Since today is a travel day for me, I am offering up a guest post I’m truly excited about!  Felix Wetzel, the Group Marketing Director for Jobsite and author of the ‘People, Brands, & Random Thoughts‘ blog, is a friend and someone who shares compelling and creative business ideas.  For Felix, it’s all about people, brands, sports & politics. His motto is “fortune favors the bold!”

Please be sure to leave Felix a comment at the end and tell him what you think of his concept of peopling.  Thanks friends.

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Felix Wetzel

I believe, and have believed for many years now, that HR and Marketing will move closer and closer, eventually overlap and consequently merge. There’s no question about it; it’s a logical outcome, triggered by the behavioural changes that have been magnified and accelerated by social media and mobile and my core belief about business and life: it’s all about people.

I base it on a very simple formula:

people = brand

This common denominator is underpinned by the following:

people = employees = customers = competitors = suppliers = citizens

So HR and Marketing are perfect companions, that share similar goals, approach life in a similar manner and most importantly have skills and talents that complement each other. Let’s now leave the abstract behind and get more concrete:

People are the brand

If you share this belief with me than you’ll also agree with the following statement: The strongest brand ambassadors are your employees. Subsequently, fostering the right culture within the company, influencing employees to participate every day voluntarily within it and communicating the culture externally in a personable but still branded manner, choosing new employees that fit and enhance the culture are areas where Marketing and HR, if working hand in hand, can make a massive difference and can enrich the growth of the brand but also the individuals within it. This becomes even more important as every interaction, every engagement, every mention defines the brand and defines the perception of the brand. That needs an exciting vision, a clear framework and at the same time shared experiences.

Internal and external communication are intrinsically linked

However we portray the brand externally has an impact internally. Jobsite’s CEO Keith Potts always reminds us: “When you choose a name for a brand, just pretend you call a client. How does it make you feel?”

When we created our TV commercial, I always had in mind that I wanted our sales people to be proud about the ad and the brand, to talk about it, to walk into meetings with their head held high, without the chance of being ridiculed. Besides this being an important filter, it also highlights how internal and external communication are linked, how internal and external perception influence each other and how we as a business therefore need to ensure that we have consistency across all communication. It’s another area for HR and Marketing to benefit from each other’s skills.

Everything communicates

Mervyn Dinnen wrote a very insightful blog ‘Is your recruitment partner damaging your bottom line?’ In this post Mervyn refers to potential employees being potential consumers and if treated badly at the recruitment process it damages their perception of the brand. I wholeheartedly agree. People are multi-dimensional and every interaction shapes the impact of a brand. That’s why I advocate replacing the terms ‘employee’ and ‘consumer’ with the term ‘citizen’. They all influence and define the ecosphere of the brand. The brand is alive, has a stable core but is adaptable and subsequently far more resistant. So, if this is the case, the brand values need to be experienced also through the recruitment process and need to be aligned with the overall brand communication. The recruitment experience is as important as the customer service experience. Everything communicates.

Employer Brand

Is it an employee or employer brand? Who cares? The whole discussion about it is misguided. An employee/employer/employment brand is a myth. Ultimately there’s one core brand and the employer brand is just one facet of it, other facets are the product brand, the consumer brand, the supplier brand, etc – so, instead of reinventing the brand, HR & Marketing need to work together to communicate and execute the brand internally (employee brand) and externally (employer brand) within the employment market.  Use the skills across the business to build the best solution, that’s the way to create a world class experience.

At Jobsite, our brand essence is: ‘We help you plan your worklife, so your whole life works better’ – this, combined with our brand values, are at the heart of all our interactions be it internally and externally.

I know of several companies where HR & Marketing (and the entire business work hand in hand). I know even more companies where this doesn’t happen. Maybe one day, the merger will happen, and instead of HR and Marketing it’s called Peopling.

I want to tell you a story about feminine products, specifically, tampons.  NOW MEN, do not stop reading this.  It’s not going to be a gross post and I can assure you that every time I read posts about how sports compare to HR, I keep reading even though I don’t always feel completely in my comfort zone depending on the sport or the analogy.

I want to talk to you about tampons for several reasons.  The first is that I recently heard a very odd but interesting presentation at the Social Media Meetup by Andrew Meurrer, Vice President and General Manager at Kimberly-Clark.  In this presentation, he talked about how even discussing tampons is taboo, let alone asking a man to go in a store and buy some.  Kimberly-Clark has learned that once young women find their preferred brand, 70% of them will stay loyal to that brand for life.  Think about that.  Is there any other product that can inspire that percentage of brand loyalty?  Probably not.  I thought of other products I just won’t change and one is toilet paper and the other is my laundry detergent.  I swear by Quilted Northern and Cheer, in case you are curious.

But I digress.  Even something like laundry detergent only has about 55% brand loyalty.  So, you can see that in the feminine hygiene products, getting women interested in your product early in their teenage years is very important.  So since the target demographic is females age 14- 24, Kotex (the brand made by Kimberly Clark) decided to do a couple things to promote their new product line U by Kotex:

• First, make talking about having your period acceptable.  It should not be taboo.  It happens to all of us ladies.
• Then, create an exciting ad campaign that rips on the old tampon commercials of other brands to show that real women do not dance around in waves or with butterflies at that time of the month.    
• Create fun new packaging to attract the women and girls.
• Reach out to the target audience via social media. THIS is what will really differentiate how U by Kotex is accepted.  It is reaching the demographic where they are.   Where they spend time.  Where they are comfortable.

So, why do I share this with you?  Because it worked.

I am certainly a lot older than their target demographic because let’s face it, I made my product choice over twenty years ago. I would have never thought about changing even though these ads run on TV all the time.  What caught my attention was that this company is using social media to spread the word.  Bells and whistles went off in my head…I just had to try to support a company that is forward thinking and trying to get REAL and honest about this topic.  If not for me, for my little girl’s sake.

So, I tried it.

I hated it.

I want my old product back.

Why?  I think Kotex spent so much time on what the package looks like, how to tell everyone it’s ok to discuss it, and WOW- using social media and fun new ads to tell about it, that they didn’t really DO anything to make the product better than some of the others.

So, forgive me but I’m going back to my old brand.  You know, the one in the plain wrapper.  Now, I need to end this post.  I think I’ll put on some white clothes and go dance around in the rain and pretend that life is full of butterflies.  Goodness knows I certainly don’t want to have to write about my period again.

What do you think?  Can the power of social media make you change some of the tried-and-true products you have used for years?  Tell me in the comments.

What comes to mind when you hear the words social media?  Do you think of sites that are popular today like Twitter, FaceBook, or LinkedIn?  Do you think it is just for teens or that it is just a tool to decrease employee productivity?  Or, can you see past all the negative hype and see how to exploit social media platforms for a competitive advantage?

That’s right, social media can be your key to competitive advantage.

It is a tool that can help you as an individual or as a business leader to stand head and shoulders above the rest.  Let’s be honest, in today’s lagging market, we need a way to stand out in a positive way and to reach our current and potential clients and customers.  So, how do we get there?  Social media. These are free tools that can be quickly learned and applied in ways that will communicate your brand.  If you’re like I was, then you just don’t make the connection how that is possible.  Let me share my story.

About two years ago, I participated in a webinar that demonstrated how to use Twitter.  I sat through it wondering how in the world this would pertain to me in my role as a human resources director.  I did not understand the concept of finding people with a certain background to follow.  I did not understand why someone would want to follow me and see what I’m doing moment by moment.  And so, like many, I signed off and did not touch it again.

Fast forward to a year ago.  I loved reading human resource blogs and started my own human resource blog.  I realized that many of the bloggers I was communicating with used Twitter so I signed back in.  I followed HR bloggers and other HR professionals and saw them sharing relevant HR articles on trends and core competencies . I began tweeting (sharing information in 140 characters via Twitter) each time I wrote a new post on my blog.  My followers would re-tweet it, meaning they would send it to all their followers.  I quickly saw my blog stats rise and simultaneously, my Twitter followers increased too.

I was marketing myself!

I fell into a situation where I quickly learned the power Twitter has to connect you with other like-minded professionals in your industry or with a certain market segment that you would like to reach.  The one caution I have is that the Twitter community is one not to take advantage of.  You have to be genuine and willing to share and communicate, not just push out your personal or company agenda.  Otherwise, you will be labeled a spammer and will quickly crash and burn.

Since that time, my blog has seen exponential growth, my personal brand as a HR professional has flourished and I have the opportunity to speak globally about the power of social media.

So, have I piqued your interest in getting involved with social media?  Add your questions or your own story in the comments.

When is the last time you’ve thought about packaging and how you package yourself?  Not only your look, but how you message things?

It seems like there have been some good articles and posts later that touch on packaging.  I think it’s important to examine how you do this on a regular basis because we can all use a little improvement here and there.  Why?  Because so much of life is based on the perceptions of others.

Want a new job?  Want to sell your product?  Want to have someone take you seriously and get on board with your idea?  It all takes the right packaging.  If you or your message have “stale” packaging, you may not get that job, that sale, or get your idea moving.  Need an example?  Here’s one:

Picture someone in your organization who is not taken very seriously.  I can think of several in my career.  One that pops to mind is a very smart woman who dressed like she was still in 1980.  While that was a fun decade, wearing shoulder pads, tight, short pants, and BIG 80′s hair now is noticeable.   She even still rocked the 80′s blue eyeshadow.  Now, I am sure she has some great ideas.  However, people in the workplace cannot seem to get past her look.  They do not take her seriously.  Why?  Because her look is so outdated, they make the incorrect perception that her ideas must be outdated too.

Here’s another example.  Have you ever worked with someone that came across more like a used car salesman when trying to sell his message or idea?  No matter how good their idea is, most people cannot get past the way the person is pushing their message.  If you’re that “salesman”, then consider changing up your pitch.

My point is that even if you have fresh ideas, are you doing things to sabotage your messaging because the packaging is getting in the way?  If so, then NOW is the time to address it.

Regardless of what type of work you do, it does not necessarily take a lot of money to make a few simple changes to improve your chances of being taken seriously.  So, do you need re-packaging?  Does your message?  For some great tips on repackaging your message, check out HR Buoy’s recent post ‘How Packaging Can Change Your Message’.

Think it’s too late to update your look to better “sell” your ideas?  Well, after 40 years, Heinz ketchup is changing their packaging.  If it’s not too late for ketchup, it’s not too late for you! If you haven’t updated your wardrobe, go out this weekend and buy a few simple, classic pieces of clothes (black dressy slacks, crisp white button-down shirt, new black dress shoes, a few key accessories).  Add in a piece or two of color.  Stick to some that will mix and match.  It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money, but may help you change how you’re being perceived at work, in an interview setting, or when selling your product.  Worn your hair the same way for 10 years?  Time for a change.

What are some other ways we can revamp our packaging?  Share with us in the comments.

Personal brand.  Employer brand. These phrases are commonly heard today.

I am not a branding expert, guru, or maven.  I won’t even try to tell you how to build your brand from the ground up nor how to use social media platforms to promote your brand.  What I am interested in is the way that personal branding is affecting me as a consumer.

As someone who is an active user of social media, I have learned a bit about how to build my own brand online.  I set about to be myself, the “real” me in all I write online, and that in itself has helped to create my brand.  It’s also given me the perspective to look at how other people build their brands.  Some are purely annoying- trying to “sell” me something. Anything.  Some people build a false brand and it can be disappointing to learn that they are not who they appear to be. But, for the most part, I think there are many people like me.  People who are being genuine with who they are and what they represent.

The importance of an individuals brand goes beyond just who they are.  It can be a strong connection to the employer brand.  Each employee who creates a brand online is like a unique fingerprint of the hand of the corporation.  I find myself beginning to make purchasing decisions based on some of the individuals out there who do such a good job of showing who they really are.  It makes me want to do business with their companies and, in tough economic times, this can be a very important business advantage for the company.  Subconsciously I think I have been gravitating to brands I didn’t use before because if they can hire such great people, surely they must be a good company.

Are you changing your purchasing habits based on the employees of a company that you encounter online?  Have you stopped purchasing from certain companies based on their employee’s online presence?  Let me know in the comments.  I’d love to see which way the pendulum is swinging…