Build Your Brand With Help From Greg Hoffman
The Key to Attracting Fantastic Employees Hint: It’s Not a Big Salary! In today’s competitive job market, businesses need to use every tool in their arsenals to attract and keep fantastic employees. Look around and you’ll see other companies raising salaries like crazy, because that’s the easiest way to snag talent! But a big salary isn’t the only way to make working for your company attractive — you can also beef up your benefits package.
Is Your Marketing Improving? Why You Want a Continuous Marketing Improvement Loop You want your customers to deeply understand your mission — why you choose to serve them and how you always deliver the value you promise. While great marketing can do that for you, excellent marketing will get you there no matter what.
In His New Book, ‘Emotion by Design’
From professional athletes across all major sports in America to kids running through the streets of Paris, nearly everyone in the world owns something produced by Nike or, at the very least, is familiar with the brand. You can find the company’s shoes, clothing, sports equipment, and so much more almost anywhere in the world. In the 1990s, sportswear was king. Brands like FUBU, Oakley, Tommy Hilfiger, and Starter were everywhere, but as time went on, these brands faded in and out of popularity. Only a handful of sportswear brands have stayed in the spotlight over the past 30 years — and at the front of the pack is Nike. Many other brands have tried to emulate Nike’s success, but none matched how the swoosh has impacted the worldwide sports market. Greg Hoffman led Nike through the pinnacle of its success as chief marketing officer and is responsible for many of Nike’s breakthrough campaigns. He also played an instrumental role in the creation of Nike’s singular brand. He’s now giving readers an insight into Nike’s success in his book “Emotion by Design: Creative Leadership Lessons From a Life at Nike.” Hoffman pulls from his own 27-year experience at Nike and breaks down how they created some of their most memorable campaigns. Nike never looks at their brands as if they are just a logo. They want to tell a story. If you look at Nike’s logo for their Jordan brand, it clearly represents one of Jordan’s greatest dunks, but it’s not just a symbol. It inspires others to be like Mike and reminds them anything is possible with hard work and dedication. Throughout “Emotion by Design,” Hoffman describes his three favorite guiding principles and how they play a role in creating a brand. Leave a legacy, not just a memory. One of the greatest lessons in “Emotion by Design” is to take what’s personally important to you and reflect it in your brand. Back in 2016, Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem in an effort to draw attention to systemic racial and ethnic inequality. While the media was critical of Kaepernick, Hoffman approached him to be the face of a Nike ad to spread his message because Hoffman • Creativity is a team sport. • Dare to be remembered. •
As Michelle Arieta, chief people officer of Domino Data Lab, put it in Entrepreneur magazine, “The modern workforce is no longer willing to sit back and accept subpar benefits, with the demand for better compensation packages serving as the driving force behind many resignations.” In a recent article, Business News Daily shared a comprehensive list of the benefits businesses should be including right now to reel in top talent. Here is a quick checklist. If your benefits package is lacking one or more of these options, checking them off could make a big difference in your hiring success.
The difference is creating a continuous marketing improvement loop.
It’s easy for marketing to seem like a one-time investment with ROI potential. However, that’s not the case. Marketing requires constant work to renew your tactics so you stay relevant, especially in 2022’s fast-paced digital world. To succeed, consider adopting continuous marketing improvement strategies. What is ‘continuous improvement’? The concept of continuous improvement is actually linked to a Japanese term, kaizen , which means “change for the better.” Kaizen developed in the Japanese public consciousness after WWII. The economy was worse than ever, and with the railways in disrepair, automobiles were in high demand. For decades, American cars were the best in the world. Yet, Toyota wasn’t concerned about making fast, big changes to leap ahead. Instead, they wanted to focus on creating fuel-efficient and sturdy, long-lasting cars. They paid attention to every single detail of their car production to improve it, including the sound a car door makes. They minimized wasted efforts and streamlined processes. In short, Toyota embraced kaizen, an attitude of continuous improvement. Today, Toyota creates some of the most reliable cars on the world market, and many businesses have adopted their “slow and steady” tactics to their own processes successfully. Apply continuous improvement to marketing. Every process in a company can be improved to generate more value for a customer while reducing waste. That includes marketing. How does your marketing team develop and improve in order to perfect their process of reaching customers? In 2022, many marketers combined user behavior data with customer email marketing databases. Customizing and improving your marketing messages to prospects could increase your campaign response rates and reduce the number of unsubscribes. Drawing customer interest isn’t just about improving your marketing ROI, though. It’s about truly connecting with your audience.
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Life and disability insurance Paid time off for vacation, sick days, AND personal days A pre-tax commuter benefits program Flexible and/or remote work options
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Health insurance (including medical, dental, and vision) Flexible spending accounts (FSAs) College savings plans (aka 529 plans) Retirement savings plans like 401(k)s, ideally with a match
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If you’ve already checked everything off this list (go you!) and still want to take your benefits a step further, Arieta advocates for rolling out “consumer-driven” benefits packages that can be customized to each employee’s needs. “With a consumer-driven approach to benefits, leaders can offer customization with flexible benefits that cater to employees’ individual circumstances and empower them to make the choices that are best suited to their lives,” she wrote. Maybe that single dad with the fantastic resume needs afternoons off to pick up his kids. Can you create a morning and evening work schedule for him? What about giving that brilliant woman with a disabled husband a salary rather than hourly pay, so she feels more financially secure to cover his care? Tweaks like these will set your company apart from the competition and help you forge bonds with employees that will keep them with you for years to come.
strongly supports racial equality. The ad read, “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.” This put Nike in the national spotlight while promoting something the company believes in. Any business, small or large, can benefit from Hoffman’s experience. If you’re looking for an inspirational and informative read, look no further than “Emotion by Design.”
"A person may think their own ways are right, but the Lord weighs the heart ." –Proverbs 21:2 (NIV)
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