Employment Brand Part 4: What Can You Learn From the Old Spice Guy?

Monday, February 07, 2011

I’ll wrap up the discussion we’ve been having (1,2,3) about creating your employment/personal brand by pointing you to one of the best examples of brand transformation that I’ve ever observed…the Old Spice brand.

If you happen to live with teenage boys, you’re probably already aware of the transformation the Old Spice brand has undergone over the last couple of years. The whistling, nautical, bearded guy is long gone and has been replaced by the new Old Spice guy who connects with younger folks.

Don’t take this the wrong way, but there are many real estate offices that have brands that are similar to the original Old Spice image—old, stodgy, not connected with modern life. The good news…a transformation is possible.

How did Proctor and Gamble (Old Spice’s parent company) pull this off? Obviously, they put a lot of time, resources, and talent into creating the new image. But, they also did an exceptional job of communicating and maintaining their reinvented brand through online tools, such as YouTube. Take a look at this example:

On the first page of a YouTube search on “Old Spice,” you’ll notice that Old Spice videos have generated more than 100 million views.

In fact, Old Spice has become so proficient at promulgating their new Old Spice Brand online, they are forgoing a Super Bowl ad this year and instead are releasing their next ad today (on February 7th—after the Super Bowl) through a specially chosen superfan, who has enough connections to make their ad go viral on the internet. You might want to see if you can find it online!

"Smelling like a man" is not the only thing you can learn from the Old Spice guy. Try applying these principles as you develop, communicate, and maintain your brand online:

Think Outside Your Original Image. The Old Spice image transformation was successful because marketers thought completely outside the boundaries of their original brand. They were able to capture new customers and take on some significant competitors (Axe, Irish Spring, etc.) by imaging something completely different. This doesn’t mean that you have to become something you’re not (Old Spice is still good smelling stuff for guys—always has been), but does mean focusing the public’s attention on something that is interesting and engaging for those candidates you’re trying to attract.
Be Consistent. Once you’ve developed your brand, consistently portray that image when you communicate with others. Start by practicing with those who are already on your team. Invite your existing agents to help by communicating the office’s brand to those in their networks. If it’s fun and interesting, the image will take on a life of its own. My teenage boys walk around the house teasing each other because they don’t smell like a man. Needless to say, they own a lot of Old Spice.
Use both Online and Offline Avenues to Promote and Maintain Your Brand. Branding expert Dan Scwabell has compiled some great ideas for communicating your employment brand. Before you take a look at Dan’s ideas, it is important to heed the golden rule of promoting yourself:

“Put on your personal PR hat and start to promote your materials. Before you go crazy with self-promotion, realize that the most successful people are able and trained to promote the work of others as well.”

I hope you’ll take what you’ve learned over the past couple of weeks and start the process of making your employment brand a success. As you find good ideas, please share them with me and I’ll republish. I’m sure there are others in the WorkPuzzle community who would be interested in your success. As I notice things over the months ahead, I’ll occasionally swing back and revisit the topic with some updates.

Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

Employment Brand Part 3: Creating and Communicating Your Brand

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Hopefully you’ve had some time to put some thought into developing and quantifying your personal brand. If you’re struggling with this, be assured, it is not easy work. So, it may take some time.

As you think about a framework to build upon, here is some advice from Tom Peters in his classic article The Brand Called You:

“No matter what you're doing today, there are four things you've got to measure yourself against. First, you've got to be a great teammate and a supportive colleague. Second, you've got to be an exceptional expert at something that has real value. Third, you've got to be a broad-gauged visionary — a leader, a teacher, a farsighted ‘imagineer.’ Fourth, you've got to be a businessperson — you've got to be obsessed with pragmatic outcomes.”

Your brand probably should contain most, if not all, of these components. If you’re having trouble with this step in the process, make sure you ask questions, seek out the opinions of those you trust, and bounce your finished product off a few people who know you well.

Now, on to creating your brand… Your brand will not accomplish anything if it just lives in your head or even passively interacts with those in your close network. A personal brand only takes on life when it is actively promoted and consistently impacts new individuals.

To create your brand, break your actions into online and offline activities. I’ll cover each category in the remainder of the discussion.

Create Your Personal Brand Online. If someone googled your name, your office, or [your city] real estate, what would they find? If a person IS able to find you with a search inquiry, what does the information found say about you? Does it match your brand? These are important questions because a large majority of people will interact with (or miss completely) your brand online.

Here are the basics of what you need to create your personal brand online:

Facebook Profile. You probably already have a Facebook account. Does it match the personal brand you developed? If not, you may want to create a professional version and then limit those who have access to your personal version to those in your personal network.
LinkedIn Profile. Again, make sure that your LinkedIn profile matches what you’ve quantified as your personal brand. Push the limits of LinkedIn by joining groups where you can contribute your expertise and build a reputation for being knowledgeable.
Twitter Profile. Compared to the previous two venues, Twitter is much more tricky. But, there are some people who have learned to use this tool effectively. If you need some ideas, study some of the popular restaurants or night clubs in your area.
Blog. It is tough to write a blog as a real estate company and not be perceived as biased. So, if you decide to write a blog, you may want to focus it on a topic that is not perceived as manipulative. One of the most popular blogs in my area is SeattleBubble.com – Even though the author is currently an employee of Redfin, he does a good job of maintaining neutrality.

Create You Personal Brand Offline. Because real estate is such a local/community business, there are still many opportunities to deploy traditional methodologies for building your personal brand. Here are some ideas:

Volunteer. There are many opportunities in a local community to volunteer. Pick opportunities that not only support your personal brand, but seem to get a lot of press. Ride the popularity of things that are naturally interesting to others.
Take on a Cause. Find something in your community that needs attention and make it your job to get it fixed. For example, if there were a dangerous intersection in your community, could you bring it to the public’s attention and spearhead the public-interest project to get it fixed? Seems like a great fit for someone who is concerned about the surrounding neighborhoods.
Teach a Class. For most people, building a personal brand involves being perceived as an expert in a certain domain. Teaching is a great way to build this perception. Try contacting the local community college or an adult education program.
Participate in a Panel Discussion. Are there conferences in your area where you can make a contribution? It is quite common for conferences to hold panel discussions with experts from the local community. Use your network to work your way onto one of these panels. The first one will be the hardest, but visibility has a way of multiplying.

There are many more ideas out there, so don’t stop with what I’ve suggested… Build a good base, but then take every opportunity possible to add to your personal brand. Tom Peters says it this way:

“The important thing to remember about your personal visibility campaign is: it all matters. When you're promoting brand You, everything you do — and everything you choose not to do — communicates the value and character of the brand.”

Employment Brand Part 2: What Is an Employment Brand and How Do I Develop One?

Monday, January 31, 2011

I’ve received a few questions back on the last WorkPuzzle I published. Apparently, the concept of an “employment brand” is a new idea to many of you.

Simply put, your employer brand is the image of your organization in the mind of current employees and key stakeholders in the external market (active and passive candidates, clients, customers and other key stakeholders).

So, employer branding activities are the sum of a company’s efforts to communicate to prospective and existing staff what makes your company a desirable place to work, and the active management of a company’s image as seen through the eyes of its potential hires. (Definition Source)

When we think about this concept, our mind naturally drifts to the large businesses that have prominent brands. Take a look at AT&T’s career page and you’ll see a great example of how the branding efforts of a well-known consumer brand now naturally crossover to the realm of employment branding.

Of course, this type of implementation would be beyond the reach of most local or even regional real estate companies. And I would argue that it wouldn’t be very effective either. While many real estate companies certainly spend money on building their image in the mind of consumers, the crossover to employment branding is not as natural. Why? Because the business model of most real estate companies is such that each local office tends to have its own culture. And this culture (and in essence its brand) is largely driven by the owner or manager of that local office.

For real estate offices, the employment brand tends to be heavily influenced by the personal brand of the manager of a particular local office.

When you’re attempting to recruit new individuals to your team, the first questions that go through the minds of candidates have to do with the brand of the local office (What is the office about, and is it a place I can see myself working?) and the brand of the manager (Is this the type of person I want to work with? Does his/her team of agents have characteristics that are intriguing to me? ).

Much of our discussion about employment branding is going to focus on the personal brand of the manager or owner of an office. And, this is where things get interesting.

The concept of personal branding was perhaps initially discussed in Tom Peter’s classic article “The Brand Called You,” first published in 1997. As social networking has exploded in the last 5 years, so have the tools that equip a person to develop and promulgate a personal brand.

So, what’s it take to build a personal brand as a manager? Here are 4 steps that you should consider:

1. Discover Your Brand
2. Create Your Brand
3. Communicate Your Brand
4. Maintain Your Brand

We’ll discuss how to Discovering Your Brand today, and then cover the remaining topics in upcoming discussions.

Branding expert and author, Dan Schwabell, offers this advice on discovering your personal brand:

“The single biggest mistake people make is that they either brand themselves just for the sake of doing it or that they fail to invest time in learning about what’s in their best interests. The key to success, and this isn’t revolutionary, is to be compensated based on your passion. In order to find your passion, you need a lot of time to think, some luck and you need to do some research online to figure out what’s out there.

Brand discovery is about figuring out what you want to do for the rest of your life, setting goals, writing down a mission, vision and personal brand statement (what you do and who you serve), as well as creating a development plan. Have you ever been called intelligent or humorous by your peers or coworkers? That description is part of your brand, especially if you feel those attributed pertain to you. To know if you’ve discovered your brand, you need to make this equation equal:

Your self-impression = How people perceive you

Before you enter the next step in the personal branding process, you’ll want to select a niche, whereby you can be the master of your domain. When I say domain, I mean an area where there aren’t many competitors Once you sort this all out, now it’s time to create your brand.”

I encourage you to take some time to put some thought into Schwabell’s suggestions and develop a clear vision of what you want those in your close geographic are to think of you and your office.

Employment Brand: Does Anyone Really Want to Work For You?

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Earlier this week, I referenced an article written by John Sumser. John is a recruiting guru from whom I've learned a lot over the last several years. While John's blog is on my Google Reader, I often skip over his articles because I really have to be in a position to concentrate to digest his articles.

Every once in awhile, I dive into a month or two worth of his articles for a couple of hours and try to figure out what he’s saying. Typically, I walk away with something that changes my way of thinking.

I did this over the weekend, and the same held true. John recently wrote an article on employment brands that is quite insightful. I'll publish it here, and then spend the next couple of WorkPuzzles discussing its implications for the real estate industry.

"Employment Branding is the craft of being so completely organized that you are ready with the right message for the right person when she comes along.

A brand is a relationship.

Brands only matter to the people who care about them. Mention the brand name outside of the circle of people who have the relationship and you will receive shoulder shrugs. Mention it inside the circle and you can spark a conversation full of passion and opinion.

The only brands that matter are the ones that people care about.

The theory and development of branding has been reserved, historically, for companies that could afford large broadcast media campaigns. The best examples of brand marketing are consumer product companies, from automobiles to popular music to varieties of American Cheese. The term brand is used to cover a wide range of circumstances from name recognition to deep affinity.

Contemporary talk about 'personal branding' generally refers to the act of managing the fifteen minutes of fame that social media bestows. Peppers and Rogers, the authors of popular books on database and relationship marketing, move the concept to tightly grouped members of a database.

It is useful to think about branding as an early stage technology. Purely a 20th Century invention, branding, like many first generation technologies, began in organizations that could afford clumsy and inefficient approaches because of their sheer size. For the past 70 years, branding has been a game of extensive spending to attract large numbers of people to a single product or company.

Today, however, the tools needed to build very clear, very small niche oriented brands are readily available. Like much of marketing, the tools are now available from the desktop. This 'downward evolution' of marketing creates both expanded opportunity and expanded responsibility at the department and operating unit level."

Notice what he says in that last paragraph: "…the tools needed to build very clear, very small niche oriented brands are readily available." This is great news for those who recruit for a living.

Do you see yourself (you personally) as having a brand? Does your office (not your company as a whole) have a brand? What do the candidates that you're trying to recruit think about your office's brand? Do they wish they could be part of a team like the one you manage, or do they shrug their shoulders?

These are all important questions if you’re going to be successful at recruiting. It's funny how much easier recruiting gets if you start attracting…

Population Dynamics 2: Understanding Fundamental Changes

Monday, January 24, 2011

Last Friday, I had the opportunity to spend some time with the owners and managers of a large real estate company in the Northwest. I enjoy these meetings because it gives me an opportunity to see and hear the realities of the business challenges many of you are facing.

The message I heard on Friday…the real estate world is changing quickly and there is a constant need to evaluate and plot a course to meet the changes. As leaders struggle with this issue, our first inclination is to focus on surface issues (i.e. How do my circumstances today resemble something that happened in the past?). But by doing this, there is a tendency to overlook the core issues that are responsible for the changes.

I touched on this topic last week. How do you first find the “horizon” in your recruiting world and then work on developing tactics that meet reality? As you ask yourself this question and wrestle with the answers, you may find that your “reality” is much different than you expected and even more troublesome to understand.

I ran across a discussion by John Sumser over the weekend that does a great job of illustrating one of these fundamental changes. The topic is the traditional understanding of a population pyramid.

“I am going to stick with the pyramid idea just a little longer. The theme is so embedded in our world view that it shapes the way we see, imagine and execute our possibilities.

The ‘Recruiting Funnel', where masses of candidates are winnowed down to a select few, is an example of pyramid theory. The whole notion emerges from the longstanding shape of families and governments: a few old people running things, lots of younger people ‘being run’. It’s mommy, daddy, and five kids. It’s the foundation of hierarchical management. Large organizations, with their single point (winnowing) authority, perpetuate the view that pyramids are essential elements of society.

The reality is that family structure has changed. One or two kids and two parents is not an organization that can be run hierarchically. Combined with technology that is flattening our organizations, we’re in a transition period. The pyramid is built into our perceptual framework and it’s outmoded.

Historically, economic growth depends on a pyramid structure. More people, more work, more jobs, more goods. We have no idea how to engineer growth without an underlying impetus of population expansion.”

So, John’s point is that the disruption of the traditional population pyramid changes everything. It is a fundamental issue that must be understood in order to build successful recruiting strategies (or to run a government, or to market a college, or to build a restaurant clientele, etc.). If you were to make plans without understanding this important piece of information, you'd struggle to be successful.

I brought this example up to get you thinking about the fundamental issues that may be shaping your business. Of course, population dynamics affect everyone, but many other important issues are industry specific.

What are the foundational issues that have changed in your profession, industry, and community? The companies that can successfully identify these issues and deploy tactics that address these changes are the ones who will find themselves significantly ahead of their competitors in the coming years.

Population Dynamics: Does Your Ideal Agent Really Exist?

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

As we start the New Year, many of our clients are putting together their recruiting plans for 2011. It’s an exciting season for our company because we have the opportunity to hear about many new ideas, assist in implementation, and start to envision how 2011 will shape up.

As this process unfolds, I’ve noticed a trend. Many companies tend to quickly focus their efforts on the tactics of recruiting and don’t take time to consider the bigger picture. The tendency is to use last year’s methodologies as a baseline and then try to tweak things to get results. Planning in this manner will result in missed opportunities. Instead, take some time to step back and look at the horizon.

In recruiting, the term “horizon” includes understanding the “population dynamics” of your area. Once you’ve figured out who you want to recruit, you’ll need to know if there are enough potential candidates available in your recruiting area for optimal goal achievement.

Experienced agent recruiting, convincing experienced agents to leave their company and join your team, is a great example of one way to identify a group of potential agents. You have a vision of your ideal agent. This includes a list of characteristics such as revenue history, experience level, current company, reputation in the marketplace, etc. The more complete and valid you make your ideal agent profile, the better your chances will be of finding an agent who will produce the needed revenue in your organization and help you realize a return on your recruiting efforts.

But, do the population dynamics of your recruiting horizon support your vision? If your requirements are too specific, you’ll be unable to meet your goal AND you’ll likely need to lower your standards and hire agents who do not meet your long-term objectives. To get an answer to this question, consider some of these factors:

Geography. Get a map and draw a circle around your office. As the radius, use whatever distance you believe people will reasonably travel to be part of your office. Now, mark each competitive real estate office inside your circle on the map. Next to the office, write the number of agents who work in that office.
Age / Gender. While it is frowned upon by EEOC regulators to exclude anyone from your office based on age and gender, there is nothing wrong with focusing your proactive recruiting efforts on the specific individuals who will best meet the needs of your team in the years to come. Many real estate offices have a substantial number of agents who will retire in the next few years. You can increase the diversity in your office by hiring younger agents who can grow into their positions. Also, some groups of clients are better served by hiring one gender rather than the other. Again, the point is not to exclude anyone, rather to build your team with the optimal players who will maximize revenue.
Client Focus and Success. Effective real estate sales execution is a neighborhood-by-neighborhood exercise. If your office is getting shut out of certain neighborhoods by your competitors, then how can that problem be solved by recruiting? It only makes sense to target the individual neighborhoods where you’re missing opportunities. Can the agents who are successful in those neighborhoods be lured away from their companies? If so, it’s a big win for your office.

There are probably several more population dynamics categories that can be targeted. The point is that defining what kind of population is available is an important first step in building a recruiting plan. If you don’t have this starting point, then deploying recruiting tactics may quickly and effectively lead you to an undesirable destination.

Going through an exercise like this will produce one of two results: The hopeful result is that you’ll have identified exactly who you’re looking for, know whether the potential candidates exist in your recruiting horizon, and be ready to attack the challenge of hiring them with energy and excitement. The more common result is that this exercise will help you realize that your objectives may not be realistic. If this is your result, work to identify new sources for locating candidates and review well-thought-out compromises you are willing to make in order to meet your long-term objectives. With either result, you’ll have a clearer view of your recruiting horizon and will have further defined your goals for the year.