STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS
How Are You Steering
Your Ship?
By Janet Sudi-Maina
R
esearch according to the Small
Business
Association
(SBA),
states that 30% of new businesses
fail during the first two years of being
open, 50% during the first five years and
66% during the first 10. The SBA goes
on to state that only 25% make it to 15
years or more. I believe that what would
make companies that stick to their guns
resuscitate from turmoil and come out
stronger is a basic understanding of the
reason for existence. In other words, they
understand their WHY. They seek to
answer these key questions: Why are we
in existence? Why do we do what we do?
Understanding the WHY will piece the
jigsaw puzzle of defining WHAT you
stand for which then leads you to have
the appropriate WHO to hire. The WHY
answers the core of a brand’s existence.
Companies that have been passed over
to generational success for example HP
(Hewlett-Packard), have clearly defined
their WHY. Despite calamities or
catastrophies that may come up, they do
not veer off from the big picture. From
senior management to junior staff they
have been cultured to immediately draw
lessons on how to forge ahead better.
My heart goes out the colleagues’ family
and friends who lost their loved ones
in the atrocious act of terrorism along
Riverside drive two months ago. Cellulant,
an online payment solutions provider in
the region is said to be the company that
lost the most employees - six members of
their management team. Picking up the
pieces as a company and moving forward
following such a heavy loss of talent can
seem difficult, but it is possible.
Defining and understanding the reason
for your existence from the onset, enables
a company draw its values which becomes
the company culture. It sets the company
apart from the competition. While others
in the industry face turbulent times, a
definitive well cultured company seems to
be soaring even higher.
Employees are the primary brand
ambassadors for a company, therefore
it is paramount for them to understand
what the company stands for. Allow them
to challenge strategies and contribute to
the planning process. Forcing boardroom
Defining and understanding the reason for
your existence from the onset, enables a
company draw its values which becomes the
company culture. It sets the company apart
from the competition. While others in the
industry face turbulent times, a definitive
well cultured company seems to be soaring
even higher.
74 MAL29/19 ISSUE
plans down their throat without their
buy-in is likely to cause a high turnover,
since your employees do not feel valuable
enough to contribute to growth.
It is worth noting that these companies
that are seemingly built to last, are not
without challenges. In Jim and Jerry’s
Built to last, companies like Ford, Walt
Disney, HP and Sony have faced severe
cutbacks. Sony for example repeated
product failures during its first five years
(1945-1950), and in the 1970’s saw its
Beta format lose to VHS in the battle
for market dominance in VCRs. Ford
posted one of the largest annual losses
in American history (3.3billion in three
years) in the early 1980’s before it began
an impressive turnaround and a long-
needed revitalization.
These companies which are examples of
visionary companies that understand the
reason for their existence, have woven
themselves into the very fabric of society.
Listening to Dr. Wale Akinyemi during
the last Nairobi Marketers’ Night Out
by Marketing Africa, he notes that
‘everything that has changed the world
was once a twisted idea.’ Twisted ideas are
what is most needed by brand managers.
Creativity, thinking ahead of time, are the
traits that will steer ship anchoring it from
sinking.
Janet is a Communications
Consultant and Lead Brand
Strategist at LCC Africa, a
boutique PR firm that offers 360
degrees Communications Services.
You can commune with her via mail
on [email protected].
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