The Toxic Effects of Branding Your Workplace

BRANDS

WINTER 2022

ISSUE 38 £.9.99

Today

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The Team

Editor Editor

Jay Reddy

James Pringle

The Team

Gavin Jamie

Apple has once again emerged as one of the most valuable global brands of Fiona James 2022 – a position that it has been comfortably ensconced in for almost a decade. Here’s a brand whose valuation has been skyrocketing year-on-year and it is on Kate Hooper track to become the first trillion-dollar brand. What makes Apple such an iconic Eva Morris palm of your hand, dissolving upon contact with a cradle of heat- it’s a Winter Wonderland! brand? There’s a lot that has been written about this brand powerhouse and I will Jim Cooper not go are intoa the details here. I would likethat to point out is not howbeApple’s brand-time of the year.Jay Reddy If you beach babe, thenWhat we understand this might your favorite ing strategy has always focused on emotion. Steve Jobs – who best exemplifies Martin But let us reassure you that you will not be short of choices when it comes to seasonal fashion James Edwin Pringle the brand that he created – believed that “The chance to make a memory is the becauseof winter all about those layers! Roger Moses essence brandis marketing.” Gavin Jamie Nancy Louis

Fiona James So, what are the memories that your brand is helping create? and get to mixing and matching to create the perfect look for the chilly weather as you pose like Kate Hooper The business landscape has been rather challenging in the last couple of years. an angel standing at the feet of a mountain of snow. And for businesses to thrive in these uncertain times, they must build a strong, Eva Morris enduring In thishas issue, share insights into the fundamentals of branding, This year,brand. the runway beenwe bold, brave, and beautiful, with parkas and padded jackets Jim Cooper the power of design and branding, the difference between branding and marketing making frequent appearances, and we must say that we are quite impressed with their versatility. and how the two work together. We are sure you will find these articles helpful – Checks and will be major players thisjourney. season as well, especially larger and wider patterns Edwin Martin wherever youplaid are currently in your brand for the sake of introducing an element of texture and intrigue. Layering up, as always, remains Roger Moses Also in thisand issue are dying features on what beingup seen as thehoodies next bigand thing: a popular never winter trend;isstock on those jackets. Also, don’t Nancy Louis Metaverse. While to some it still seems to be the stuff of science fiction, many in the tech industry believe that it will dramatically change our lives – blending our you wantand to sit under your blanket a chunky, light pink sweater, watching a more new episode of physical digital worlds; makinginour online experiences more interactive, Riverdale! and a lot more fun. immersive

What does this mean for businesses and their brands? As consumers spend more time in the digital world and engage in more online activities, they will create a virtual economy that parallel to in our real one. fact, one report estimates light sundresses withruns spring coming pretty soon.InHappy layering! that the metaverse economy could be anywhere between $8 and $13 trillion by Katie Noakes 2030. Which would explain why companies like J.P.Morgan, HSBC, Gucci and Coca Cola have already started dabbling with the metaverse. While we don’t yet Editor-in-chief, have the computing power to make it feasible, billions of dollars are being invest- Brands Today Address Address ed in building metaverse technology and infrastructure. And once this disruptive Global Global BrandsBrands Publications technology is in place the opportunities for business transformation will explode exponentially. Publications Limited.Limited. Are you ready for the next big thing?

Katie Noakes Editor-in-chief, Brands Today

Unit 4 Vista Unit 4Place Vista Place Coy Pond CoyBusiness Pond Business PK Ingworth PK Ingworth Road Road Poole, Poole, Dorset Dorset Kingdom United United Kingdom BH12 1JY BH12 1JY [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] [email protected]

Contents FEATURES

REGULARS

06 Branding Is More Than an Accessory

17 Fundamentals of Branding

12 Branding and Marketing

21 The Power of Design and Branding

25 Meet the metaverse

43 How Marketing and Branding Work Together 47 Amazon Web Services Inks Partnership With Trade Desk's UID2 Cookieless Solution 49 Climbing the Food Chain in an Ever-Expanding Pet Food Universe

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The Toxic Effects of Branding Your Workplace by Joshua A. Luna

When it comes to conversations about our workplace, it’s no surprise that a deeply personal element comes into play. You spend most of your waking hours at work and share moments in that time that few outside of your coworkers have context and understanding to. So it only makes sense that the organizations’ culture and the relationships you build at work can mirror those you find within a family context. But what happens when you don’t have the right elements in place and a company masks their shortcomings and instills a false sense of belonging by touting a culture that works like a “family?”

If

you’ve seen an open job posting or have been through a new job orientation over the last decade, you’ve probably seen the word “family” thrown around when describing a company’s culture. “We’re a family.” “Welcome to the [company name] family.” “We’re a family that breathes and lives the mission of the company.” It’s no surprise since we spend most of our waking hours (approximately one-third of our life) at work. Our relationships with our coworkers serve many functions — they can help us grow in our career and provide us emotional support and friendship. So it only makes sense that the relationships you build at work can mirror those you find within a family context. But how these play out depend on the culture of your organization. As a leadership development trainer, this is one of the biggest organizational mistakes I see among managers and high-performing teams. While some aspects of a “family” culture, like respect, empathy, caring, a sense of belonging can add value, ultimately trying to sell your organization’s culture as family-like can be more harmful than psychologically satisfying.

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How a Family Culture Can Harm Employees Employers want productive, high-performing employees, which are often the results of individuals who work well with one another and produce results. Adding a “family” culture and sense of belonging might not sound malicious at first, but when used to foster relationships with the expectations of top-level performance, employees will rarely be set up for success. Personal and professional lines begin to blur. We must understand that “family” means different things to different people. Not everyone wants to connect with their coworkers on a deeper level, let alone create a dependency to the organization. In a professional context, an employee will want to reserve private details of their personal lives outside of work. But when your workplace is a “family,” these types of conversations can be fair game, as the goal of the organization is to encourage socialization for the benefit of the whole. According to research, when an organization uses the family metaphor in businesses, it creates a positive, motivating and morale-boosting culture, where colleagues are not seen as colleagues any more, but as brothers or sisters. This leads employees to emotionally attach themselves to the organization. While it can reduce conflicts and disagreements within the organization, a fear of causing a strain in the relationship with their superiors (who are now seen as fathers or mothers) could leave employees feeling like they must share any information that is being asked of them.

This can be even more challenging in a virtual or hybrid environment, particularly at a company where much of the workforce had never worked remotely before. Research shows when managers cannot “see” their direct reports, they sometimes struggle to trust that their employees are actually working. This might prompt managers to seek out employees’ start and stop times as well as information about what they are doing all day long (read: micromanagement) when on company time. Marry this with cultures that prioritize output of work over outcomes, and employers will feel entitled to knowledge that is only relevant to the employee.

What Companies Need to Do Instead

An exaggerated sense of loyalty becomes harmful. When a family member is in need or requires significant commitment on your end, you rarely have to think twice. At least, that’s the perception among intra-family relationships. Placed into a work setting, loyalty can get misconstrued as expectations form to go above and beyond to do anything to get the job done. According to Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones’ book, The Character of a Corporation, in family cultures, employees are willing to step in to assist others when the need arises, or even volunteer to “help before they’re asked” in the most selfless manner. But here is the flip side. Numerous examples and research show that overly loyal people are more likely to participate in unethical acts to keep their jobs and are also more likely to be exploited by their employer. These could manifest as being asked to work unreasonable hours or on projects or assignments unrelated to your role, or keeping things under wraps because it is in the company’s (read: family) best interest. We’re all in this together, so you have to play your part, right? When employees work under this mentality, it’s only a matter of time until performance and productivity drop due to burnout, leading to conversations with managers or HR about what they did wrong. This creates a perception for employees to believe they’re not doing their part. Left unaddressed, employers could foster an environment where burnout is the norm and ultimately impacts the bottom line through employee attrition and lost productivity. A power dynamic is created where employees get taken advantage of. If you’re promoting a family culture, does that make the employer the parents and the employees the children? Not everyone has a good relationship with their parents or siblings and emotions from family dynamics can easily bleed into professional relationships, if allowed. These dynamics can also leave employees feeling unempowered (the parents usually decide, and the children follow orders) to stand up for themselves and take on work that falls outside of their comfort zone. This allows personalities and pre-determined dynamics to take precedent over what is expected to do their job well. Another problem arises when it comes down to letting someone go or sharing constructive feedback. In a “family” culture, it almost always will feel personal. You don’t fire a family member, nor do you put them through performance improvement plans. Relationships between employees and employers are temporary in nature, and at some point, have to come to an end. So to liken the relationship to a family creates an allusion that the bond will last indefinitely. You’ll also risk masking illicit behavior among close-knit coworkers, because how often do you tattle on your family? Studies show that employees who operate within a “familial culture” often fail to report any wrongdoing when they feel closer ties to the perpetrator. Feelings of fear the damage might cause to the perpetrator keep fellow employees quiet and complicit.

When fostering a healthy, supportive culture, avoid promoting a “family” mentality and focus on putting in place actions and structures that bring value to and support your employees. For example, think of your organization as a sports team or a tribe instead. In doing so, you retain a culture of empathy, collectiveness, belonging, and shared values and goals, while outlining a performance-driven culture that respects the transactional nature of this relationship. To promote a more balanced culture: Define high performance and focus on purpose. When building teams and onboarding new employees, make sure to disassociate the concepts of “family” from conversations around high performance and purpose. Let your employees know what is expected of them to succeed at work and that there is a clear line between work and their personal lives. Define these work expectations during an employees’ onboarding period and follow-up through check-ins and 1:1’s. During 1:1’s, managers should use this time to gauge levels of employee performance and address any work-life balance concerns. If that line begins to blur, make it straightforward for employees to reach out to have conversations about what can be improved. Managers should also shift from focusing on a family-culture centered “We’re all in this together” to “We share the same purpose.” Research suggests defining purpose can lead to a heightened sense of loyalty and stronger employee engagement, especially when the company’s overlaps with the employee’s purpose. Clearly define and communicate the purpose: What are you trying to achieve? What is your employee’s role in helping you get there? A shared purpose can get everyone rowing in the same direction.

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Set clear boundaries. The grayer the policy, the more opportunities for misunderstanding. Make sure employees understand what’s expected when it comes to work hours and what lies beyond standard work hours. Support your employee’s endeavors and let them know that vacation time/ PTO is not only encouraged but expected. Share team calendars where everyone lists out their PTO and ideas for new vacations. Employees will also feel more comfortable advocating for themselves when they see this promoted during their tenure at your company. For managers, make sure to start the trend by taking your own time away from work to recharge and spend time on hobbies or interests. Employees will see you starting this trend and will feel comfortable to do so for themselves. If employees start to feel overwhelmed and can no longer manage performance expectations, make it clear what options are available to find support and get back on track. Can they take time off? Can team members pitch in to make their workload more manageable? Can priorities be reshuffled? Mutually accept the temporary and professional nature of this relationship. We have to be realistic about the relationships employees build with their employers and remember that it is transactional. Most won’t stay at the same company for their entire career and that’s completely okay. As organizations grow, so do the roles and every organization can be outgrown by its employees if there aren’t enough opportunities for the employee to grow or if the organization doesn’t need the employees’ skills or experiences anymore. Be candid about setting this expectation as early as the onboarding. If an employee has decided to leave, don’t take offense about them not wanting to work at your company any longer. Acknowledge their contribution and help them exit respectfully. If you don’t need their skill’s anymore, ask how you can help them find a more suitable position within the company or elsewhere. Family ties can be binding and anything that’s binding isn’t ideal for growth. Promote these practices and you’ll never have to use the word “family” about your workplace ever again.

Leading Polymer Manufacturing and Applications Brand - Global The award is not only a confirmation of our achievements to date, but above all, an incentive for innovative ideas and projects to create exceptional solutions for customers all over the world in the future. www.rehau.group

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The Value Of Employer Branding David is a veteran human resources leader and President of IQTalent Partners, an on-demand talent acquisition and executive search firm.

Managing your employer brand is certainly important in a tight labor market, but the truth is, it must be proactively managed and influenced at all times; the importance of your employer brand cannot be underestimated. According to Glassdoor, 92% of employees would consider changing jobs with no salary increase if the opportunity was with a company that had an excellent reputation. What’s more, it found that up to 86% of job seekers say they would not consider working for a company with bad social standing. It can feel overwhelming to shape your employer brand because you have little control over social media and traditional media. With sites like Glassdoor offering a place for disgruntled employees to air their grievances, many leaders don’t know where to begin. Start by creating a step-by-step employment branding strategy. Your employer brand is your reputation among future and current employees. It is the perception of what it is like to work at your company; it is the entirety of your employment experience. Having a strategy to influence, control and change your employer brand—if needed—will give you the ability to create a reputation that attracts (and keeps) top talent. Create Your Own Narrative Employment branding is storytelling—and you are the author. If you do not proactively create your employment brand, that brand will be defined by others, and often the loudest voices are usually the least satisfied, even if they are in the minority. What’s worse, your competitors may offer commentary about what it’s like to work at your firm, and without any proof to the contrary, their story becomes reality.

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Make a conscious decision about what you want the corporate culture of your organization to be and take action to ensure that culture becomes your genuine employment narrative. Craft a thoughtful employee value proposition (EVP) that outlines the unique benefits an employee can expect in exchange for their skills and performance. Take charge of showcasing your culture and the EVP across all your platforms, from social media to your website to your job descriptions. Make your story come alive with photos, videos, blog posts and employee testimonials. Recruitment Is Marketing “Recruitment marketing” is a phrase that is gaining traction because recruitment is like marketing. Like the marketing funnel, talent must be aware of your brand, gain interest in your brand, decide to apply to an open role or take a call from a recruiter, and finally act upon an offer. With large commercial companies, their consumer brand is well known, but their employer brand often is only highlighted when there is a scandal promoted by the media. With smaller companies, particularly startups, leaders must build awareness around the employer brand just as they would when marketing their goods and services. Large or small, an employer brand is equally important as a consumer brand. Social media should be a pillar of your employer branding strategy. It offers a window into your workplace, so it’s crucial to have a strong social media presence across multiple platforms. Your social media shouldn’t solely highlight the consumer brand; it must also

aid in recruitment marketing. Build a regular posting cadence that emphasizes employees, diversity, awards, social events and culture while you regularly engage with comments from users on your posts. Audit Your Employer Brand Review your entire employer brand, top to bottom from a candidate’s point of view. Start with reading through your website with particular attention to your careers and mission page. Check your job descriptions. Do they tell the story of your employer brand? Ensure that your website's “About Us” page shows mission-vision alignment. That is, do your values align with the mission and vision of your organization, and is that expressed clearly in the content on your site? Visit Glassdoor and check your company’s reviews. If you haven’t built out your Glassdoor profile, do it now while you respond with empathy and authenticity to the feedback on the site from employees and candidates. Google your company name and its leaders and set up Google alerts for your leaders and your firm. If you find any unflattering results from your Google search, tackle them head-on. Scroll through your social media channels. Read each post and look at the images while you consider your employer brand story. Does your profile match your narrative and your EVP? Research indicates that diversity and inclusion are extremely important to candidates when considering an offer. Make certain your social media shows ample diversity, including race, gender and multigenerational images as the workforce is now made up of Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, Millennials and Gen Zers.

Take detailed notes during your audit and aim for consistency. The best brands have a consistent message across all of their channels. Ask Your Employees Your employer brand is built primarily by employees. They talk, they post, they decide. Don’t leave this to chance or assume you know what they are thinking. Conduct a detailed employee survey that allows them to offer anonymous feedback regarding their employee experience. Often, awards like “Best Places to Work,” “Top Workplaces” or “Best Culture” come with employee experience surveys, so you get the added benefit of a potential award to add to your employer brand. Review the results of your employee survey seriously and draft a plan to address any inadequacies. The Results In a tight labor market, top passive candidates are targeted daily with messages from recruiters. They have choices in their career journey, and they won’t work where the employer brand doesn’t match their personal vision. Candidates will likely decide about a company before speaking to a recruiter, so you must value and control your employer brand. The most important part of growing a company is the people who work there, and investing in your employer brand could help reduce turnover of top talent as well as lower your cost per hire. Having a clear employer branding strategy could prove to be foundational to your organization’s overall success.

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2022(英)台灣人壽_得獎稿ol .pdf 1 2022/5/16 下午 03:13:58

NESTLE WORKFORCE FOR THE FUTURE

Our employees are at the heart of being a ‘force for good’. It is through their determination that we will strive to advance regenerative food systems at scale. Their health and well-being is our priority. We respect and encourage all our employees; we value their potential regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, national origin, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, age and different abilities, leaving no one behind.

How we’re building a respectful, supportive workplace 27.2 %

15.8 hours

49687

women in the top 200+ senior executive positions

average technical or vocation training provided to workers in the company’s operations

employees globally who have participated in the Nestlé Know Your Numbers Program (KYNP) measuring health risks

Creating a progressive working environment We are working hard to create a healthy, positive and ethical working environment – one that empowers employees, brings benefits to individuals and helps us as a business. We are building on the progress we have made to improve cultural diversity and inclusion, toward a workplace that is gender-balanced and offers equal opportunities for people with disabilities. We are also actively recruiting for the digital and artificial intelligence skills we will need in the future. We recognize employee health is fundamental to a strong business, particularly with more remote working: Healthier people tend to be happier, more engaged and more productive.

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axiainvestments.com 16

Our approach is structured around five key pillars: Talent management:

Diversity and inclusion:

Attracting, developing and retaining talent while preparing our workforce for the needs of our future business.

Building a better business that reflects society at large and is inclusive and equal for genders, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ communities and all races and ethnicities.

Employee health, safety and well-being:

Employee relations and engagement:

Inspiring and empowering our people to choose healthier futures for themselves and their families, while providing a healthy working environment.

Supporting Nestlé in its goal to be a company where employees are treated with mutual trust and fairness, and where they feel engaged with our purpose, values and principles.

This work builds on other efforts designed to strengthen the interest of particular communities, notably in empowering women throughout our workforce, the rights and expectations of those in our wider supply chains, and in creating youth opportunities for those entering the workplace.

Managing talent We have an important role to play in contributing to and preventing the impacts of climate change, and we seek to attract and retain the best and brightest to help us fulfill this task. As a result we take an active approach to attracting and hiring the right candidates to align with our business strategy, purpose and values, so that our company and our people share the same goals and can work together to be a ‘force for good’.

Organizational design and change management: Using our Corporate Business Principles as the basis, we oversee the Nestlé way. Our culture is supported by regularly updated policies and communicated through our training.

Diversity and inclusion Our approach here is geared to building a better business and structured around four key pillars: gender balance; people with disabilities; LGBTQ+ community; and race and ethnicity. Our inclusive culture leverages the differences of our employees and better reflects the society and communities in which we live. In addition, our innovations also consider the diversity of consumers and customers when we make and distribute products.

Employee health, safety and well-being Our employee health vision aims to inspire and empower our people to choose a healthier life, while respecting the principles of privacy and personal choices, in an environment of caring leadership. We

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aim to enable informed decision-making and encourage people to take responsibility for themselves, their families and our business. At the same time, we work to anticipate and mitigate workplace health risks, we offer health and well-being programs, and support employees during and after injuries or illnesses.

Employee relations and engagement We work collaboratively with our employees, their representatives and external labor stakeholders to contribute to the business's success. These relationships have been particularly important

during the pandemic to ensure the safety and well-being of our employees while managing business continuity and supporting local communities. Our vision is to ensure employees are treated with mutual trust and fairness and feel engaged with our purpose, principles and values. We aim to provide a compliant, safe and healthy work environment that is contemporary and flexible, contributing to openness and inclusiveness in all our interactions. We also believe in being a business that collaborates with our employees, employee representatives, employee organizations and external labor stakeholders in order to contribute to the business's success. For example in 2021,

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Challenging, inspiring and transformative are the words that define my experience at Nestlé. Working on inclusivity projects, employer branding and youth engagement was an opportunity to hone my professional and personal growth. Minhaal Ayam Khan ‘Nestern’, Nestlé Pakistan

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02/11/2021 1:25 PM

Future of Work Trends Post Covid-19 June 16, 2022 Contributor: Jordan Turner and Mary Baker

The employee value proposition (EVP) must change for hybrid work and respond to shifts in employee expectations. Branding is the process of building a brand for a company or an The last two years have had a lasting impact on the future of work. It’s imperative that HR leaders evaluate the immediate and longerterm impact of these trends and the degree to which they will change strategic goals and plans. “Chief human resource officers (CHROs) are facing historic challenges from an exhausted workforce and a highly competitive labor market,” says Brian Kropp, Distinguished Vice President at Gartner. “At the same time, this environment creates an exciting opportunity for CHROs to lead talent into the future and differentiate their organizations as employers of choice.” Watch Webinar: The Top 5 Priorities for HR Leaders in 2023 These nine trends have a great impact on the employee experience, which underscores how the EVP must change and respond to shifts in employee expectations.

No. 1: Hybrid work becomes mainstream Hybrid work is here to stay. With 75% of hybrid or remote knowledge workers agreeing their expectations for working flexibly have increased, there is no doubt that the future is hybrid. In fact, if an organization were to go back to a fully on-site arrangement, it would risk losing up to 39% of its workforce. You must create a new, human-centric model for the hybrid environment by designing work around employee-driven flexibility, culture connectedness and human leadership.

the current economic climate. To fill skills needs both effectively and efficiently, broaden the range of talent strategies under consideration, either as part of your strategic planning or as needs arise. For example, develop processes, norms and infrastructure that facilitate the mobility of employees from their current roles to other existing or newly created roles within the organization. This creates an internal labor market and makes it easier and more attractive for employees to move jobs without exiting the company. Listen now: Organizational Culture and Connectedness Is in Crisis

No. 3: Well-being is a key metric Traditional employee experience indicators, such as engagement surveys and turnover metrics, aren’t showing the whole picture — for example, measuring current experience or overall well-being — which impacts employee performance and intent to stay. Although 70% of organizations made additional investments in well-being throughout the last two years, most employees are still not taking advantage of these offerings. You must deliver on well-being as part of your EVP to attract and retain talent. Learn more: What Is HR Strategy? And How Can You Best Execute It?

No. 4: DEI outcomes could worsen Hybrid and remote work does not guarantee all employees will experience the benefits of this change equitably. This has the potential to worsen diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) outcomes. For example, 76% of managers say on-site employees are more likely than remote workers to be promoted. Considering that women and employees from underrepresented groups are more likely to want to leverage flexible work, proximity bias becomes a recipe for inequity. To support all employees in a hybrid future, you must mitigate bias in performance and recruiting and support underrepresented talent.

No. 5: Turnover will increase https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5qfgarKjaQ&ab_channel=Gartner

No. 2: There’s a shortage of critical talent HR leaders are under more pressure than ever to fill roles with those with critical skills to meet market needs and drive organizational change. While there’s an urgency to obtain scarce, critical capabilities, there’s also an effort to optimize costs in

Hybrid work has become a baseline expectation for most employees, and organizations are already seeing the effects. Turnover has significantly increased when employees are required to come back into the office full time, and 52% of employees say flexible work policies will affect the decision to stay at their organization. Turnover will continue to increase because the emotional costs of leaving the organization are lower when hybrid and because there’s more choice in employers when location is

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PyUbl39dI0&ab_channel=Gartner

no longer a factor. To combat this sustained turnover, connect hybrid employees to the organization’s culture and invest in talent processes to expand employee networks.

No. 6: Managers’ roles are changing With fewer opportunities for spontaneous in-person interactions in the workplace, managers need to be more intentional in establishing and developing relationships with their team members. The manager-employee relationship is critical in shaping the employee experience and connection to the organization. CHROs need to provide managers with the proper tools to become human leaders and manage employees’ career perceptions, well-being and connection to organizational culture.

No. 7: Gen Z wants in-person work experiences Although the younger generation is comfortable with hybrid work (having finished their education and entered the workforce during the pandemic), the experience has left something to be desired. To Gen Z, remote work is about continuing connections built in person while maintaining a flexible schedule. Pay attention to Gen Z’s expectations of the postpandemic world of work. The needs of these entry-level hires will impact decisions surrounding redesigned office spaces, in-office onboarding support and development opportunities.

No. 8: Shorter work weeks are a new EVP Labor market competition and high inflation are putting pressure on compensation, but many organizations can’t afford to increase pay as quickly as employees want or expect. If inflation continues to rise, not all employers can attract and retain talent on compensation alone. This is challenging organizations to rethink their EVP with reduced hours. To consider this new EVP approach, C-suite leaders and hiring

managers must work together to review roles and processes in which a shorter work week is possible. Listen now: How to Attract and Retain Talent When You Don’t Have All the Money in the World

No. 9: Data collection is expanding Gartner analysis shows that 16% of employers are more frequently using technologies to monitor their employees through methods such as virtual clocking in and out, tracking work computer usage, and monitoring employee emails or internal communications/ chat. While some companies track productivity, others monitor employee engagement and well-being to better understand employee experience. Even before the pandemic, organizations were increasingly using nontraditional employee monitoring tools, but this trend will only accelerate thanks to monitoring of remote workers and the collection of employee health and safety data. Make sure to follow best practices to ensure responsible use of employee information and analytics. In short: Ongoing changes in the way people work have permanently transformed employees’ relationship with and expectations of work. Hybrid work could be a great opportunity or a great risk, particularly for diverse talent. These nine high-impact trends create an exciting opportunity for organizations to differentiate themselves as employers of choice. Brian Kropp oversees the research, tools, services and support that we provide to CHROs and their leadership teams.

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Finding Balance in a Post-pandemic Workplace July 19, 2022 • 8 min read Wharton and the Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science hosted a panel of experts to discuss the tensions of the post-pandemic workplace and how to reconcile the needs of employees and employers. In this third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies large and small are slowly returning to business as usual. But what defines “usual” has changed, and both employees and managers are struggling to make sense of the shift. Employees are demanding more flexibility, better pay, and greater work-life balance. Meanwhile, executives still need to mind the bottom line while dealing with fragile supply chains, capricious consumers, a tight labor market, and increasing social and political pressures. These tensions were the focus of a recent panel discussion hosted by the Wharton Center for Leadership, the Wharton Center for Human Resources, and the Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science. The discussion, titled “The Great Return to Work: Ensuring Individual and Organizational Well-being in the New Normal,” was moderated by Wharton management professor Katherine Klein. The panelists were Lindsey Cameron, assistant management professor at Wharton; Dr. Joe Loizzo, psychiatrist and founder and academic director of the Nalanda Institute; Daniel Goleman, psychologist and author of The New York Times bestseller, Emotional Intelligence; and Darrell Ford, executive vice president and chief human resources officer for UPS. “For me, the most important part of return to work is the intentionality and thoughtfulness of the kinds of things we’ve been talking about,” Klein said after listening to the panelists. “You will not get this done and have this smooth return to work without a great deal of thoughtfulness and intentionality.” Watch the 90-minute discussion here or keep reading for key takeaways from each of the expert panelists.

Daniel Goleman: “Don’t dictate.” The pandemic’s work-from-anywhere experiment has yielded one indisputable fact, according to Goleman: “Work gets done.” The internationally renowned psychologist said the traditional model of five days a week in the office is now “a dinosaur,” and companies need to consider flexibility. As a former science journalist for The New York Times, Goleman worked in a hybrid model for years and found that the balance was important. But it’s not the ratio of office-to-home days that really matters to employees, it’s about how they feel about the workplace. That point is part of his research on emotional intelligence in leadership because managers set the culture. “The boss is very important,” he said. “That dimension, the emotions, the sense of belonging is really critical to include in the whole matrix of decision-making.” Goleman offered a simple roadmap for managers to create emotional intelligence in the workplace. First, be very clear about goals, expectations, and the work that needs to get done. Second, trust employees enough to let them reach their goals. Goleman said it may seem counterintuitive, but bosses must give room for employees to be innovative, creative, and agile. Third, give immediate and constructive feedback, which will establish a “continuous learning loop” that will help the organization and its members improve over time. “I didn’t say how many days you need to be in the office. You need to figure that out,” Goleman said. “Let that emerge. Don’t dictate.”

Lindsey Cameron: “Take a mental snapshot of when you’re thriving.” Feeling a sense of belonging at work has long been elusive for many women, minorities, and others in marginalized groups, said Cameron, so it’s understandable that they are among the staunchest advocates for remote and hybrid work. “Even before the pandemic, work wasn’t a place where they could bring their whole self or they felt really comfortable,” Cameron explained. “In some ways, being away from the office and being able to foster connections that are close and more meaningful for people has made these groups of people want to stay at home.”

It’s great if companies want to offer remote flexibility, but Cameron cautions leadership to be extra careful about ignoring issues of inclusion. Out of sight should not be out of mind, especially for employees from underrepresented groups. “Those who tend to stay at home are going to be systematically disenfranchised, so I think there’s a bigger question as we’re thinking about the great return to work: In what ways might it exacerbate existing inequalities, and what might be ways we can mitigate or stopgap that?” When asked how women and minorities who work remotely can ensure they aren’t penalized for less face time, Cameron acknowledged

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that it’s a tough question because there isn’t a lot of research yet. She said the burden lies with managers to be aware of their own blind spots with remote employees. “The anecdotal evidence talks about creating very open lines of communication and being very consistent about how you’re having those checkpoints in with your manager, so you are still part of the team even if you’re not physically there,” said Cameron, whose research focus includes the gig economy. The professor has had her own contemplative practice for 20 years and offered advice to help workers maintain their own sense of well-being and avoid the grind. She said good mental health empowers workers to make positive changes for themselves and for others in the organization. “Take a mental snapshot of when you’re thriving, when you’re grounded and feel clear and connected, and who those people are that you’re with,” she said. “That’s your community. That’s your group to go out and do the activist work — whatever that looks like for you in your organization.”

Darrell Ford: “The long commute is overrated.” Ford was hired at UPS during the pandemic and didn’t meet his boss, CEO Carol Tomé, until after he began working at the Atlantabased headquarters. That experience — a video job interview without an onsite visit — has been typical for many office workers who changed jobs during the pandemic, and Ford said it continues to inform his work as the head of human resources. He said the pandemic’s “grand experiment” has been a great opportunity for businesses to redefine success under difficult and unexpected circumstances. As Ford pointed out, “business got done,” and the workers who got it done aren’t afraid to speak up for themselves. They want flexibility. “The long commute is overrated. I think people are voting with their feet in not only choosing careers but also lifestyle,” he said, adding that balance between work and office is needed because vital social connections fray when everything is virtual. “At the end of the day, we’re still human beings, and the need for connection, the need for belonging, is important,” Ford said. That’s why UPS is taking a different approach to managing its 500,000

employees. The executive team has created a playbook that guides individual managers to make decisions about remote and hybrid employees based on the unique aspects of their teams. The playbook, which has been in place for about 18 months, requires building trust that flows from the top down and the bottom up. It’s been successful so far, and Ford encouraged other companies to find what works for them. “For me, it’s no one size fits all,” he said. “These are bespoke solutions to your organization, your company, your business model, and how you think about how work gets done.”

Joe Loizzo: “We need a complete cultural shift.” Loizzo, a Harvard-trained psychiatrist and Buddhist scholar, said the pandemic has pushed business and society to a pivotal point, and it’s clear that change is in order. Businesses won’t thrive unless their people are thriving — and that means everybody. He encouraged looking at problems through a much wider lens so that changes are inclusive for workers at all skill levels and from all backgrounds. “I think we need a complete culture shift — not just in specific organizations but in our own mindset and in our whole society — to put the human being and our common humanity back at the center of the way we think about things,” he said. “Are we really helping people develop the capacity to sustain the complex, challenging lives we live while feeling grounded and being at ease?” He said the pandemic has been “democratizing” because it allowed employees to prove their high productivity under extreme stress and even working remotely. That success has empowered workers, and they want to continue feeling a sense of value and contribution, rather than feeling controlled and dominated. Loizzo has co-created a balanced leadership program that he said can be used by workers at all levels to help build a new, humancentric economy. “Our business culture, and culture in general, has sort of glorified stress as this necessary energy or fuel. What we’re learning now is performance, creativity, innovation, teamwork, and flexibility are all much more tied to the thriving qualities that emerge from our social brain,” he said. “The science and the psychology are there to really help business deliver on some of these shifts that are needed.”

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AI IN VEHICLES Cerence, Smart Eye, Rightware and DSP Concepts develop intelligent convenience and safety capabilities for software-defined vehicles.

As personal transportation becomes electrified and automated, time in the vehicle has begun to resemble that of a living space rather than a mind-numbing commute. Companies are creating innovative ways for drivers and passengers to make the most of this experience, using the flexibility and modularity of NVIDIA DRIVE IX. In-vehicle technology companies Cerence, Smart Eye, Rightware and DSP Concepts are now using the platform to deliver intelligent features for every vehicle occupant. These partners are joining a diverse ecosystem of companies developing on DRIVE IX, including Soundhound, Jungo and VisionLabs, providing cutting-edge solutions for any in-vehicle need. DRIVE IX provides an open software stack

for cockpit solution providers to build and deploy features that will turn personal vehicles into interactive environments, enabling intelligent assistants, graphic user interfaces and immersive media and entertainment.

Intelligent Assistants AI isn’t just transforming the way people drive, but also how they interact with cars.

local updates like the weather forecast, making reservations and phone calls, and managing calendars.

Conversational AI Interaction Software partner Cerence is enabling AIpowered, voice-based interaction with the Cerence Assistant, its intelligent in-car assistant platform.

Using speech, gestures and advanced graphical user interfaces, passengers can communicate with the vehicle through an AI assistant as naturally as they would with a human.

Cerence Assistant uses sensor data to serve drivers throughout their daily journeys, notifying them, for example, when fuel or battery levels are low and navigating to the nearest gas or charging station.

An intelligent assistant will help to operate vehicle functions more intuitively, warn passengers in critical situations and provide services such as giving

It features robust speech recognition, natural language understanding and textto-speech capabilities, enhancing the driver experience.

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Gesture Recognition Using DRIVE IX, it can empower both embedded and cloud-based natural language processing on the same architecture, ensuring drivers have access to important capabilities regardless of connectivity. Cerence Assistant also supports major global markets and related languages, and is customizable for brand-specific speech recognition and personalization.

In addition to speech, passengers can interact with AI assistants via gesture, which relies on interior sensing technologies.

on the roads around the world, and will be incorporated in the upcoming Polestar 3, set to be revealed in October.

Smart Eye is a global leader in AI-based driver monitoring and interior sensing solutions. Its production driver-monitoring system is already in 1 million vehicles

Working with DRIVE IX, Smart Eye’s technology makes it possible to detect eye movements, facial expressions, body posture and gestures, bringing insight into people’s behavior, activities and mood.

Using NVIDIA GPU technology, Smart Eye has been able to speed up its cabin-monitoring system — which consists of 10 deep neural networks running in parallel — by more than 10x. This interior sensing is critical for safety — ensuring driver attention is on the road when it should be and detecting left-behind children or pets — and it customizes and enhances the entire mobility experience for comfort, wellness and entertainment.

Graphical User Interface AI assistants can communicate relevant information easily and clearly with high-resolution graphical interfaces. Using DRIVE IX, Rightware is creating a seamless visual experience across all cockpit and infotainment domains.

Rightware’s automotive human-machine interface tool Kanzi One helps designers bring amazing real-time 3D graphical user interfaces into the car and hides the underlying operating system and framework complexity. Automakers can completely customize the vehicle’s user interface with Kanzi One, providing a brand-specific signature UI. Enhancing visual user interfaces by audio features is equally important for interacting with the vehicle. The Audio Weaver development platform from DSP Concepts can be integrated into the DRIVE IX advanced sound engine. It provides a sound design toolchain and audio framework to graphically design features.

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Creators and sound artists can design a car- and brand-specific sound experience without the hassle of writing complex code for low-level audio features from scratch.

Designing in Simulation With NVIDIA DRIVE Sim on Omniverse, developers can integrate, refine and test all these new features in the virtual world before implementing them in vehicles. Interior sensing companies can build driver- or occupant-monitoring models in the cockpit using the DRIVE Replicator syntheticdata generation tool on DRIVE Sim. Partners providing content for vehicle displays can first develop on a rich, simulated screen configuration. Access to this virtual vehicle platform can significantly accelerate end-to-end development of intelligent in-vehicle technology. By combining the flexibility of DRIVE IX with leading in-cabin solutions providers, spending time in the car can become a luxury rather than a chore.

AUTOMOTIVE AUDIO DESIGN with AUDIO ® WEAVER

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THE VERSACE LOGO ICONIC

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Versace, a fashion brand known for creating some of the best haute couture and accessories, tops the list with the best fashion brands, such as Gucci and Giorgio Armani. The high-end fashion brand is also known for its unique logo. The iconic Versace logo is based on a Greek mythological creature, Medusa. The Versace siblings played in the Reggio Calabria area as children, where the founder of the fashion brand first noticed the portrait of the mythological creature. Medusa struck a chord with Gianni Maria Versace. Years later, he used the creature’s head as the centerpiece of the iconic Versace logo. Apart from creating some of the best apparel and accessories, the fashion giant is committed to creating a pollution-free climate. The fashion brand has gone fur-free and created sustainable boutiques. Additionally, the fashion house committed to being netzero along with sourcing 100% renewable energy by 2025.

Versace: a brief history Founded in 1978 by Gianni Versace, Versace is known for creating innovative and colorful apparel and accessories. Before launching his company, he designed for Complice, Callaghan, and Genny. His designs quickly became famous, which led him to open his own brand. The Italian fashion designer launched his first fashion store in Milan’s Via Della Spiga under the name “Gianni Versace Donna.” Pop stars including Michael Jackson and Elton John were among his famous clients. Since Gianni designed for several popular celebrities of the time, he was described as a “Rock n’ Roll” designer. The Italian Rock n’ Roll designer also created haute couture for Princess Caroline of Monaco and the Princess of Wales. The fame experienced by the legendary fashion designer was short-lived. On July 15, 1997, Gianni was shot dead by Andrew Cunanan outside his Miami home. After the fashion designer’s tragic death, Santo and Donatella Versace, Gianni’s siblings, took over the fashion brand. Santo was declared the new CEO, and the creative director’s position went to Donatella. However, the two siblings could not retain the popularity of the fashion brand, which resulted in the profits declining. While efforts were made to save the declining fate of the company, the fashion giant had to sell a 20 percent stake to The Blackstone Group, a New York City-based investment management company. The Blackstone Group purchased the stake for €210 million in 2014.

The Versace logo Before using the famous medusa logo, the fashion brand used two different wordmarks. The Medusa logo was designed by Gianni Versace, taking inspiration from the portrait he had seen in ruins of Reggio Calabria as a child. Gianni first introduced the wordmark in 1980, even though the brand came into existence in 1978. We will explore all the logos that the fashion house used but first, let us take a closer look at the meaning of the various emblems. Interesting read: Greatly appealing fashion logos of leading fashion brands across the world.

Meaning of Versace logo The first two logos used before the iconic Medusa emblem were black and white wordmarks. Like most iconic fashion brands in the world, Versace chose black and white color schemes to portray elegance, purity, and substance; however, Gianni changed the wordmarks for the dynamic Medusa logo.

What does Medusa stand for in Versace logo In Greek mythology, Athena, the goddess associated with war and wisdom, created Medusa. According to legends, Medusa was one of three Gorgons named Gorgo. Gorgons were female monsters with wings and snakes in place of hair. Anyone who looked into Medusa’s eyes would turn into stone. Gianni was a man known for collecting objects relating to mythology. He chose Medusa’s head as the centerpiece of his logo design to emulate the disturbance and the beauty that one felt on seeing Medusa for the first time. While Gianni never revealed the intention behind choosing medusa’s head as his main design element for the logo, he always suggested that his brand represented fatal beauty, just like the Greek monster.

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Evolution of Versace logo

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1980 – 1990

1993 – 1997

The first logo that the fashion house used came two years after the brand was launched. The first logo was a monochrome inscription made of a typeface that resembled Sophi Sophi Regular from the sans-serif family. The two parts of the designer’s name appear very close to each other. The wordmark exuded class, sophistication, and luxury.

The iconic Medusa logo replaced the wordmark in 1993 and has remained with the fashion house ever since. The head of Medusa was enclosed in a thick circular frame. Apart from the monochromatic color palette, the logo also appeared in gold, depending on the product. The first version of the logo was designed by Gianni, which portrayed class, style, and fatal beauty.

1990 – 1997

1997 – 2008

The brand overhauled its existing logo with a new wordmark which was smoother than its previous counterpart. The capitalized lettering was executed in a bold sans-serif typeface which appeared close to Radiant RR Bold. The parts of the name were also separated, making it appear cleaner.

After Gianni’s tragic death in 1997, the new company owners changed the brand’s name to Versace, removing the founder’s first name. Following the change of hands, the company partially changed the logo. New adjustments were made to the Medusa logo—the emblem was redrawn, along with a new arched wordmark finding its place beneath the insignia.

2008 – Present

The present version of the iconic Medusa emblem was created with a lot of accents and details. The Jade version of the logo appears rich and classy. The 2008 redesign has two versions: the first one is the Jade version with a lot of lines while the second one is minimal. Both logos are used depending on the category of the products. The current version of the logo also has a horizontal wordmark placed beneath the emblem. While the fashion brand has changed its logo five times in its 40-year-old history, they have stuck to their timeless element—the fatal beauty of Medusa.

Color palette of Versace logo Versace logo uses a combination of black, white, and gold depending on the product lines. The fashion brand uses black to portray power, elegance, style, and professionalism, whereas white is used to symbolize purity, virtue, and freshness. The fashion house also uses gold to portray wealth, glamor, luxury, and success.

Typeface of Versace logo As mentioned above, Versace used Sophi Sophi Regular and Radiant RR Bold, both from the sans-serif family. However, the brand now uses Radiant as its official font. Created by Steve Jackman and Robert Middleton, the Radiant typeface was published by Red Rooster Collection

Fun facts about Versace Donatella presented her collection at the Ritz Hotel, Paris in honor of her bother: the same hotel where Gianni presented his last collection before being murdered. Donatella runs a world-renowned fashion empire; however, she cannot sew. Gianni created supermodels by paying them large sums of money. He also befriended many royalties and celebrities of his time, including Madonna, Princess Diana, Cher, and Elton John. In 2000, Jennifer Lopez made her Grammy Awards appearance wearing a green dress designed by Versace. The green chiffon dress got a huge media coverage.

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What makes the Versace logo iconic? The longevity and the effectiveness of a logo lie in the way it is designed. Several design elements must come together in harmony if you wish to create a logo that would have the potential to become iconic over time. Whether you are a start-up or a small business, the visual identity you create goes a long way in establishing your brand identity. The Versace logo is a true masterpiece. Well balanced, attractive, and effective, the Versace logo is one of the most powerful visual identities in the world. Let us explore what makes the logo so popular even after decades have gone past. Jennifer Lopez wearing a green dress designed by Versace

The Versace logo is relevant

design breathe.

You have designed a great-looking logo, great! But is the logo relevant to the market your brand wishes to target? The first question that should pop into your mind before designing a logo is its relevance. Unless you design a logo that clearly communicates the key personalities of your brand, your design efforts will go in vain.

The Versace logo is memorable

The Versace logo uses Medusa’s head to convey the fatal beauty that the brand stands for. The fashion house intelligently used the dangerously beautiful Medusa in a circular frame to convey style, glamor, beauty, and elegance. If you wish to use a symbol as your logo, taking a look at the Versace emblem could be a good start.

The Versace logo is simple Simplicity is a key ingredient that makes a logo iconic. A simple logo is clean and does not have any excessive design elements. It is to the point and highlights only the main personality of the brand. FedEx, for example, uses a simple wordmark with an arrow hidden in it, which conveys speed. The Versace logo is simple and to the point. While you might think that the symbolic use of Medusa’s head is far from simple, it is to the point and highlights the key personality of the brand—fashion that flirts with danger. As a designer, you can limit the use of excessive creative elements and let the

A memorable logo grabs your attention the first time you see it. It never fails to hook your attention and remains etched in the memory forever. A company creates a compelling logo to generate the interest of the people towards the brand. It is really important to create a unique design that will attract the audience and connect them with your brand. The Versace logo never fails to attract its audience. The mythical monster, medusa, attracted men towards her beauty, and when they looked into her eyes, they turned into stones. Similarly, the Versace Medusa always attracts its audience but without turning them into stones! However, it reminds everyone of femme fatale.

The Versace logo was designed almost two decades ago, and it appears more contemporary than the logos created today.

Versace: the controversy In 2019, the iconic fashion brand became the recipient of criticism after the “image on of their T-shirts appeared to imply Hong Kong and Macau were independent territories,” according to an article published on BBC. After facing harsh criticism from the Chinese government, the fashion house stopped selling tops and apologized for their error.

The Versace logo is timeless One of the most important traits of a great logo is that it remains effective and relevant even after years have passed. Time never has an adverse effect on logos that do not follow current fads to appear modern. They don’t try too hard to appear contemporary. They are uncomplicated, relevant, and trendy, regardless of time. Take a look at the best logos in the world; they have remained unchanged since they were created. Be it the golden arches of McDonald’s or the iconic globe of Pepsi, they have struck a chord with the audience and have remained relevant through the passage of time.

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THE VIRTUAL ENTERPRISE

The last two years demonstrated the power of exponential technologies like AI, automation and the hybrid cloud to accelerate digital transformation, as companies looked to better serve their customers and find new sources of value emerging from the pandemic. Today, new imperatives, such as sustainability and security, are top of mind for business leaders, while at the same time these leaders must address new geopolitical and market challenges that are impacting their supply chains, talent, and costs. As I speak with clients around the world about their post-COVID strategies, we’re getting a glimpse of the kinds of organizations that are more likely to succeed over the next decade. Successful business leaders are embracing what we refer to as the virtual enterprise – a new destination for modern business where advanced digitalization, platforms and partnerships are the essential blueprint of competitive advantage. The virtual enterprise features the following approaches: Grow an ecosystem of partners. Openness is at the heart of the virtual enterprise, and in this digitally interconnected world, ecosystems will evolve businesses and drive growth. The State Bank of India, for example, partnered with more than 100 e-commerce sellers to transform its traditional banking platform into an online marketplace for third-party offerings and digital financial superstore – SBI YONO (“You Only Need One”) -- that aims to attract younger, more digitalsavvy customers. SBI YONO quickly grew into a mobile platform with more than 10 million daily logins and 64 million downloads. Innovate with science-forward and data-led approaches. In today’s virtual world, openness is accelerating a scientific discovery approach. Access to technologies such as AI, automation and now quantum computing are enabling businesses to sift through the massive proliferation of data and use it as a source of innovation across ecosystems. The Cleveland Clinic, for example, is establishing the Discovery Accelerator, a center that will deploy hybrid cloud, AI and quantum to enhance research in genomics, single cell transcriptomics, clinical applications and drug discovery and population health. Expand intelligent workflows. Organizations are increasingly applying AI and automation to reinvent internal business processes like hiring, supply chain or customer service. Extending these intelligent workflows across ecosystems provides even more insights to fuel transformation. In the wake of the pandemic, Pandora, an international jewelry manufacturer and retailer, was forced to close most of its stores and pivot to online retail. The company quickly leveraged a

comprehensive order management platform into an omni-channel “commerce-on-a cloud” solution. Intelligent workflows now provide in-store staff and virtual customer service representatives end-toend visibility to better meet consumer needs. Create inclusive human-technology partnerships. One thing we learned through the pandemic experience is the importance of empathetic engagement. Virtualization has created hybrid ways of working across an organization that require leaders to look more closely at the intersection of talent and technology. As it looked to create new customer offerings on digital channels, Orange France developed a comprehensive “Orange Campus” program to enhance employees’ digital competencies based on a vision of how human talent and technology can work together seamlessly. Orange France boosted career mobility by helping employees acquire critical digital skills; fifty percent of the telecom company’s workforce have achieved these new skills through the program. Embrace the power of sustainability. As CEOs report that increasing sustainability is one of their highest priorities, new technologyenabled business models can help solve some of our biggest environmental challenges. As part of its efforts to create a sustainable world without hunger, Norway-based Yara built a digital platform for sustainable farming with the goal of connecting and empowering independent farmers across the globe. The Yara platform provides holistic digital services and instant agronomic advice to more than three million farmers, ultimately helping avoid deforestation and increase food production on existing farmland. Build a secure, open hybrid cloud architecture. An open, secure hybrid cloud architecture is needed to effectively make use of data and provide the flexibility, agility and security that digital transformation requires. It also enables the openness needed to connect with ecosystem partners and achieve the full potential of digitalization. Bharti Airtel, one of India’s largest integrated telcos, turned to a modern hybrid cloud architecture to deliver more responsive networks that tap into automation and AI to deploy new services at the right location and network tier. In today’s world, change is the only constant. Business leaders must embrace the new virtual enterprise and capitalize on the new opportunities that will bring them a competitive advantage in the marketplace. As these client stories show, IBM is uniquely positioned to help them on all the steps on their journey.

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MARRIOTT’S DIGITAL RECIPE FOR RECOVERY Bart Buiring, Marriott’s APAC chief marketing officer and 20-year veteran of the hospitality brand, shares the hotel chain’s recipe for emerging from the pandemic stronger. It’s no secret that hotels have been one of the hardest-hit industries during COVID-19, and at Marriott, we aren’t immune to the pandemic’s effects. But in navigating these difficult times, our teams in APAC have demonstrated tremendous resilience and agility by zeroing in on an untapped domestic opportunity in food and beverage (F&B). Our approach to recovery is based on an understanding that going hyperlocal doesn’t have to be a disruptive transformation project. We’ve prioritized local consumers and focused on deepening collaborations between industry, technology, and digital partners to anticipate and meet local needs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdgoVMoglPE&t=1s&ab_channel=ThinkwithGoogle

Ahead of the times: A pivot toward F&B With the slowdown in international travel, we knew we had to focus on domestic consumers to move forward. We set out to learn more about how our customers’ needs and expectations were shifting and we conducted a number of customer forums to uncover trends around domestic leisure and travel. We found that domestic travelers were craving luxury and relaxation, and that domestic tourism was likely to recover first, along with wellness tourism and travel experiences that cater to younger travelers. We saw an opportunity to meet these changing traveler trends with our F&B offerings. Our experience with international customers taught us that eating and drinking like a local is an essential part of any travel experience, it helps people feel connected to a destination. So, our recovery approach was to be the favorite destination where locals come to meet, eat, and drink. It helped that we were ready for this pivot. Even before COVID-19, we had been focusing on attracting a primarily domestic audience to our restaurants and bars. We also have a portfolio of exceptional dining experiences. Our F&B offerings accounted for 40% of our business, and up to 50% for some of our luxury brands such as The Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, and W.

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Putting collaboration before transformation Before responding to these rapidly changing travel trends, however, we made sure our team was set up for success.

What people were searching for and the restaurants they booked helped us identify marketing actions that could lead to conversions. Our first step was to adopt the scrum workflow model to help our large F&B team, our Publicis agency, and our partners at Google collaborate quickly and easily across multiple work streams simultaneously. This project management framework helped us set up meetings, work tools, and roles efficiently. It also kept us closely aligned on deadlines and next steps and provided everyone with clear direction on how to tap Google’s marketing expertise to make progress. This approach increased the efficiency of our operations by 300%.

Understanding local insights to scale efficiently Our next step was to focus on understanding our local customers to help sharpen our marketing campaigns and reach the right people with relevant F&B offerings. To better understand our domestic consumers’ digital behaviors, we used insights gathered from the more than 1,300 listings we have on Google My Business. Based on what people were searching for, where they were shopping, and what restaurants they booked, we were able to determine which marketing actions would lead to purchases or reservations. Our teams then dug into restaurant and bar listings to understand how people were searching for F&B venues. Knowing the platforms and key search words that lead locals to our F&B venues enabled us to refine our targeting and creative strategies around Search, social, and programmatic media to improve conversions.

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Armed with all this information, we made use of our existing Marriott Bonvoy loyalty rewards program to launch a new F&B rewards program where domestic customers can earn loyalty bonuses without traveling overseas. We were able to connect locals with the right F&B offers, and do so without major overhauls to our platforms or systems. Over the course of six months, we drove $1.7 million in incremental value from F&B.

Connecting the dots between online and offline to optimize results While we could gather insights from our digital listings to optimize online campaigns, we weren’t able to measure their impact on offline sales or bookings made via other platforms. As a result it was difficult to attribute actualized revenue to our media efforts. To get a clearer understanding of how our media drives footfall to our venues, and how it can be further optimized, online to offline measurement became a top priority.

Online to offline measurements helped us optimize our media campaigns and drive greater ROI. We used store visit conversions in APAC countries where this measurement is available, such as Japan, Australia and Singapore, to measure the foot traffic driven by Google Ads campaigns and optimize our efforts based on real offline sales at stores. In other markets, we relied on Google Ads and Google My Business data such as calls, orders, or driving directions to measure conversions and gather insights to improve campaign performance. The results were very pleasing. By using tools to gather insights across multiple touchpoints, our team could optimize campaigns and achieved an omnichannel ROI of 12X, far exceeding our initial target of between 3X and 5X. Going hyperlocal doesn’t require a big business transformation. Take it one step at a time, collaborate with the right digital partners, and gather data and insights to get a true picture of people’s needs. This approach has helped us respond to customers’ needs, even when they change quickly, during the pandemic.

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160 and winning awards, we’re mutually chuffed Celebrating 160 years, we’re a mutual that’s been around for a long time. Plus, we know a thing or two about saving and investing. But most importantly, we’re proud to serve our customers and their families. Our aim - to help everyone invest toward the future they want, by providing straightforward products for every budget. We’re customer friendly, and our mobile app makes managing accounts easy. And did we mention, we’re chuffed to add to our growing awards cabinet? Because we really are - thank you to our customers and colleagues.

2022 B2B TRUSTED BRANDS REPORT Technology Brands Are The Most Trusted With a whopping 47% of the votes, the technology industry leads the way for most trusted B2B companies. Technology companies hold the top seven spots for most trusted brands of 2022, accounting for 14 of the leading 30. Last year, the big focus among companies was to express a level of humanity that would foster stronger audience connections, and it’s pretty clear that many were able to succeed.

These technology companies share a few critical attributes that appear key to their success.

1

They are customer-focused

2

They have strong values

3

4

They are adaptable

They strive for transparency

The Most Trusted B2B Brands of 2022 75+

Exceptional Trust Factor Score

60+

Excellent Trust Factor Score

50+

Good Trust Factor Score

1 Apple

11 HubSpot

21 IBM

2 Adobe

12 UPS

22 Intel

3 Microsoft

13 Costco

23 Johnson and Johnson

4 Amazon

14 MasterCard

24 Sony

5 LinkedIn

15 FedEx

25 Best Buy

6 Google

16 Samsung

26 Home Depot

7 Zoom

17 Starbucks

27 Salesforce

8 3M

18 Marriott International

28 John Deere

9 American Express

19 YouTube

29 Ford

10 Visa

20 Dell

30 Canon

57