From Corporate Ladder to Corporate Lattice

Cathy Benko, Vice Chairman at Deloitte, believes that the traditional concept of a corporate career ladder is “collapsing.”  In her best-selling book The Corporate Lattice, Benko argues that today’s rapidly evolving, global business environment calls for a lattice model instead of the outdated, inflexible ladder model.  Through this new model, employers become enabled to meet the evolving needs of employees, improving productivity and increasing employee satisfaction.

In an interview with The Personal Branding Blog, Benko explains, “[The] lattice seems a fitting visual for how work gets done, how careers are built, and how participation is fostered today.” The lattice model depicts career paths as multidirectional, recognizing that there is more than one way to “get ahead,” and even multiple ways to define what “get ahead” means.

The model, a holistic, strategic response to the changing corporate landscape, addresses the reality that there are now more options – “there is no longer a single model of engagement.” Employees can now connect “anywhere, anytime” to form virtual, dynamic teams and communities around increasingly project-based work.  In addition, communication is “unconstrained by traditional top-down hierarchy,” fostering greater participation throughout the company regardless of organizational level.

Benko has translated the lattice model into a groundbreaking tool for building personalized career pathways called Mass Career Customization, a signature element of the talent experience at Deloitte. Benko notes, “each of us needs to play an active role in directing our own lattice journey, treating skills, experiences and capabilities as brand-building assets. . . ask yourself: ‘How well do I stay on top of my personal brand and what it says and means to others?’”

See Cathy Benko speak about talent innovation and personal brands at the BRITE ’12 Conference (March 5-6, NYC).

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BY KIM SHIFRIN

L’Oreal CMO on Digitizing the Path to Purchase

Throughout a long career at Colgate-Palmolive, Marc Speichert was an innovator. In 2010, he quickly incorporated this spirit into his new role as Chief Marketing Officer of L’Oreal USA, a position which had not previously existed within one of the world’s largest producers of beauty products.

“I’ve been spending quite a bit of time on preparing for the future and trying to align innovation to where the big growth bets will be.” Explains Speichert in an interview with AdAge. “There’s also the opportunity… [to create a] view of consumers and our shoppers in how they move from one department or one channel to the other.”

Speichert has helped L’Oreal USA tap into the consumer’s path to purchase by recognizing the growing importance of “evaluate” and “advocate” stages that are driven by new media. Speichert cites the use of interactive digital display banners through L’Oreal’s partnership with the cloud-based advertising platform Flite as an example. “This allows us to enter the customers’ path to purchase during the ‘consider’ stage by allowing them to actually interact with the ad in real time thus engaging them in a unique way,” he explains in an interview with Forbes.

And in August 2010, L’Oreal launched a Destination Beauty Channel on YouTube, which features video of popular “beauty gurus” who discuss the latest hair and make-up trends. The result is an engaged community of brand advocates who can also share these videos through the various social media platforms. “Destination Beauty” quickly became the most viewed channel in YouTube’s history—22M partner videos viewed, earning 287MM impressions.

See Marc Speichert speak about this new path to purchase in the digital marketplace at our BRITE ’12 Conference (March 5-6, NYC).

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BY KIM SHIFRIN

Disruptive Innovation [VIDEO]

Socrates taught us to question every assumption. And when it comes to innovation, nothing could be closer to the truth. But Luke Williams, professor of Innovation & Design at NYU Stern School of Business and author of DISRUPT, takes this notion a step further—”disruptive innovation.”

Speaking at the BRITE ’11 conference, Williams explained that companies today tend to have a myopic vision when using new technologies to build their brands. Digital magazines, for example, may offer more features, but they’re still giving consumers what they expect in ways that they expect. “As a result, a lot of our brand-building around these new technologies has taken on some pretty predictable trajectories.”

Disruptive innovation, however, is not about technological change. According to Williams, it’s about a revolution in behavior and “changing the way you think about a category.” Brands need to move beyond focusing on what the latest technology can do for their company or product. Williams challenged the audience to break free from conventional assumptions about a category to see from a new perspective. To do so, he reminds us to be careful of cultural influence and to pay attention to context, not just the foreground. As consumers and the marketplace evolve, it is increasingly important to embrace disruptive innovation before it is forcibly imposed by a new competitor or shifting consumer landscape. To quote Harvard Law School professor, Roberto Unger, “the task of the imagination is to do the work of crisis without crisis.”

BY ALLIE ABODEELY

Going Global? Think Local: Insights from Kikkoman and Coca-Cola

As companies increasingly look to global expansion as a way to drive growth, tailored marketing is essential to maximizing opportunities abroad. A recent symposium held at Columbia Business School shed light on the ways in which two large global brands, Kikkoman and Coca-Cola, have been able to effectively expand internationally by adding a taste of local flavor.

Last fall, Columbia’s Center on Japanese Economy and Business hosted, with support from the Center on Global Brand Leadership, the “Global Marketing of National Products: Kikkoman and Coca-Cola” which featured Yuzaburo Mogi (MBA ’61), Honorary CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors for Kikkoman Corporation, and Masahiko Uotani (MBA ’83), Chairman of Coca-Cola Japan Co. The two leaders shared powerful insights about effective techniques they developed for cross-border branding.

Yuzaburo Mogi (click for video)

For Kikkoman, an important innovation in its U.S. marketing, which had only focused on the Japanese immigrant community, took place after World War II. Chairman Mogi noted that Kikkoman watched American soldiers and civilians in post-war Japan using soy sauce on their American-style dishes. This inspired Kikkoman to position its product as a general, “all purpose” condiment, and began in-store sampling demonstrations in the early 1960s to encourage Americans to experiment with soy sauce. It also used experienced chef’s to develop and share recipes that used soy sauce in standard American dishes in order to further push Kikkoman into American food consciousness. Brand trust and financial impacts were also gained when Kikkoman became one of the first Japanese companies to build manufacturing plants in the U.S. in the early 1970s.

Today Kikkoman owns 60% of the market for soy sauce in the United States. “Kikkoman has never thought in terms of just selling a Japanese product overseas,” explained Mogi. “We prioritized our targets. We focused on the U.S. market, developed a successful business model here and then took that model to other targets.”

Masahiko Uotani (click for video)

Mr. Uotani then flipped the discussion by describing a strong U.S. brand, Coca-Cola, effectively entering the Japanese market. Central to Coca-Cola’s strategy for market expansion, was the decision to construct its Japanese subsidiary to tailor its product and marketing initiatives specifically to Japanese consumers. Uotani described it as a “hybrid approach” that allowed tiered levels of decisions to be made at the global, national and local levels. “The hybrid model enables us to offer new value proposition to our consumers,” explains Uotani. This approach aided the development of new products such as canned coffee and allowed for innovative features such as facial recognition to vending machines, of which there are 2.6 million in Japan. Furthermore, Coca-Cola Japan was able to provide insight to its parent company, Coca-Cola Company, about regional trends they thought could influence other geographies. This led to new vending machine designs that have become popular in the United States.

In closing the symposium, the discussion turned to how the interaction of global brands and local preferences will increase and companies should be meticulous in formulating clear strategies. The underlying message of both speakers was that brands shouldn’t focus on pure expansion, but rather integrate and assimilate brands with the local culture in order to be successful.

To watch video clips of the symposium and to read more about the event, click here.

BY MIKLOS RAIBON

To gTLD or to Not gTLD?

If you haven’t already heard, there’s a new word in town. It’s called “dotBrand” and it’s about to crack the dotcom world wide open.

In January 2012, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the non-profit organization that governs the internet’s naming system, is opening the opportunity for global businesses, communities, governments, and even geographical locations, to apply for generic top-level domain names (gTLDs)—such as .canon, .wine, and .nyc. Many are now weighing the pros and cons of “dotBranding” themselves.

The news surrounding ICANN’s new gTLD program, has stimulated a broad discussion raising questions such as “How could my business benefit from this?” to “Do I need to protect my brand?”

Like all things, there are a wide range of considerations to factor in when deciding whether to apply, among them trademark protection, brand equity, and cost. To help business leaders evaluate the benefits of investing in a gTLD, Columbia Business School’s Center on Global Brand Leadership hosted a video webinar, “Who Should Invest in a dotBrand?” this fall. The event brought together branding and internet experts to discuss the strategic questions decision-makers are facing. To view this free webinar, click here.

First, it should be clarified that ICANN isn’t simply handing out gTLDs to the first person or organization that applies. Just because Jane in Arizona is applying for .madonna doesn’t mean that she’ll get it. There are “checks and balances” in place including a trademark clearinghouse providing authentication of trademark information, and an objection-based process enabling rights holders to demonstrate that a proposed gTLD would infringe their legal rights. Of course there are valid concerns for businesses, organizations, and communities who do have common or even similar names. A company like Patagonia may be legitimately concerned about securing the same domain name as the region of Patagonia. ICANN has created a dispute resolution program, and even auction procedures, to handle such issues.

While some brands perceive gTLDs as a risk and may be considering applying for trademark protection, others envision possibilities involving brand extension and brand architecture. For example, a parent company like Unilever with multiple sub-brands could employ “dove.unilever.” B2C businesses like Citibank could create a more personalized consumer experience through their websites with url’s such as “www.michael.citibank.” But this also begs the question about the appearance of a brand’s homepage—is it “home.bmw” or “bmw.bmw”? Brand consultants seem to still be hashing this out.

And many opponents to the new gTLD program feel the financial commitment is a hefty price to pay for a top-level domain system that they feel works fine with its 22 existing TLDs (.com, .gov, .jobs, etc.). The application costs US$185,000 as well as a reported US$25,000 annual fee. Then there are the additional expenses such as technical, administration, and maintenance fees. For big name brands, this could be worth the investment. When compared to the cost of a single, 30-second television spot, it’s not a huge chunk of change. For small to mid-size companies, however, it is an expensive endeavor that may take deeper consideration.

“The kinds of benefits we see from a brand-building perspective are things like controlling your brand and your content,” explained Karl Isaac, Executive Director of Landor’s digital branding practice, during the Center’s webinar. “If you are a business that transacts with your customers or that protects very private and confidential information for your customer, the increased security benefits alone may outweigh the risks of doing this.”

The application process may be preempted, however, as the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation has called for a hearing this month to discuss the merits, implications and concerns surrounding ICANN’s new program. If the gTLD application process does move forward as planned, businesses and organizations will need to do due diligence if thinking about applying.

BY ALLIE ABODEELY