This is the fourth installment in a series on Mistakes Countries Make and How They Can Get It Right.

There are consultants out there who advise foreign governments to make everything they do perfect for their target markets.  They go internal to focus on changing policy, strategy, innovation and investment over a very long period of time.  The result is that governments invest their time on getting their house in order and the problem with that is that the people walking by the house have no idea what’s going on inside.  It’s simply not a case of building the perfect country so that all the investors come running.

There’s no question that real change only takes place when countries change what they do, not just what they say.  But in our marketing driven world, it’s not enough to simply make those changes and expect the world to notice.  In the 90’s we ran national image development campaigns in the U.S. for both Norway and Chile and saw ample evidence that perceptions were changed through use of marketing tools that often are used for common everyday products.

Marketing tools play a key role as long as they represent changes that are real.  Years ago, Michael Porter wrote that strategy is only valid if it represents real operations.  In other words, you can’t sell the store without knowing the goods are on the shelves.

Countries can change policy, strategy, innovation and investment over a very long period but if no one knows about it, export development and FDI will come at a much slower pace than if there is a coordinated marketing campaign that represents the real situation.

Over the years, we’ve done a considerable amount of country positioning work (our preferred term) and continue to do so today. We’ve found governments often make three major mistakes when considering their image or brand abroad:

1. Too many internal assumptions about what foreign markets think and want. For example, New Yorkers will often talk about garbage in the streets while foreigners exalt the skyline, energy of the city and multiple entertainment options. When Americans return from Chile, they can’t stop talking about the beauty of the Andes and the perfect manners of the people who live there.  Chileans on the other hand will talk about smoggy days and can be quite self-critical.  It’s human nature.  We see things in the mirror everyday that others around us see differently.  Countries have to adjust their marketing by what others think.  Effective strategy is found at the intersection of internal capabilities and external needs.
2. Failure to conduct sufficient open-ended research to determine what’s really on people’s minds in other countries. It’s not difficult to give thousands of people closed-ended questions with multiple choice responses or agreement scales and then make our own interpretations based on internal assumptions. The problem is that closed-ended questions create bias because they predefine the range of answers.  As to agreement scales, what’s the difference between one person’s 3 and another’s 4 and why?  Nobody knows but everybody has an opinion.  Real perceptions come by asking open-ended questions that begin with “What”, “Why” and “How”.  Effective positioning campaigns cannot be conducted without knowing what people really think on an unaided basis.
3. Perfect the model before showing it to the public. There is a lot in this blog about this for good reason.  Too many countries invest too much money into defining what they are before going out to the market.  What they often find is that the market has changed and their perfected “image” model is no longer relevant.  It’s better to move earlier into the market and get feed back on what you’re doing and saying so that you can adjust as you go. Today’s online marketing tools enable incredible capabilities to gather communities of interest and shared needs that will provide feedback and become brand advocates.  Nation marketing is now about building relationships through communities, both those that are publicly available and private ones too.

Change has to be real and long-term but I don’t know of any entity, that after instituting real change, didn’t benefit from a well-conceived marketing plan.

Tags: Assumptions, Change, Chile, foreign investment, Governments, Marketing, Michael Porter, Mistakes, Norway, open-ended research, Positioning, Strategy, U.S. Marketplace

The August 5^th mine collapse near Copiapo, Chile seemed like more bad luck for a country already hit by one of the largest earthquakes in history this past February.  Media coverage of the mining disaster has been constant and the way in which the Chilean government and miners have handled the situation has mesmerized millions of people around the world.  In a desperate situation such as this, it’s hard to imagine there could be a silver lining to the story, even providing an advantage in how Chile, as a country and society, is presented to the world.

The situation could change at any time but three recent articles provide an interesting lesson.  On September 1^st, The Wall Street Journal published a story “Chile Mining Minister Is Resourceful in Rescue” (download highlighted version here) in which writer Matt Mofffett wrote about the response from the Chilean government, dominated by former business executives.  Centered around Mining Minister Laurence Golborne, a former retail executive, the story traces Golborne’s early missteps in the crisis to gaining the confidence of the miners and their families.  The story comments on Golborne’s communication skills in dealing “with people from lots of different social strata” and goes on to cite the oft repeated catchphrase for the current government, “Chile Inc.”

That phrase caught the attention of New York Times writer, Ben Schott, who eight days later wrote an entry (titled “Chile Inc.”) in his popular vocabulary blog and reprinted the Journal’s positive comment about Golborne’s handling of the crisis.

Then, on September 10^th, an article appeared in Universal Knowledge@Wharton, the newsletter of the esteemed Wharton School of Business, titled, “Lessons on Leadership and Teamwork – from 700 Meters Below the Earth’s Surface” (download highlighted version here).  The article is an interview with Francisco Javier Garrido, a professor of strategy at various MBA programs in Europe and the Americas.  Garrido makes a few comments on the consistency of the government but talks glowingly of the miners and their leadership skills.

He details their skills in situation analysis, overcoming elementary responses, viewing efforts as a function of goals, teamwork, ethical coherence and integrity and communication skills.  These 33 miners, he notes have taught “the business world that you need to act with flexibility when it comes to achieving your goals.” He further points out, “There are lessons here that transcend the world of business instruction when it comes to [defining] such expressions as “decision making,” “leadership” and “teamwork.”

All three stories have now been frequently quoted in the print and digital media and particularly the ever-growing blogosphere.  Reading them, we’re compelled to ask whether we would respond in a similar fashion.  It is a difficult situation that has positive lessons for us all and causes us to admire the miners, the government and to ask whether Chileans possess some traits that we all might want to emulate.

The question then comes up of whether it’s ethical to use such a story to profile or position a business in Chile or would it be seen as being crassly opportunistic.  If used in a tactical way, it seems inappropriate to promote such a story as saying something positive about a company, sector or country.  To those who read the media coverage, the lessons are clear enough for us to see.  However, it seems acceptable to talk about the miners’ plight the same way these three stories have treated it thus far.  It illustrates how governments can respond to crises and victims can teach us about behaviors and values we can admire.  Finally, it shows us how leadership can operate in the midst of crisis and media can respond positively to not overreact as so often takes place (and we are seeing repeatedly in the U.S.), but to manage for what we all hope will ultimately become a positive outcome.

Tags: Chile, Chile Inc., Events, Flexibility, Governments, Journalists, Leadership, Media, Media responsibility, Miners, Outcomes, Positioning, Situation Analysis, Strategy

I spent last week in Romania, not exactly where most people I know travel, but it was a business trip.  It hadn’t been on my list of places to go but I’m glad I went for a couple of reasons.  First, it’s different and different is good.  We need to see places and meet people who are unlike us, who have a different view and see the world from a different angle of the world.  In the U.S. we tend to be too internally focused and while we make a pretty big impression on earth, it’s good for us to see that the planets don’t revolve around the good old US of A.  I know that’s anathema to some, but more about that in a later post.

First, before I got to Romania a funny thing happened on the way.  As I was walking through the aisle for my flight from London to Bucharest, I looked to my right and saw someone who looked familiar.  I looked again and was sure that it was Rich Hodapp, a consultant I had seen…oh…maybe fifteen years ago.  Now, what are the chances on that particular flight, on that day, heading to Bucharest of all places that we would be on the same flight…after fifteen years?  I don’t know how or why these things happen.  Is it fate?  I doubt it.  More likely, it can be explained by statistics and probabilities, but still, it is mighty strange when these things happen.  (Rich later said to me, “I was waiting for you to show up.”)

Now, why is meeting Rich important to a blog called Corporate Myopia?  Well, Rich, who remembered me right away, is the inventor/creator of Decision MAPping® (http://www.decisionmapping.com/) and when I met him fifteen or more years ago, I had the good fortune to be trained in Decision MAPping® by Rich.  I can say that it has influenced me ever since and it’s principles are pretty much part of my way of thinking about the world and how we work with clients.  You could say that Decision MAPping® teaches you to see the forest for the trees.  It is a myopia prevention machine.

We wander through our daily lives passing all kinds of signs that tell us what’s important to our co-workers, friends and family and to our clients and customers, and we often don’t see them.  They are signs that tell us what’s important to them in making their decisions about us, and all of our clients, customers and constituencies make important decisions that affect us everyday.  They decide whether to listen to our sales pitches, sign and renew contracts, monitor our progress and evaluate whether to continue to work with us.  It’s not about showing them all the great features we offer but about what concerns them and what keeps them awake at night.

Decision MAPping® teaches you to turn the telescope around and learn how they see you.  It also teaches you that there are two components in every decision that they make about us.  They look at both the content or tangible benefits of what a relationship offers and at the process or nature of our relationship.  Like every good marriage, how we engage with each other and manage our processes with others determines whether the relationship will last, but remember it’s they, not us who make that determination.  The decisions that others are going to make about us can be put on a map.  The map tells us where we are, where we’re headed and how best to get there.  For those who learn this process from Rich, it is a sure course to winning and has been used by successful companies and countries for years.  You should check it out.

At futureshift, we’ve taken the general principles of Decision MAPping® and added our DirectLink® system that enables us to learn what is keeping thousands of people awake at night.  Our strategic planning process asks both what your internal capabilities are and matches them with what your target market says it’s looking for.  It provides you with insights that either could not be obtained or were just cost prohibitive to do so.  We don’t put decisions on a map.  You need to see Rich for that but we give you an understanding of what your customers’ and non-customers’ frustrations are.  A frustration is simply an unmet need.  Meet the need and you’ll have a loyal customer.

That flight to Bucharest and seeing Rich was a good reminder to me of what’s important in our business — meeting the needs and solving the business problems of others.  Rich and I have begun to exchange ideas and maybe we’ll solve some problems for each other without having to wait another fifteen years for a mutual flight to some far-flung place.

Tags: Bucharest, Customers, Decision MAPping®, futureshift, Rich Hodapp, Romania, Strategy, Winning

This is the second of a series on Mistakes Countries Make and How They Can Get It Right.

So you don’t know who Harold Hill is?  You should.  He’s the fictional con man who in the Broadway musical and later movie, The Music Man, poses as a boys’ band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to naive townsfolk before skipping town with the cash.  He’s a part of American folklore and culture.  He’s the classic American dreamer.

If you don’t know the U.S. well, here’s the problem:  The U.S. is a society of individualists.  We’re people who say we can do anything.  In fact, a client from Romania wrote me today, “When I was in NY I was impressed by the can-do attitude of the people, you could feel it in the streets. What is going on now is revealing me another side of US. I can imagine it’s a big country, but we need to work only with people with a can-do attitude.”  The difficulty is that as he noted, everybody shows a “can-do” attitude.  We see it in politics, business, culture and social circles.  It’s part of our unique American DNA.  It’s our greatest strength and weakness at the same time.

A South African client tells of buying an event sponsorship with the promise that his buyers will be there only to find the attendees had no interest in his business at all but were only looking for a free party.  A Spanish client came close to spending several hundred thousand dollars on a sister-city promotion until we informed him that the city he had in mind already had more than 20 sister cities and that the designation is of little significance here, even though he had been told otherwise.

The Harold Hills are plentiful and there are five things to know when being presented with the “the most incredible marketing idea ever.”

1. Due Diligence is required. Ask for references and call them.  Find out if the promise was fulfilled in the past.
2. Don’t get fooled by big names. Big isn’t always better.  The reasoning goes, if they’re big they must be good and if their name is well known, no one will criticize your decision.  But big companies have to feed their machine and will often charge more than they’re worth.  Foreign suppliers and trade officials can be easy prey because they often think the big U.S. companies can’t be wrong.  How would they get so big otherwise?
3. Don’t take things at face value. Dig deeper.  Ask “how”, “why” and “how do you know” when assertions are made.  If you don’t get answers that make sense, don’t buy in.
4. Look for tactical neutrality. You should expect an advertising agency to tell you that the answer to your problems is more advertising, a social networking firm to say social media will solve your problems and so on.  It’s how they make money.  They may have a good point but chances are they only provide part of the answer.  We live in an integrated world where people no longer think in linear ways, but make their buying decisions in a relational way.  That means you’ll need a tactical program mix, all pursuing the same strategy.  A good marketing service provider is going to think about your goals and recommend the best mix to reach the business objective.
5. Stick to your strategy. Make sure you have a market-based strategy but then adhere to the discipline that your strategy provides.  If an idea is off-strategy, say “no”.  And if it turns out that it was a good opportunity, you can know that others will come along soon.  We live in a dynamic market.

The American dreamer is out there.  He may make you rich or break your bank.  The five steps above will tell you which.  Finally, if you’ve never seen The Music Man, rent the movie.  It will tell you a lot about what makes us a country of dreamers.

Tags: Americans, Assumptions, Big Names, Due Diligence, Individualists, Marketing, Mistakes, Strategy, Tactical neutrality