Read Chris every week in the African press.
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Category Archives: African Leadership
Constructive Complaint
I have a friend who loves to complain. In fact, for him, complaining about service is less of a hobby and more of a second career. He is persistent; he is detailed. He reaches far into the targeted organisation and … Continue reading
Posted in Advertising, African Business, African Leadership, African marketing, Behaviour change, Brand Marketing, Brand Reputation, Branded behaviours, Chris Harrison Africa, Corporate Social Responsibility, Culture change, Internal brand, Local Brands, Social marketing, Social Media, The Brand Inside
Tagged career, Company culture, Constructive complaint, Customer complaint, Customer Service Training, Email, Managers, MD, Organisational culture, Professional manager, SBI method, Service, social media, Targeted organisation
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Banks are doomed
Many people in Africa are still ‘unbanked’. Lucky them. As the global banking industry enters its final phase, ‘the unbanked’ are spared exposure to the largest failure of organistional culture on the planet. Marketers know banks have the worst brand … Continue reading
Posted in African Business, African Leadership, Behaviour change, Billboards, Brand Marketing, Branded behaviours, Chris Harrison Africa, Culture change, Marketing Strategy, The Brand Inside
Tagged Africa, Banks, brand, Corporate, Customers, Industry, International bank, marketers, National Youth Service, Organistionalculture, UK taxpayer
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Marketing leaders needed
We live and work in a region where there are still relatively few Marketers at Executive Board level. In fact, there are fewer Marketing Directors than HR Directors. This may reflect the perception that HR – in its traditional role … Continue reading
Posted in Advertising, African Leadership, African marketing, Behaviour change, Brand Marketing, Brand Reputation, Branded behaviours, Culture change, Market Research, Marketing Strategy, Talent Development, The Brand Inside
Tagged Africa, Anatomy, Board Members, Bravery, Business, Companies, Customer champion, customer service, Empathy, HR Directors, Humanity, Leader, Leaders, Marketing, Profession, Region, Strategic vision, UK marketers
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Bridging another divide
Econsultancy’s latest report ‘The future of HR in the digital age’, finds that HR teams in many global organisations are repositioning themselves to be more customer centric. Making sure the actions they take in hiring, retaining and developing human capital are aligned … Continue reading
Posted in African Business, African Leadership, African marketing, Behaviour change, Brand Marketing, Brand Reputation, Branded behaviours, Chris Harrison Africa, Culture change, Empowerment, Global Brands, Growth, Human Relations, Internal brand, Kenyan Market, Local Brands, The Brand Inside, Uncategorized
Tagged administrative, brand, Bridging, Commercial, Company culture, Customer, Customer services representative, east africa, Econsultancy, Employees, global, HR, marketers, Marketing Week Magazine, Organisations
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Bored Approval
How often do we hear the cry, ‘we couldn’t get it past the Board’? Too often, I suspect. The intransigence of the Board of Directors is regularly blamed for the lack of innovation or progress in a company. Quite unfairly … Continue reading
Now you can’t fly.
In a December column, I wondered how long it would be before commercial CEOs would be held to account for betraying customer trust. While the public sector is pilloried daily, the most appalling breeches of commercial faith routinely go unmarked. … Continue reading
Posted in Advertising, African Business, African Leadership, African marketing, Behaviour change, Brand Marketing, Brand Reputation, Branded behaviours, Chris Harrison Africa, Crisis Management, Culture change, Local Brands, Market Research, Marketing Strategy, Social marketing, The Brand Inside
Tagged Account, Africa, brand, Business, CEO's, Commercial, Customer, December, Festive season, Fly, Jambojet, Kenya, KQ, Passengers, Public sector, social media
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Who owns a brand?
As African economies transition rapidly to being market-led, the question of who really owns a brand becomes more pertinent. Growing African businesses are keen to assert ownership of the brands they have spent money to create. Yet few take steps … Continue reading
Posted in African Business, African Leadership, Behaviour change, Brand Marketing, Brand Reputation, Branded behaviours, Chris Harrison Africa, Culture change, Direct marketing, Market Research, Marketing Strategy, Social Media, The Brand Inside, Workshops
Tagged advertisement, African, Apple, brand, BrandFinance. Coca-Cola, Businesses, Companies, Consumer, consumer economies, east africa, Economies, Geneva, Globe, Machinery, Mortar, online technology, social media, Swiss, UPS, US logistics
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TV or not TV
Regular readers will know that Kenya recently revived its Advertising Awards after a gap of twelve years. It gave one a pretty good idea of the state of the advertising nation. Radio ads were terrible and print has gone flat. … Continue reading
Posted in Advertising, African beer, African Leadership, African marketing, Behaviour change, Billboards, Brand Marketing, Brand Reputation, Branded behaviours, Chris Harrison Africa, Culture change, Direct marketing, Human Relations, Internal brand, The Brand Inside
Tagged Advertiser, Advertising Awards, Airtel, America, Audiences, Brand building, Budgets, Communication, Companies, Cytonn, east africa, global, Insurance, KBL, Kenya, Madaraka Day, Mosquito nets, Newspapers, radio, Safaricom, TV, WhatsApp
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Superbrands 2
It’s awards season in the field of marketing in East Africa: A time of contrasts. Next week sees the first Kenyan Advertising Awards competition to be held in over a decade. We should welcome its return. But we should acknowledge … Continue reading
Posted in Advertising, African Business, African entertainment, African Leadership, African marketing, Behaviour change, Brand Marketing, Brand Reputation, Branded behaviours, Chris Harrison Africa, Culture change, Global Brands, Local Brands, The Brand Inside
Tagged ArtCaffé, Banking, Bata, brands, Brookside, Businesses, Carrefour, consumers, Daawat, Duracoat, east africa, Emirates, Enishpai Resort, Equitel, Financial Services, global, ICT, Kenya Red Cross, Kenyan Advertising Awards, Marketing, MPesa, Parents magazine, Pharmaceuticals, Sportpesa, Strathmore University, Superbrands, Travel, Tusker, United Millers
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Try asking. It beats telling.
Regular readers will know that I’m a big fan of Edgar Schein, the professor at MIT Sloan who made organisational behaviours understandable. He’s my touchstone when I’m called upon to intervene in company cultures where behaviours are out of kilter. … Continue reading
Posted in Advertising, African Leadership, Behaviour change, Brand Marketing, Brand Reputation, Branded behaviours, Chris Harrison Africa, Culture change, Direct marketing, Global Brands, Internal brand, Local Brands, Market Research, Marketing Strategy, Social marketing, The Brand Inside, Uncategorized
Tagged America, brands, Business leaders, Company cultures, Edgar Schein, Executive suite, Financial institutions, Hospitals, MIT Sloan, Modus operandi, NASA, Non-governmental, Organisational behaviours, Organogram, professor
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