insight

• I know whats important to my councils residents
  and can prove it
• I understand how these residents feel about the
  services we offer including communication and
  customer service
• I know the key places and ways in which we
  interact with our customers
• I have quantified what types of media our
  residents consume and we prioritise these outlets

What do the experts say? All too often,
companies are guilty of conducting only token
research into the brand's identity - Professor
Jean-Noel Kapferer
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• 1b) Customer insight

• What does Westminster do?
• Annual resident survey
• Quarterly tracker for staff, residents and
  stakeholders
• Branding and perception survey
• Quarterly analysis of website, one stop and
  library traffic
• Who reads what survey
• 20 campaign led surveys

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• 2a) Stakeholder involvement

• Our leadership team are committed to building a
  strong brand from within
• Our leadership team understand what this means
  and requires
• Our key stakeholders were involved in the
  creation of our brand
• The effectiveness of our brand is measured and
  reviewed annually

What do the experts say? "One of the biggest
responsibilities of management is to look after
the corporate DNA" - Andrew Rolfe, CEO, Pret A
Manger
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• 2b) Stakeholder involvement

• What does Westminster do?
• MARCH One City was launched by the Leader at
  the annual council meeting a breakfast attended
  by 120 community leaders
• APRIL ON Delivery enshrined in our business
  plans and monitored quarterly. Project managers
  are assigned ownership of 18-20 annual
  initiatives
• NOVEMBER One City annual reception for 300
  stakeholders for informal feedback and starts
  discussion on new programme
• DECEMBER Eight stakeholder consultation meetings
  and 30 public meetings, led by senior councillors
  and officers followed.
• FEBRUARY Stakeholder views and city survey
  report

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• 3a) Proactive brand communications

• We have an accessible document that explains the
  vision of what my organisation aims to achieve
  and how well get there
• We have a system to police how effectively our
  communications are visually branded
• Our partners and suppliers use our brand
• Our branding takes into account the key places
  and ways in which we interact with our customers
  and is applied consistently

What do the experts say? Customers must
recognize that you stand for something. - Howard
Schultz, Starbucks
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• 3b) Proactive brand communications

• What does Westminster do?
• A One City document was launched November 2006 to
  inform stakeholders, residents and staff about
  how the council had delivered on its promises
• We run 50 integrated campaigns each year with
  SMART targets
• We direct mail 500 community groups and place
  articles in the Westminster Reporter and council
  tax mailing
• We have a specific web portal within our
  corporate web site promoted through a regular
  e-newsletter
• We host an annual winter One City reception to
  update stakeholders on our progress and thank
  them for their contribution
• Our corporate ID policy was agreed by Cabinet
• The procurement of all communication activity
  must come through the comms team

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• 4a) Effective reactive communications

• We have a programme of proactive media stories
  for each of our brand initiatives
• We achieve upwards of 5,000 episodes of coverage
  per year and aim for 85 positive or neutral
  coverage
• We are able to deal with reactive stories
  effectively within 2 hours
• The managers at my council cooperate with the
  media team and consistently offer up case studies
  and credible spokespeople

What do the experts say? A great brand taps into
emotions. Emotions drive most, if not all, of our
decisions. - Scott Bedbury, Nike
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• 4b) Effective reactive communications

• What does Westminster do?
• A programme of media stories for each of the
  initiatives achieving local, specialist and
  regional coverage
• 1,310 episodes of coverage about the city council
  between August and October (against workplan
  target of 1,000 for the same period)
• 89 of coverage is positive or neutral
• 72 of all coverage was in non-local media

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• 5a) Consistent brand experiences

• Applying our brand means a lot more than just
  using a visual identity
• Our induction and appraisal systems cover our
  vision, mission and values
• I can prove our staff understand my
  organisations mission and how it will be
  realised
• I can prove our staff know what we stand for and
  can articulate that idea effectively

What do the experts say? "Your brand is created
out of customer contact and the experience your
customers have of you" - Stelios Haji-Ioannou,
Chairman, EasyGroup
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• 5b) Consistent brand experiences

• What does Westminster do?
• Briefing sessions led by the Leader and coverage
  in our staff newspaper and intranet plus fun
  initiatives such as One City mugs and Easter eggs
  
• The Leader and Chief Executive conduct 10
  showcase events per year where they meet
  council staff to see how One City is going
• Every council manager is provided with a copy of
  the Leaders One City speech and notes to brief
  their team on the new announcements
• We say we offer value for money/excellence. We
  achieve the second lowest council tax, have an
  excellent rating and have high resident
  satisfaction
• We say we are striving for excellence in service
  delivery at low cost. We make our services
  highly visible, demonstrate accountability, admit
  mistakes and deliver on our promises

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• Evaluation

• Reputation - Building strong communities and
  excellent services are among the ten unprompted
  positive attributes spontaneously mentioned by
  stakeholders about the council
• Advocacy - Our MORI residents' survey reports
  that 49 of residents speak highly of the council
  (only 14 are critical) and 56 of residents feel
  the council keeps them well informed
• Satisfaction Seventy eight per cent of
  residents are satisfied with the council vs a
  typical individual service rating of 43
• Leadership - A recent poll of business and
  community stakeholders showed a 22 increase in
  perceptions that the council provides national
  leadership and that 78 of business and community
  stakeholders believe Westminster encourages good
  community relations
• Staff - Seven out of ten staff are clear about
  the aims of the council (Net agree up 11 points).
  Eighty five per cent of staff are clear about the
  aims of their department (Net agree up 14
  points). Eighty one per cent of staff feel well
  informed

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• Conclusion

Strong brands arise from consistent experiences
which combine to form a clear, differentiated
overall brand experience Your net brand image is
determined by a combination of your proactive
communications, the customer experience and what
journalists and opinion formers are saying about
you. If you are not proactive your net brand
image will be based upon uninformed impressions,
attitudes and beliefs Creating a brand will
require you to have the credibility to help shape
the business. Credibility requires a robust
evidence base and a focus on your business goals

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• Questions