BRAND EXPERIENCE | 53
“We like to work from the inside out”
the blue ocean we talk of how to go about solving the effect and saving eleven million kronor a month. We suddenly have a completely different starting point. We look at where you are and where you want to be. This is all basic coaching. What tools do we have to work with to enable us to turn on this effect? And the effects are nearly always commitment, profitability, loyalty, job satisfaction, pride … rather soft values when you start looking at the result. We have to work with this in all the channels; digital, printed, work environment…” Ways of finding new methods to communicate over time and through several channels reminds Janne Björge of Chinese whispers. When we arrive at customer service, the people whose job it is to deliver a customer experience, there is just one whisper left of the message from the management group. Normally no change, just the usual ‘do what we always do.’ “This is where the greatest challenge lies. I believe this to be the greatest challenge facing brand experience agencies. If we only organise events for 222 people, which are extremely communicative, well-implemented and which everyone enjoys, we still lose 92 percent of the
communication when we land among ordinary people. So, we have to find new ways to communicate over time, a longer time and through several channels. We have to sell effect and take effect seriously. Communication has to function all the way down from the top to those who deal with the company’s customers.” This is what a typical discussion between Janne Björge and a customer could sound like: You have engaged us to arrange an event. Which effect would you like? I’d like greater staff commitment. Is one event enough, do you think? The answer is usually no. “We have to play this commitment song for a very long time before something begins to happen, and communication must function from the top down. Consistency is key. We have to take effect seriously. In the old days I would have pointed to a Barcelona solution every time costing a good million, that is to say the entire budget. But we would not have been able to measure any effect. I’m glad we swapped oceans. We can now be honest with our clients and tell them that ‘that effect is impossible to achieve.’ We can do it at this cost, over this timespan and with these expectations.”
A lot of water has passed under the bridge since Nine Yards swapped the red ocean for the blue. The perspective has changed. Janne Björge talks of the time they went to South Africa with 80 sellers. But the guys who drive the forklifts and lorries had no such meeting. “They had no idea of what the new strategy entailed because they weren’t a part of it. But that’s where communication is needed the most. So things have changed a great deal. In a very short time we’ve changed direction entirely. It’s a massive change, but it definitely feels like we’re heading in the right direction. Taking the hard road, never giving way to the tough challenge of leaving the red ocean for the blue. I naturally get questioned along the way, but I have a very clear picture. It’ll probably take another eight years, but it’s an expressed aim, a commitment and a set route. All you need then is a clear understanding of where you are and where you’re heading.”
2012 No. 10 MEETINGS INTERNATIONAL