Waikato Business News July/August 2019

What’s with the why?
What do you want out of your marketing and communications?
Because if you don’t really know, it won’t really be effective.
Doesn’t sound like rocket science, does it?
As the world celebrates
the 50th anniversary of
the first moon landing,
I keep thinking about the story
of the NASA janitor. You may
have heard it, but here it is just
in case.
The story goes that, before
the Apollo 11 mission, President
John F Kennedy was touring
the NASA facility. As he
was walking around talking to
staff, he came across a janitor.
When the President asked him
what he did for NASA, he got
an unexpected reply.
The janitor could have given
a short-term response. “I’m
sweeping this corridor.” But he
chose to not be blinkered by his
immediate goals and environment.
His answer could have been
driven by his personal KPIs and
the needs of the other NASA
staff, his stakeholders, by saying
“I’m keeping this place
clean for the everyone who
works here”.
But he didn’t. He took the
ultimate big picture view. He
was a living example of what
the organisation was there to
do. He had the understanding
to see beyond his own world –
literally.
“I’m helping put a man on
the moon.”
This is what the current
buzzword lexicon calls the
‘why’. It might also be referred
to as the purpose, the key proposition,
the reason for being or
core objective. Ironically, some
might call it the mission. (See
what we did there.)
But whatever you call it,
and wherever it fits into other
parts of your planning, if you
can’t explain what you want
to achieve, you’re probably
going to be floating aimlessly
in space.
Fifty years on, we could say
that putting a man on the moon
was really one objective on the
way to a broader ‘why’ in terms
of what mankind would achieve
as a result of this incredible feat.
But the example does serve as a
reminder for us to think big and
step away from the detail and
the now.
I was at a networking event
where we had to introduce ourselves
and say what our business
was all about. A standout
answer for me was from the
owner of a restaurant and bar.
He could have said he sold food
and drink. He could have said
he gives customers great dining
experiences in a place for people
to socialise. But no, he said
he “creates memories through
food and friends”.
I have lost track of how
many times over the years I’ve
had to ask clients or potential
clients that ultimate question,
rather than it be one of the first
things they tell me.
We’d regularly have clients
come to us asking for a
brochure, for example, only
to work through the process to
discover that a brochure wasn’t
what they needed at all. Their
problem could be solved by a
smart bit of PR, or their message
could hit home harder through a
well-targeted advertising campaign.
Yes, a brochure might
have been right for some circumstances,
but it shouldn’t
necessarily have been the first
tactic, leapt to purely because it
was what other companies did
or because it was a format they
could relate to themselves.
It wasn’t our job to shake
them out of their comfort zone
or say they were wrong in their
thinking. It was our job to find
out what outcome they wanted
and help them get there.
That’s not a criticism. In
business, we all naturally find
times when we get focused
TELLING YOUR STORY
> BY VICKI JONES
Vicki Jones is director of Dugmore Jones, Hamilton-based brand
management consultancy. Email vicki@dugmorejones.co.nz
on immediate needs, market
demands or reactive responses
to whatever our competitors
are doing. Or we jump on the
bandwagon of a new technological
idea or marketing trend,
or build an approach around
themes that are in vogue.
Yes, all those influences,
and more, should be part of our
marketing and communications
planning, as we have to understand
the people we’re targeting
and the environment in which
they make their decisions.
But we also have to relate
this to what our brand is there
to do and how our marketing
will achieve that. Where does
this campaign or piece of collateral
fit in to the wider story
we want to tell? What problem
are we trying to solve, what are
we trying to change, what need
are we trying to fulfil? Does it
sit comfortably with how we
want to be perceived?
I’m not suggesting every
piece of marketing demands a
soulful weekend retreat of navel
gazing, getting in touch with
your business’s inner feelings.
But take time to put yourselves
in the shoes of NASA’s janitor,
and think beyond the immediate
tangible outcomes of your
marketing to the bigger story
your brand needs to tell.
Commercial Property
Management & Valuation
At Bayleys, we believe relationships are what businesses are built on and how they succeed.
We understand that to maximise the return on your property you need:
Professional property management
Expert valuation advice
A business partner that understands your views and goals
Mike Gascoigne
Branch Manager
P 07 834 6690 M 027 430 8311
mike.gascoigne@bayleys.co.nz
Curtis Bones
Senior Commercial Property Manager
P 07 834 3826 M 027 231 3401
curtis.bones@bayleys.co.nz
James Harvey
Commercial Facilities Manager
P 07 839 0700 M 027 425 4231
james.harvey@bayleys.co.nz
Matt Straka
Registered Valuer
P 07 834 3232 M 021 112 4778
matt.straka@bayleys.co.nz
SUCCESS REALTY LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008
ALTOGETHER BETTER
Residential / Commercial / Rural / Property Services