Thursday, March 26, 2015

Brand Awareness 201: Sight, Sound and Motion Sells. Corporate Sizzle Reels

Brand burnishing is about creating ‘sizzle’. If you don’t already know that, you’re about to be run over the bus that your competitors are sitting in. For New York City-based firms, your choices for corporate videographer services are nearly endless. but your choices for truly best-in-class [i.e. those who are uniquely intuitive and can translate your value proposition in a manner that resonates with your audience as well as your marketing budget] are arguably limited.


Connecting the Tag Line to the Bottom Line requires a combination of strategies that complement each other, and corporate video ‘sizzle reels’ are often the tools that tie all of your marketing/communication and branding schemes together. When clients of The JLC Group come to us for a solution, we often enlist Simba Productions. Below is their sizzle reel with illustrative examples of clients that include some of the smartest brands across multiple industries and practice areas.



Simba Productions Corporate Reel from Simba Productions on Vimeo.



Brand Awareness 201: Sight, Sound and Motion Sells. Corporate Sizzle Reels

Corporate Communications Best Practice: Rumor Management

Most folks figure that Corporate Communications is the practice area focused on ubiquitous tasks such as press releases, IR memos, the occasional crisis management event or framing a value proposition. That said, we submit that most folks are often misguided; in today’s social-centric ecosystem, rumors are necessarily a corporate communication Achilles heel, as unfounded jibber jabber is fast becoming the leading source of distraction for corporate managers, simply because they are so easily propagated. Whether confined to internal dialogue or spreading to customers, clients and/or constituents, if not handled properly, rumors can evolve to an Ebola-like ruination of corporate morale and critical business relationships. And when that happens, all bets are off.


Some “experts” contend that rumor control falls under the domain of ‘crisis management’, others argue that Rumor Management is a practice area in and of itself. In the spirit of JLC Group’s focus on guiding corporate executives in the course of their confronting and overcoming challenges, in many cases we encourage clients who ‘can’t see the forest for the trees’ to engage experts who are objective and proven to provide true thought leadership skills. With that, we’re happy to share the following courtesy of LeadershipIQ’s Mark Murphy, one of the most highly experienced experts in the field of leadership training.


Communication Strategies for Controlling Your Company’s Rumor Mill


When we hear company rumors that are dead wrong, we reflexively correct those rumors. It’s a natural response, but it’s wrong.

Let’s imagine that we get word of employees spreading rumors that our company is about to layoff 10% of the workforce. And let’s also imagine that we know those rumors are patently false. We’re probably going to convene a town hall meeting, or send a memo, and insist “The rumor about layoffs is false! We’re not doing layoffs! Stop spreading rumors about layoffs!”

Ironically, that earnest refutation only cements the rumor about layoffs in many employees’ minds. Here’s why:


First, people tend to evaluate information in a biased way; specifically, they absorb information that reinforces their existing views or values. So, if someone is inclined to believe that companies don’t care about employees, will conduct layoffs, sell the company, etc., they’re much more likely to embrace the rumor of impending layoffs.


Second, people will often harden their original views when presented with unwelcome information. This is called the “Backfire Effect.” If someone already believes that companies can’t be trusted when they say ‘we’re not doing layoffs’ and then the CEO challenges those beliefs (by saying ‘we’re not doing layoffs’) they’re likely to believe in impending layoffs even more strongly!

Now, lest you think all hope is lost, there are scientifically-proven ways to debunk false rumors.


For corporate execs who are focused on best practices within the context of communication strategies, The JLC Group suggests that you check out Mark Murphy’s upcoming webinar called COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES FOR CONTROLLING YOUR COMPANY’S RUMOR MILL.


Learn how to use the “basic law of rumor” that says the strength of a rumor is driven by how much your employees care about the issue multiplied by the ambiguity of the evidence for the rumor


 



Corporate Communications Best Practice: Rumor Management