Telus’ Leadership Lesson in Brand Mismanagement
Telus’ Leadership Lesson in Brand Mismanagement
I find it interesting how word spread about how Telus, Canada's second largest phone company, decided to be the first wireless provider to offer to sell downloads of pornographic images and videos. Of course 'Telus' didn't make the decision. It was Telus' leadership that approved it and, astonishingly, defended the position - right up until overwhelming customer and investor protests forced management to cancel the program.
I'll leave it to others to debate the morality of pornography on the Internet. The issue I want to tackle is how 'leadership' in such a large company decided this was a good business decision. Apparently there is a lot of money to be made in this new enterprise. I'm trying to fathom how a phone company that markets to both adults and youth decided that this was the direction to move their brand.
Friends of mine, George Torok and Peter Urs Bender wrote a great book about marketing and branding called, Secrets of Power Marketing in which they point out, “You cannot not market.” In other words everything you say and do - or do not do, affects your brand. Somehow the collective leadership at Telus figured their brand wouldn't be affected by this new enterprise - one which no one ever associated with a phone company. Hmm…
I believe the huge amount of negative publicity Telus received about this provides yet another wakeup call to business leaders. Think about how your decisions affect your personal image and your company's reputation. Over the long term your reputation is everything. Of course you have a responsibility to maximize profits for your shareholders. There is however a greater calling than short term profit. As a leader, you are expected to do the right thing. Always. No matter what it costs you.
The leaders at Telus gave a lot of people the impression that they sold their corporate souls. Frankly, I felt sorry for the employees at Telus who had nothing to do with this ill-conceived management decision. Telus leaders now have the distinction of being Canada's most high profile example of how to mismanage your brand. Let this at least serve as a reminder that everything your company does creates an impression. As a leader making strategic decisions you'll of course check your sales forecasts and government regulations. Above all that external noise, however, you need to stop and listen to that voice in your gut.
Telus Leadership Lesson in Brand Mismanagement - To learn more about this author, visit Jeff Mowatt's Website.
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Telus' Leadership Lesson in Brand Mismanagement
I find it interesting how word spread about how Telus, Canada's second largest phone company, decided to be the first wireless provider to offer to sell downloads of pornographic images and videos. Of course 'Telus' didn't make the decision. It was Telus' leadership that approved it and, astonishingly, defended the position - right up until overwhelming customer and investor protests forced management to cancel the program.
I'll leave it to others to debate the morality of pornography on the Internet. The issue I want to tackle is how 'leadership' in such a large company decided this was a good business decision. Apparently there is a lot of money to be made in this new enterprise. I'm trying to fathom how a phone company that markets to both adults and youth decided that this was the direction to move their brand.
Friends of mine, George Torok and Peter Urs Bender wrote a great book about marketing and branding called, Secrets of Power Marketing in which they point out, “You cannot not market.” In other words everything you say and do - or do not do, affects your brand. Somehow the collective leadership at Telus figured their brand wouldn't be affected by this new enterprise - one which no one ever associated with a phone company. Hmm…
I believe the huge amount of negative publicity Telus received about this provides yet another wakeup call to business leaders. Think about how your decisions affect your personal image and your company's reputation. Over the long term your reputation is everything. Of course you have a responsibility to maximize profits for your shareholders. There is however a greater calling than short term profit. As a leader, you are expected to do the right thing. Always. No matter what it costs you.
The leaders at Telus gave a lot of people the impression that they sold their corporate souls. Frankly, I felt sorry for the employees at Telus who had nothing to do with this ill-conceived management decision. Telus leaders now have the distinction of being Canada's most high profile example of how to mismanage your brand. Let this at least serve as a reminder that everything your company does creates an impression. As a leader making strategic decisions you'll of course check your sales forecasts and government regulations. Above all that external noise, however, you need to stop and listen to that voice in your gut.
Telus Leadership Lesson in Brand Mismanagement - To learn more about this author, visit Jeff Mowatt's Website.
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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