How will history view Labour’s and Brown’s legacy?

“It is the fighters and believers who change the world. We’ve changed the world before and we will change it again.”

I’m listening to Gordon Brown’s conference speech in Brighton, using the wonder of internet streaming. Brown has come out fighting and I have to say a lot of what he says makes a lot of sense. I know many people believe that Labour does not stand a chance of being re-elected under his leadership, and this may be the case. Gordon Brown has made mistakes as PM and Chancellor, but I can’t help wonder where the UK would have been had another political party been in power at the time of the credit crunch.

For all his faults, Brown responded quickly during the credit crisis, and with strong leadership. It could even be argued that he saved the day. He had two choices: adopt a laissez-faire policy and allow the markets to correct themselves, risking jobs losses and a slump into a depression; or, bail out the banks by coordinating a global response at the G20 summit and pumping millions of pounds into the failing finance system. We know which one he chose and I think many people can be relieved that they have their jobs today, because he made a swift actions. Although on the downside we are going to be paying for this decision for at least the next ten years. The reality – there was no easy solution. Both choices available to Brown a year ago had negative ramifications. He was in many ways dammed if he did, dammed if he didn’t.

It looks unlikely, based on current polls, that Brown will be able to pull a re-election out of the bag on the back of a powerful speech, but I sense from the tone at the conference that it will not be as easy an election win as the Torries want us to believe.

Gordon Brown has identified one issue that may be critical to his chances, connecting with people’s changing values. If he is able to do this and connect with the prevailing mood of Britain he may yet pull off one of the most unlikely political come backs. Mr Brown will be hoping his speech today can change that sentiment before the general election campaign begins. We will have to wait and see, it is going to be an interesting election

Two innovations that will change the world

Two technological innovations are giving me great optimism for future sustainability, reduction in our reliability on fossil fuels (and therefore hopefully less conflict in the middle east) and lower emissions of hothouse gasses. They are the exciting developments of Honda’s Clarity, a car that runs on hydrogen and emits H20 (It’s a decent looker and performer!); and a battery, developed by Peter Bruce at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, that draws on the oxygen around us providing cheaper, lighter and longer lasting batteries for mobiles and laptops.

These are probably two of the most exciting and important innovations in the past 100 years.

Honda Clarity

You can learn more about the Honda Clarity by visiting the excellent website or see the entertaining Top Gear special report hereTop Gear Honda Clarity

Air Power

You can read about the battery blow or visit The Economist

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Loving Gen Y

Lindsey Pollack give 5 reasons why she loves Gen Y: They bring up things that never occur to her, are just tech-ier; understand personal branding; not really into the 9 to 5 and have phenomenal energy. You can read why Lindsey loves her Gen Y assistant below or follow the link: Why I love Gen Y

I recently hired a part-time assistant to help me get a bit more organized. As someone who studies generational relationships in the workplace, I was curious to learn how my personal experience as a Gen X-er managing a Gen Y-er would compare to other people’s experiences. Though we’ve only worked together for a couple weeks, I couldn’t be happier with the arrangement. Aside from the obvious advantages of working with someone younger (she tells me when I need to ramp up the cool factor in my speeches and blog posts), here are the top five reasons I love my Millennial employee:
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Lessons from the Titanic

“Today the balance of advantage may be shifting…Governments have been rescuing companies they consider too big to fail… The recession is squeezing out smaller and less well-connected firms” says the The Economist in their leading article this week, titled “Big is Back”, The article argues that back in the 1990’s, with the advent of the internet, big companies were under attack by smaller nimbler companies and argues that now big companies are back in the driving seat. To support this notion, the article notes that between 1974 and 1998, GDP produced by big industrial companies fell by half between from 36% to 17%. This statistic is misleading as it has less to do with big companies becoming less dominant during this period and reflects more the shift away from an industrial driven world towards the rise of the knowledge companies such as banks and IT companies. During the same period the GDP contribution from knowledge based companies increased dramatically and today the knowledge sector now contributes 75% and 79% of GDP in the UK and USA respectively.

At the moment though there is a fascination with the BIG and a massive fear of their failure. This is not surprising. Big companies provide large amounts of tax revenues, employ large numbers of people and in many instances are the source of huge national pride. So the motivations and politics behind keeping flailing big companies afloat are huge. Governments are pumping billions into propping up big companies, their investment in them now is so huge that they can’t afford for big companies to fail. The question at hand now though, is this fuelling a virtuous or a vicious cycle. How much longer can this course of action be sustained and at what price will western governments continue to protect big companies? Western governments appear to be behaving more like the captain of the Titanic before it struck an iceberg – stoking the engine to get more power out of it and racing across across an ocean they know is littered with obstacles. There is now a danger of artificially maintaining companies that have become ineffective and inefficient in the new world of work. Let’s not forget that if big is back, a notion the article seems to support as a good development, then why is it that the economies that are rebounding fastest such as China and South Korea are those dominated by small companies?

Rather than continuing to bail out big and potentially ineffective companies, governments need to be removing the burdens and barriers which prevent entrepreneurs from starting businesses and turning small companies into big effective ones. It is on this last point that I do agree with the Economist

CEO’s views on leadership in Tough times

Here are some quotes from the CEO’s of leading companies illustrating their views of leadership during the recession:

Keep faith with the future
If you don’t invest in the future and don’t plan for the future, there won’t be one.— George Buckley, chairman, president, and CEO of 3M

Confront reality
Always question whether the “halo effect” of a business or business situation is blinding you to what lies on the horizon.—Herbert Henkel, chairman and CEO of Ingersoll Rand

Build and protect the culture
Stay focused on culture, people, and values: it’s the area most likely to get compromised in this environment.—Eric Foss, chairman and CEO of Pepsi Bottling Group

At board meetings, put strategy center stage
The board has been heavily involved in strategy formulation with me, and we have a better strategy because of it. — Bill Nuti, chairman and CEO of NCR

Be transparent with employees
The only way to address uncertainty is to communicate and communicate. And when you think you’ve just about got to everybody, then communicate some more.—Terry Lundgren, chairman, president, and CEO of Macy’s

Be transparent with investors
Our policy is: “If in doubt, communicate.” We always want to conduct our business with integrity and forthrightness.—Ron Sugar, chairman and CEO of Northrop Grumman

How to motivate talented people in tough times – a story from Time Warner

Harvard Business Press is releasing a well timed book called Top Talent: Keeping Performance Up When Business Is Down by Sylvia A. Hewlett in October 2009. I’ve been able to gain access to an excerpt from the book which provides and example of what Time Warner is doing to keep staff motivated. It’s a great example of what companies can do during the recession to keep their talented staff motivated. Best of all it’s simple, costs little and is getting good results. You can read the excerpt below and look out for the book when it is published in October

Time Warner has embraced a high-level, high-touch, low-cost program as part of an overall effort to help raise morale and engage employees. The media company’s Chairman and CEO Jeffrey L. Bewkes hosts Skip-Level Lunches with small groups of employees from across Time Warner’s corporate offices in New York City. Approximately every four weeks, Bewkes sits down with ten to twelve individuals for a two-hour lunch, talks candidly about his plans for the organization, answers questions, and listens to employees’ thoughts and perspectives. Human resources and department heads choose the lunch guests. They select employees who do not report directly to the CEO and usually have little or no access to him. Although the guest list is always diverse—ranging from senior vice presidents to administrative assistants—attendees are typically high performers and high-potential employees. They are also seen as “connectors” and “influencers” — well-respected employees who are likely to share their lunch experience and the CEO’s perspective with colleagues.

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A changing global landscape

The RBS Economic Unit in conjunction with The Economist have just completed a report on ‘Exploring the Changing Global Landscape for UK Companies.’ This is an independent report by the Economist Intelligence Unit, providing you with insight into the latest trends and opportunities in global trade. It makes interesting reading given the current economic climate. You can download the complete report here or read the headline results below:

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Keeping Employees Motivated During a Recession

I’m a big fan of BNET it’s a great source for business ideas and thought leaders and I’d encourage you to use them as a resource. But I came across this videocast on their site today which was so far off the mark that I had to comment.

In the video Sumi Des interview Caty Everett, Vice President of Alliance Coaching, on how to get more from dissengaged workers. She’s right – two thirds of workers are dissengaged, it’s a huge problem costing the USA about $350 billion and the UK £30 billion per year in lost productivity. Now Caty puts forward that improving engagement is as “basic as having one-on-ones…asking people what motivates them and what they enjoy about their job” so good so far but as Sumi puts it what if “your hands are tied and you can’t give them what they are looking for?” Caty responds by saying she believes that it’s enough to have “Started a dialogue” and that you need to manage expectations…say things like “I hear you, but not sure we can focus on that now… got my feelers out for you… you don’t have to give them an immediate solution”

Oh come on! As Bruno (aka Ali G / Sacha Baron Cohen) would say this is soooo yesterday’s approach to management. Today’s employees have heard this all before – coaching and 1-on-1’s – the “we’ve heard you now so get on with your job” no longer cuts it, especially not with Gen X and Gen Y workers, who seek instant gratification in their work now.

Coaching and 1-on-1s are important don’t get me wrong but if you want to get your employees more engaged and get more from less, then you need to be creating a deep rich culture that connects with people’s value systems, it’s about creating a tribe culture through regular, informal, company meetings and celebrating mistakes and not just success. It’s about building fun and even a little zaniness into the workplace. if you want to get more from less you need to be tapping into people’s value systems…Zappos is a company that appears to get this right. The Zappos management team got their workers to come up with their own company values and they didn’t come up with lame ones like trust, integrity and honesty, which lets be frank are values that everyone expects. They came up with this list and it forms the bed rock of their “tribe culture”.:

1. Deliver WOW Through Service
2. Embrace and Drive Change
3. Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
4. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
5. Pursue Growth and Learning
6. Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
8. Do More With Less
9. Be Passionate and Determined
10 Be Humble

New workers are even bribed with cash to leave Zappos if they feel they can’t live these values. And the results:

- over $1 billion in sales within 8 years… not bad for a online shoe retailer!

Check out some of the activities they get up to in the Zappos as they live these values.

If you want to get more from less and improve engagement with your workers then you need to connect with people on a more personal level and to treat your staff like adults and partners who you need to get you through the recession and not like kids who you sit down with have a one-on-one and say “we hear you but can’t do much about it because our hands are tied”

Take a feather out of Zappos’s cap and create a tribe culture. What they are doing is fun, inexpensive oh and by the way Zappos customers love them!

HEMA’s a hoot!

This is really clever and a fab internet experience…unlike anything I’ve seen before

HEMA is a Dutch department store. The first store opened on November 4, 1926, in Amsterdam. Now there are 150 stores all over the Netherlands .

Take a look at HEMA’s product page. It’s in Dutch – but just wait a couple of seconds and watch what happens. Don’t click on any of the items in the picture, just wait and see what happens. This company has a sense of humor and a great computer programmer, who has too much time on his hands.

Click here and enjoy – you need sound to enjoy it best!!

Zappos hits $1 billion sales

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about Zappos, the online shoe and accessories company. They are a “new world” company that interests me immensely. The company just hit a major milestone 10 years in business and $1billion in sales. The CEO Tony Hsieh was interviewed recently about their success, interestingly rather than talk about the financial success of the company he focuses all his answers rather around the culture of the company, its values and its customers. You can read the interview below or visit Zappos’s website and read it there.

Tony Hsieh wants to build Zappos into a Virgin styled company, with Zappos Bank, hotels, airlines etc using ten guiding principles. Have a look at them they are not about financial returns or market share but have to do with the people side of the business…get these right and the financial rewards follow. With $1 billion sales in the bank I think Zappos is doing things right:

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Healthy happy families

I’m a big fan of Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong foundation. I received an email from them today with “10 steps to a successful family life” and thought I’d share it with you. Although this blog primarily deals with business issues, we often remark that achieving work-life integration is critical for any business success. People with happy family lives bring this energy and positiveness with them to the workplace. Here are ten steps that may help create a happy work environment too… (read between the lines there are some strong messages applicable to business relationships too). We also do some presentations on these issues, including a presentation based on Graeme Codrington’s latest book, “Future-Proof Your Child“.

You can read the ten steps below or visit the Livestrong website

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Harvey Nichols- fab ad campaign

I’ve just come across this print advert campaign by Harvey Nichols, the high end clothing retailer. It’s a cracker and one of the best print campaigns I’ve seen in a long time. The first time I looked at it I don’t get it, but the vivid colours and imagery drew me in, further capturing my attention and making me think. The symbolisms that can be interpreted from the association between the dress and the “rockets” is subtle but brilliant… the advert rockets with innuendos… On further investigation I discovered that there is a complete range of 8 different adverts using the same creative concept. This is an awesome advert for the Generation X and Y generations… Look at the rest of the campaign and consider the symbolism behind each advert… Great ad campaign

Three things to do during the recession

I had a meeting yesterday with Sharon Kersten, career banker, twitcher extraordinaire (see her blog on birding) and business guru. I always enjoy catching up with Sharon as I know that I will leave with new ideas and yesterday I got a gem. She has identified 3 things that companies need to be doing now:

1. plan and implement actions that prepare you for the upturn
2. focus on building corporate muscle – focus on your strengths and “train/workout” to become stronger and fitter
3. make your competitors hurt – the pie may have shrunk but now is a great time to implement strategies that grow your market share, especially as competitors hanker down.

Three straight-forward strategies to implement, start small but aim big…be corporate courageous, make a difference

cheers Dean

ZAPPOS – delivering the WOW factor through service

Tony Hsieh, the 35 year old boss of Zappos.com, an online shoe retailer, has an ambitious goal. He aims to offer world beating customer service, no matter what industry Zappos expands into, be it shoes, hotels or airlines. So far Tony Hsieh is doing incredibly well. As other retailer suffer during the recession, Zappos just rang up a $1 billion sales.

Started in 1999, Zappos places great emphasis on company culture and core values. The company publishes a “Culture Book” annually that is made up of contributions from employees describing what the company culture means to them. The core value is to “deliver ‘wow’ through service.” These are the ten core values that Zappos employees live by:

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Can advertising be too effective?

Here is a great marketing case study. Swedish Airport Coaches conducted a study and determined that a bus trip save the equivalent of 50 car trips. They built an outdoor advertising display comprising of a bus built out of 50 disused cars. The advert has been hugely successful. It touches on carbon emissions issue which is topical, but more importantly the display is cleverly put together and became such an entertainment and item of interest, that it resulted in traffic jams! This advert touches at the heart of how to connect with younger generations. Here are some marketing tips for connecting with Gen X and Millennials which this advertising campaign does well:

- entertain them
- create campaigns that make them think
- dont make the message obvious
- use juxtaposition – and make things appear not as they are
- use humour and paradox

You can watch the video here: 50 cars or 1 bus?

10 rules for effective strategic planning PLUS one more

Strategic planning is becoming the corporate buzzword again. Over the past ten years companies have been obssessed with short-termism and strategic planning was largely ignored for tactical activities based around improving sales and cutting costs for the next quarter or year at most. Many critics of strategic planning suggested that the ideas of Michael Porter and other business gurus, who developed theories/models on strategic planning and strategic analysis in the 80’s and 90’s, were now obsolete. Companies dropped strategic planning in favour of short term returns. With the current economic downturn companies are clambering to rethink their 5 and even 10 year plans.

Last year we worked with The Scout Association to develop their ten year strategic plan and assist them in obtaining buy-in. They have a rolling 10 year plan that they revisit every year. We began working with them on their strategy a month before the global financial crash and I recall thinking how amazing it was that the Scouts had a ten year plan taking them to 2018, when most corporates didin’t even know what their plan was 12 months down the line.

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Everybody’s singing this song

Candle – earth hour

Great TV ad for Earth Hour. Gets everything right from a Gen X and Gen Y perspective… connects with their values, entertains and keeps them intrigued…(which is important because as adverts go it is long…a 90 seconds ad!) leaves them hanging on to find out more, very good use of music. Well done leo burnett and WWF… getting fab customer reviews on you tube too

click here to view advert

Pupils to study Twitter and blogs in primary schools shake-up

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TomorrowToday does extensive research on the impact of changing societies, institutions and technologies on the new world of work and what is called the connection era.

There are signs that one of the UK’s largest institutions, its schools, are changing and realising the importance of preparing kids for the new world of work and the connection era. A new school curriculum proposes that children will no longer have to study the Victorians or the second world war but will be required to master web tools such as Twitter and Wikipedia.

This is bound to be controversial but one of the problems the current curriculum faces is that the top 10 jobs in demand in 2010 did not exist in 2004. The current challenge for today’s school curriculum is to prepare kids for jobs that don’t even exist today.

you can read The Guardian for the latest report on this issue.

Generations online… who’s on and who’s not?

It’s great to follow the online trends for each generation. Pew Internet recently completed a report called Generations online in 2009. You can get the full report here but I’ve copied the key highlights for you below:

Generation Y, aka the “Net Generation,” does not dominate every aspect of online life. That revealing statistic and many others like it come from Pew Internet and American Life’s recent “Generations Online” report which takes a look at how the different generations of users – from Millennials to the G.I. Generation – use the internet.

The web is still largely populated by younger generations as over half of those online are between the ages of 18 and 44 years old. But these days, larger percentages of older generations are going online and they are doing more activities while there.

According to Pew’s research, Generation X is most likely to shop, bank, and look for health information online, but boomers are just as likely as Gen Y to make travel reservations online. Even the older Silent Generation is competitive when it comes to email, although that could point to the fact that email is an activity that is trending older.

Who Uses Email?
It’s true: email is for old people – at least it is now. Today, 74% of internet users age 64 and older send and receive email, making it the most popular activity in this group. Meanwhile, email usage among teens is dropping. In 2004, 89% of teens said they used email. Now that number is 73%.

Social Networking Dominated by the Young
Teens and Generation Y (18-32*) are the most likely to use the internet for entertainment and for communicating with friends and family through social networks. They’re also more likely than others to play online games, watch videos, send instant messages, hang out in virtual worlds, and download music. In other words, they’re the most likely to use the net for fun.

The favorite online activity for teens, however, is not social networking – it’s game playing. 78% of 12-17 year-olds play games online, but only 50% of Gen Y does.

Older Generations Research, Shop, and Bank
It’s not really surprising to discover that the older generations use the internet less for socializing and entertainment and more for research, email, and shopping. Generation X (ages 33-44) remains the leader when it comes to online shopping with 80% using the internet to buy products online, compared with 71% of internet users ages 18-32.

What is surprising is that users age 73 and up use the internet just as frequently for doing health searches as does Gen Y. In fact, researching health information is only the third most popular online activity for seniors, after email and general online search.

However, when it comes to online banking, it’s Gen X that dominates. 67% of this age group does their banking online. Gen Y will most likely do more banking online as they grow older. You can see the activity trending up in their group from 38% in 2005 to 57% in 2008. As Gen Y ages, this number will continue to increase, as does the percentage using the net for booking travel. In 2005, 50% of Gen Y booked travel online and today 65% do.

Top 10 challenges for businesses in 2009

I was recently sent an article, by a business associate, called Challenges for Business (in 2009). The article covered by the magazine eucommerz, lists the top 10 challenges identified in the Business Risk Report conducted by Ernst & Young. Here are the top 10:

1. The credit crunch
2. Regulation and compliance
3. Deepening recession
4. Radical greening
5. Non-traditional competition
6. Cost cutting
7. Managing talent
8. Executing successful alliances and transactions
9. Business model redundancy
10. Reputation risk

A few things about this list are of interest. It’s obvious that the recession and credit crunch would top the list of concern, but what is surprising is that people elements of business are low down on the list with talent management only coming in at No 7 and customer service or satisfying customers not even cracking the top 10. When will business leaders realise that sustainable competitive advantages are now more about who you are and not about what you sell. Who you are is about the people you attract to your business, both talented and engaged staff and valuable customers. It would seem a lot of the problems businesses face today are the result of obsessing with cost cutting and being product, not people focused. Which makes it interesting that Business Model Redundancy, a new entrant on the list, makes it in at No 9. There is a concern that long established business models are becoming obsolete. Is there now a glimmer of hope that companies will start to realise that business models in the new world of work are about being people centric?

Customer Service in the down economy

Companies that survive and thrive during the recession will be those that continue to develop deep and meaningful connections with their staff and customers. We are witnessing a knee jerk reaction from many companies who rather focus on costs and price. We’d recommend companies concentrate their energies more broadly than this. These are difficult and unprecedented times where bold new approaches are required. I’m reading and excellent paper on The Importance of the Customer Experience in a Down Economy written but Customer Futures. The paper offers expert insights, observations and advice and when looked at as a whole reveal five seminal themes that will help business leaders succeed in these difficult times:
• What customers are experiencing, why it matters and what to
do about it
• Leadership and strategy in troubled times
• Economics that justify a customer-focused strategy
• Delivering more with less
• Employees: stressed but so essential

click here to download, it’s well worth reading

A great Generation X advert

Pepsi have an excellent understanding of the driving values of each generation and they have produced a number of great adverts over the past few years. We often use Pepsi in our marketing workshops as case studies. I recently came across this new Pepsi advert which has great Generational appeal…

Catching Gen Y with pizza delivery

I’ve been reading a lot of commentary recently about how differently companies need to be targeting Gen Y (people born in the UK after 1988), both as an employee and consumer. The Harvard Business Review has great commentary on the subject, and I’ve just come across a good example by the The Economist who is targeting college students in the US using pizza delivery boxes. Pizzerias around college campuses received Economist branded pizza boxes detailing world production stats on the students favourite pizza ingredients such as cheese!

It’s novel, entertaining, educational and clever…all the things that Gen Y expect from a marketing campaign.

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To Catch a Wild Pig – A Parable About Today’s Society That Offers Valuable Lessons for Leaders

I came across this excellent article by Norman Wolife, President/CEO, Quantum Leaders, a regular contributor for Fast Company.

In it he describes how if you want to catch a wild pig you lay down corn in the forest and over a period of time build a fence one section at a time until the pigs are happy to enter through a gate in the fence to collect their “free food”. Once inside the enclosure the gate is closed trapping the pigs, they run around madly for a while but then calm down and return to the food. It takes some time to hunt like this but at the end of it you have the whole herd captured and not just one pig.

The parable is an interesting one in our western society today especially with the current financial crisis. The fence can be equated to rules and regulations slowly encircling business. Norman argues that we must guard carefully not to fall into the trap of being so dependent on the government that we lose our sense of responsibility and even worse, the very spark of life. On the other end is allowing things to run wild which has led to the financial crisis.

The trick is to find a balance between regulation and freedom and this requires true leadership. As the article points out “The trouble we have in our political system is we keep running back and forth between taming the wild pigs and letting them run wild. Wildness is good for creativity, entrepreneurialism, and the like. You want the free flow of energy to stimulate new innovation. And yet when you have unbounded flow of energy you have chaos, which then has to correct itself. As we learn to work with the powerful flow of societal energies, I believe we can learn to modulate the unbounded flow of energy while not reaching the point of constraining it to where we are limiting its flow.”

The parable’s lesson is not only for society but also for business. How many companies so over manage their projects that they miss out on the innovation and creativity of “running wild”. The lessons from the current crisis and the message for leadership is the importance of finding a balance between rules and regulations and the unbridled freedoms that lead innovation astray.

You can read the full article here

Bank of England mentions the “R” word

Last night in Leeds, Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, told business leaders that he is concerned about rising unemployment and falling house prices and for the first time used the “R” word… stating ‘It now seems likely the UK economy is entering a recession’.

This was not an entirely unexpected statement and now that the realities of the financial crisis and credit crunch are hitting people in the streets, we are giving consideration into what this means for the various generations. Below is a small extract from a study and article that we are currently writing:

The Silent Generation, now in their late 60’s are the only economically active generation still alive to have experienced the Great Depression. Many of them have been waiting for the next crash, for them it has been a matter of when not if. This is a generation that trusts organisations with a long historical and stable track record so it will have unnerved them that some of the most respectable institutions such as RBS and Barclays have come so close to crashing. Silents are conservative by nature but the recent events will have them hiding money under the mattress, and for the time being maybe that is the safest place.

Baby Boomers are resourceful, they are also the most in debt generation of all time. Boomers are entering or closing in on retirement. Many are going to expect paybacks in the form of pensions, shares and equity in houses that just don’t have the value they expected right now. They are the sandwich generation having to fund their kids’ education and help support their parents who are living longer than expected and eating into “their inheritance”. The crisis is going to be a stressful time for Boomers. Companies need to be focusing on helping them as employees and customers to retain their commitment and loyalty.

Generation X grew up during a period of huge turmoil that defined the 70’s and 80’s. They have been anticipating this crisis for some time and if not financially, they are at least emotionally prepared. Generation X are survivors and comfortable with change. We expect them to become more focused on themselves, their family and what is important to them. Companies should not expect loyalty or handouts from this generation, the WIFM or “what’s in it for me” factor will become even more pronounced in this generation. They will be skeptical of your “agenda”, and need to be engaged relationally.

Millennials or Gen Y has never experienced an economic downturn. They are optimistic and confident. Many may not even be prepared for the implication of a downsized economy, less money and fewer jobs. They however, will not care. Gen Y has the confidence and access to the resources from parents – and particularly grandparents – to give anything a go. Expect Gen Y to take the crisis by the scruff of the neck, drive their own agenda and be central to societies changes. Don’t back off from being ethical or green during the downturn, they won’t buy your excuses.

Discover how Generations predicted the financial crisis

The past few weeks in the financial markets have indeed been a rollercoaster of a ride! The ensuing fall out and chaos is well documented so I’m not going to comment about the crisis, but rather what I’ve found it intriguing, and something that perhaps has been missed is how accurately the crisis was predicted by Generational theorists.

Two key developers of generational theory, Harvard Professors Howe and Strauss predicted the current crisis using their generational research findings back in the early 1990’s. They mapped Anglo-American history as far back as 500 years to the war of the roses and identified a 80 year repeating cycle. These cycles, which they purported, create the generations and run on a two stroke beat of crisis’s and awakenings, each 40 years apart from the other, as illustrated in the graphic below.

The last “awakening” was the hippie revolution and the events that rocked the world in and around 1968. Frighteningly forty years… 2008 is the year their research identified as the next crisis… Many commentators argued that the events of 9/11 and 7/7 were the crisis, and for some time it was thought that Howe and Strauss had got it wrong. The key though is in their definition of a crisis, which is defined as – an event which changes the views held by society to the extent that society’s views and institutions are fundamentally different following the crisis. Using this definition 9/11 as traumatic as it was, was more of a speed bump in society than a crisis. After 9/11 society continued on as before, albeit with a ”little” war “somewhere” in the middle east. The current crisis though does have the potential to radically alter our world. Trust in the financial markets has been shaken, governments have nationalised banks and emerging economies are taking centre stage… The world is indeed changing.

As someone who is passionate about researching societal changes and the implications for businesses, I find all of this fascinating. We are currently developing a new presentation and research study on how the crisis will impact each generation at a point in time when they are all entering major lifestage changes. For example how will the crisis influence the values, attitudes and purchasing behaviours of Baby Boomers in or at retirement? We will soon be in a position to share our insights on the implications of the crisis for each generations. In the meantime if you are interested in learning more or would like to contribute to this discussion on Generations and the impact of the financial crisis please contact me at dean@tomorrowtoday.uk.com or leave a comment on this blog.

Tesco Personal Finance has lift off!

Tesco Personal Finance (TPF) was launched 11 years ago as a joint venture with RBS. They have been slowly but surely making in-roads into the financial sector, and this month Tesco plans to take full ownership of the business. This is interesting timing given the current financial crisis and even more interestingly, Tesco has big plans for TPF. Now with over 5.6 million customers TPF has it’s eye on the mortgage market. Bouyed by its half year profit results Tesco has the resources and the appetite to grow its banking operation, but perhaps it has even a greater asset in its arsenal, strong consumer goodwill and support.

While banks have focused their attention narrowly on bottom line profit and large city bonuses, Tesco has been focusing on connecting with its staff and customers and massive profits have followed. In 2007 Tesco embarked on a training course to help staff connect with people from different generations; and they are well known for championing the consumer. This is not just lip service but something that Tesco staff from junior to senior management live and breathe

So as the market forces and consumer anger forces banks to rethink their attitudes and behaviour, and the market forces reshape banking as we know it, keep a watchful eye on Tesco Personal Finance they could well be using this crisis as the catalyst and launching pad they need to redefine the future of banking into business that truly connects with customers values.

To be boring or to be entertaining?

Most conference exhibitors have a stand with panelling depicting the corporate logo, a few pretty pictures, TV screen and giveaways…pens, stress balls, playing cards etc… the problem is that all the corporate exhibitors do the same thing! Unless a customer knows what you do and who you are, all exhibitions tend to blend into the same ol same ol pot! Where is the innovation? Why spend thousands of pounds trying to connect with customers at a conference but then create no unique or memorable connection?

The task of getting greater connection has become even more difficult as Generation X and Millennials become decision makers for corporate companies…mainly because people from these generations demand an experience out of your marketing…they understand the rules of the game, they know you are selling to them, so if you are going to take up their time their attitiude is you had better entertain me!

I’m at the IFP conference today at the Celtic Manor Hotel in Wales where my colleague Graeme Codrington is presenting our Mind the Gap presentation on the different generations. Two companies stand out as exhibitors who are connecting with their customers. Investec Private Bank has a virtual golf simulator…clever because the Celtic Manor Hotel is the host of the 2010 Ryder Cup and because allowing conference delegates to come and swing a club enables them to make a lasting and memorable connection, the selling is left until later.

The Santander Group is leveraging off of their sponsorship of the McLaren F1 team. They have part of a life size F1 racing car replica which you get to sit in and race Lewis Hamilton…neat…staff crewing the stand are also dressing in F1 t-shirts creating a relaxed atmosphere.

No clues for which of the two stands out of about 50 or so at the IFP conference are getting the most interest and the most people connections!

An interview with Sharon Kersten

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An interview with Sharon Kersten

Sharon is a skilled and experienced business professional having worked as MD at Old Mutual’s retail banking arm Nedbank. She is also a guest lecturer at INSEAD. We interviewed Sharon to ask her what she believes companies need to be doing as recession looms on the horizon … Continue Reading

Help yourself…PruHealth connecting with customers

Earlier today I walked out of Piccadilly Circus tube station and was feeling a bit parched. Low and behold PruHealth were there to quench my thirst with a bottle of water and signs saying. “Help yourself” …clever, now this is a campaign that will connect with Generation X!
Here are some reasons why:
- Gen Xer’s want immediate gratification… the water gave me immediate gratification connecting me with the PruHealth brand and quenched my thirst.
- Gen X love stories or lines with multiple meanings. They have grown up in a complex rapidly evolving world and have learned to view things from different angles. The strap line “Help yourself” had several meanings.
- Help yourself to a bottle of water… no questions asked no reasons given …cool!
- On reading the marketing splurb on the bottle, “Help yourself” was also referring living a healthy lifestyle and benefiting from PruHealth’s lower premiums…
- They even have a fab interactive web based tool called a pruhealth-o-meter …cool name, it’s a bit quirky and fun, try it out! click here
- Pru also handed out a miniture Frisbee with the bottle of water… I’m not sure what that was all about as I don’t think that catching a Frisbee is a very active sport…but maybe my dog will like it ?
- One quick recommendation, don’t use the get a quote button until the customer has finished playing with the pruhealth-o-meter. Gen Xers like to be entertained but don’t hit them with the sales prompt too early. They get that you are selling to them but let them have their entertainment first.
- It’s also a pity that the pruhealth-o-meter doesn’t work on my iPhone… an alternative html version would get around this, not as flash but would give Gen X connectivity all the time.

Overall a really good campaign, it’s simple, engaging hits a number of Gen X driving values and leaves the choice up to the consumer to decide if they want to help themselves.

Nice one Pru!