Digital PR works

Having co-written a book on media relations, I promote the use of digital PR and write numerous blogs in addition to this one – including some for my professional firm clients. And I (and my clients) receive a fair amount of feedback (thanks everyone!) and sometimes we even generate new business through the blogs.

Yesterday, I was contacted by the owners of All in London (www.allinlondon.co.uk) where one of the posts last month in my “Kids in London” blog on picnics had been picked up by a reporter on the London Evening Standard.

So I had a chat with the journalist about what he wanted as a follow up piece to the feature and although he was working to a very tight deadline I managed to get some copy to him before his 730pm deadline.

And there we are in today’s Standard on page 46!

Identities, colours and hedgehogs

It’s rare for me to get involved in visual identity reviews these days but today I was helping a law firm client prepare a brief for a pragmatic visual identity refresh following a strategic review and a new web site. Interestingly, the bit where we address the brand fell between the overall strategic review and the communications review. And things were further complicated by the changes prompted by conversion to LLP status.

And yesterday I was talking to a small, local estate agent about how – when they set up in 1994 they wanted their visual identity to convey “trustworthy, established and professional” but as they grew, became more successful, expanded into other areas and moved into the Internet space they needed to stress different things such as “modern, approachable, experienced and local”.

Preparing the brief itself is the easy bit. Trying to articulate your firm’s mission or vision, its values, its brand and the core messages you wish to convey to each of the markets you serve is somewhat trickier. Those who attempt to please everyone end up with a dull identity, the like of which has been used countless times before in their sector.

In the midst of all the many issues for an identity review, I want to focus on two things – the need for a compelling mission and the use of colour.

There are many ways to tackle the development of a mission in the management book I am writing at present for the property industry. However, I really like the work of Jim Collins in “Good to great”. He talks about the need to find a BHAG - “big, hairy audacious goal” (typically symbolised as a hedgehog) which is achieved through considering three things: 1. What are you deeply passionate about? 2. What drives your economic engine? 3. What can you be the best in the world at? Your mission should be the foundation on which your identity is built.

Looking at a page of banner ads on a leading legal web site, I was struck by how many companies and firms use blue as their corporate colour (please note that I am firmly in the red camp!). So what do colours convey? I saw some general research recently which offered the following insights:

 Non primary colours are more calming that primary colours
 Blue is the most calming of the primary colours, followed closely by a lighter red
 Yellow invokes cheerfulness (houses with yellow trim or flowers sell faster)
 Red trim is used in bars and casinos because it can cause people to lose track of time
 Red makes food more appealing and influences people to eat more
 Forest green and burgundy appeal to the wealthiest 3%
 Orange is often used to make an expensive item seem less expensive
 White is typically associated with cool, clean and fresh
 Black is associated with elegance and sophistication

Then, of course, there is the issue of what works well on the “young” Internet environment on screen might not necessarily be best for office interiors, printed materials, staff uniforms, posters and hoardings and merchandise bearing your name.

I then wondered what would happen if you linked the colours in your visual identity, to say, a colour analysis of your people (many law firms support good internal relationships by promoting understanding of the different personalities and behaviours of their "red", "blue", "green" and "yellow" colleagues)?

Property market blues and turnarounds

I extend my concern to clients and colleagues in the property industry.

The news reports today make bleak reading – Persimmon the housebuilder reported that it was shedding 2,000 jobs (40% of its work force) and suffered an 80% fall in its share price. Taylor Wimpey reported the loss of 900 jobs. And then there are the continuing reports about the troubles at Bradford & Bingley which has over 50% of its £40bn mortgage book in the buy-to-let market. Even the mighty Savills, which ought to be cushioned at the top end of the luxury residential market, says that sales in the capital are down 45% on last year. Merrill Lynch warned that house prices would fall 17% in the next year. The RICS reported that the average number of transactions per surveyor (over the last three months) is now at 17.4, the lowest figure since 1978.

Closer to home I have had emails from two colleagues in leading commercial property services firms advising that they are amongst those being made redundant from their firms. Amongst my legal clients many of those in the residential conveyancing departments are seeing their work flow completely dry up and a 23% fall in remortgages means that this source of work offers little hope. And the law firms are already facing the seismic shifts in their market caused by the recent Legal Services Act – with the experts predicting the impact of the imminent changes to be the loss of 4,000 legal practices.

But the writing was on the wall. Did people think that it was possible for the massive house price increases to continue forever? I am no property expert but houses near me experienced a massive 25% appreciation in value in just two years – it simply wasn’t sustainable and price correction was inevitable. HM Treasury reported that there were 1.86m property transactions during 2006-2007 and it was noted at the time that this was the highest level since just before the property crash of 1988 – so the writing was on the wall for those who choose to read it and take early action.

But hindsight is always right. So what about the firms that are now pushed to the brink of destruction? When we look to the management experts we can consider the hard steps Slatter suggested for “turnaround” situations: Gain full control of the situation - this includes communication with the key stakeholders (including the bank) to establish credibility. Then there is the assessment (and replacement if necessary) of the present management and advisers. The business then must be fully evaluated. The first pass means identifying applying the pareto principle of finding the 20% of the factors that are having 80% of the impact to allow management to focus effort and develop appropriate action plans and implement organisational change immediately. Identifying the most profitable clients, services and teams is critical. Retained staff must be motivated. Budgeting and control systems must be installed – with central weekly cash flow information and the chief executive signing off all capital and revenue expenditure. And then consideration of other strategies such as merger or diversification.

To support this, Grinyer’s “Sharpbenders” analysis showed that the most common actions by those most successful in turnaround situations included: major changes in management, stronger financial controls, new product-market focus, improved marketing, intense effort to reduce production costs and windfalls.

Brands have more fun

As I prepared to lead another brand workshop and looked through the library of brand related books in my office, it occurred to me that there was nothing devoted to corporate or service brands in the professional services sector. We all know that it cost Andersen Consulting a reported £100m to change to Accenture. And anyone travelling through the City will have seen the latest poster campaign for Grant Thornton. Amongst smaller firms, Divorce Online down in the West Country did its ground breaking TV campaign around this time last year. But branding is so much more than big budget, hit-the-headlines advertising.

As I worked through a healthy brand checklist for one of my property clients, it occurred to me that just about all of the leading legal and accounting firms would have some difficulty passing with even a reasonable degree of success. Why is that? When you start to consider brand (or reputation) as a personal relationship (going through stages from price beater, through steady and reliable and then onto performance improver, solution provider, connected to the business environment and right up to market leader) you can see where the value in a stronger link between the professions’ proper obsession with relationships and brands might hit pay dirt. Maybe it is because so little attention is paid to the emotional charge or perhaps it is because the underlying market segmentation doesn’t really allow for a persuasive positioning. Anyway, it’s food for thought…