Dog days: when brands bite

I like the occasional beer, and I like brands that position themselves as something a bit different, so it was disappointing to read of the contortions that self-styled punk brewers Brewdog went through when their solicitors asked Birmingham pub The Wolf to change its original name – The Lone Wolf – as it conflicted with the brewer’s new spirits brand of the same name.

Brewdog’s actions sit uncomfortably

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My week in CX #7

In a week that has been dominated by the attack on Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday I, like the vast majority of Londoners, have just carried on with what I need to do. This week has involved monkeying around with surveys, talking about agility and generally getting distracted.

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Developing a new operating model: agile or fragile?

Designing and implementing a new operating model is one of the biggest challenges an organisation can undertake, and increasing pressures and strategic priorities mean that results need to be achieved in a shorter and shorter timescale. Do the agile approaches that have arisen over the last few years – mainly in the development of digital products and services – provide a way of meeting these demands and creating organisations fit for the future? Or does the slow and steady ‘classic OD’ approach provide a more lasting solution that fits with larger organisations’ ways of working.

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Customers first, or employees – do you really need to ask?

I was struck a few years back when I read Herb Kelleher’s excellent account of the growth of SouthWest Airlines that he held the view that customers come second whilst employees come first. Aha! I thought, contrarian thinking from the head of a company renowned for delivering a great customer experience, that’s great! And since I have come across similar statements from Richard Branson and many others  I have tended to repeat this as a piece of received wisdom. Time then to unpack the issue and ask: in a company that wants to provide a great customer experience do customers come first or second?

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