Christmas is
over for another year. The shops have taken down their Christmas decorations
and are already setting up their Easter displays. Hangovers are now forgotten
(I hope) and bank balances have been checked, panicked over and you’re now
resigned to a careful, penny-counting January. This month is all about making
and sticking to those New Year’s resolutions.
But what
exactly are resolutions?
But a
resolution is not complete without a goal.
The goal to
lose the Christmas merriment that now clings to your hips and makes you waddle,
for example.
And we all
know by now that it’s very difficult to stick to your resolutions and achieve
your goals, without looking into your current behaviours and most critically,
your current habits.
Whilst these
are very much personal resolutions and individual goals, it’s also an opportunity
for companies to make resolutions for the New Year too. So that they can build
upon the successes and/or implement the learnings of the past year.
Our CEO Peter
Cunningham has a long history within the business world and more specifically,
the market research industry, running both his own company but also working
directly with big pharmaceutical organisations. Throughout his years working
with pharma he has been asked many times to help brand teams formalise their
brand purpose, so that the team can create and implement the most effective
sales and marketing strategy.
When asked
about the problems that businesses can face in the New Year, he says:
“All
the issues that companies face evolve around good and bad habits; when good
habits are forgotten or not instilled and bad habits are not addressed
effectively.”
Peter refers
to this as ‘Goal Amnesia’ where companies at the corporate or departmental
level have forgotten what their brand purpose is; not only for the product they
are intending to sell, but also the purpose of the team. It’s a result of
everyone coming back after the Christmas holidays, reacquainting themselves
with the work they left from before the break and becoming busy with that.
Which can result in them losing sight of their overall goals.
Ask team
members to define their brand purpose, and they seem to struggle to articulate
exactly what the goals are that they are working towards, and what their role
is within their company. Without refreshing this, it’s likely that the machine
will still run, but unlikely that it will run to its full potential.
Which is why
the start of a New Year is the best time to refresh those company goals.
If you haven’t
already done so, then use this time to take your team aside and recap what your
brand purpose is, what the expectations are for your brand and re-establish
your brand / company goals. Do it together, because it’s important to have your
team aligned.
The same way
that if you yourself have made the resolution to lose weight then it’s no good
having your head promise to put down the cake, when your stomach is doing all
it can to consume that cake.
Welcome to
2015 everyone!