Making Mentoring Matter

by Richard GourlayBusiness culture, Business Values, competitive advantage 04/02/202612/02/2026No Comments

Mentoring is a long-term collaborative and confidential relationship where an experienced individual (the mentor) provides guidance, knowledge, and support to a less experienced person (the mentee) to foster their personal or professional growth. It focuses on building confidence, enhancing skills, navigating transitions, and empowering the mentee to develop their own solutions, rather than just providing answers. Making mentoring matter in business creates a strategic competitive advantage.

That overall objective of empowering the mentee to develop themselves through guidance is ultimate measure of a successful mentor. Making mentoring matter takes several key cultural and skillsets to make it effective.

Making Mentorship Effective

Making mentoring matter inside an organisation requires a culture of mentoring to be built within the organisation. Mentoring can create problems inside a vertically structured business as it develops new lines of communication often across, through and outside traditional business structures. Dotted lines of communication and support can threaten traditional structures of command and control.

To make mentoring effective it must be a strategic decision. Led from the top to move those traditional vertical lines of command and control to a newer often called networked structured models of leadership support.

Making mentorship effective typically consists of several key components. Successful mentors have to be good listeners, not just to hear the problems mentees are facing but also to understand the backgrounds and perspectives that have shaped and formed mentees experiences. Buying into mentees, seeing their potential and learning how to share stories and experiences is central to making a good mentor.

Mentee to mentor matching is therefore a vital skill, knowing why a mentor was selected to be paired with a mentee provides not only confidence but also clarity of the overall objective of the mentoring programme. Good mentors should be clear to understand what mentees long-term goals are and how they see the mentor assist them towards achieving them. That can be career goals, or skill and experience goals.

Effective mentoring always starts with good matching that builds a good mentoring relationship. That does not mean simply getting on or having some shared interests, but in mutual respect that enables and challenges both mentor and mentee to grow as people. A relationship that can open up both parties and evolve over the long-term.

What mentoring does for the mentors

Mentoring is not just for mentees. While it is their outcome that matters as a measurable result of mentoring, there are several reciprocal metrics which are as important in soft skills metrics in modern organisations.

The McKinsey’s S7 model of hard S factors, Strategy, Systems, Structure is now matched by soft S factors in Style, Staff and Skills. It is today that soft skills is where the biggest competitive advantage can be seen in organisation development. Mentoring, the style of supporting staff with skills is very much driving how shared values are being disseminated through, across and into a business today.

McKinsey S & Model

For mentors learning about different people’s challenges within the business, from departments, backgrounds and generational experiences all open up new learning for even the most experienced mentor. Working with the next generation of professionals creates new challenges especially in a mentoring relationship. It is not command and control, or even a direct line of authority but one built upon mutual respect.

For many mentors it is an excellent opportunity to develop softer leadership skills and to use their know-how, valuable networks and experiences to shape new people into the company. Giving back is also a powerful motivator for many mentors, a chance to use their experience to grow new talent.

Successful Mentoring Framework

To achieve a successful mentoring programme there are four key P’s Framework. which provide the foundations of any successful mentoring programme. These successful foundations are the definition of where any mentoring programme designer should start.

The first P in the framework is a clearly defined PURPOSE. This should ask the question why are we mentoring someone? What are the meetings and possible structure for? Both parties should clearly define the mentee’s specific goals, challenges and expectations. The purpose of the matching mentor to mentee should identify what the mentor offers the relationship in resources, connections and relationship building.

The second P covers PREPARATION. For a good mentoring programme both parties need to prepare, putting their respective and matched agendas together. From identifying initial goals, both some quick wins as well as longer development goals, from the mentee though to mentors identifying possible mentoring paths of support. Mentors need to prepare deeper questioning on key topics and what experiences to share to make key points.

The third P is PARTICIPATION. Mentoring is a long-term, often monthly arrangement, it is distinctive period but requires ongoing participation and commitment. Do both parties really value it? Participation is therefore essential form both sides, seeing it as important. Being present, having an agenda, venue, active full listening throughout, ensuring notes and action plan are made and followed through.

The fourth and final P is POSSIBILITIES. The outcome from participation is that the plan of possibilities from the initial plan to the evolving roadmap of the mentoring programme is mapped out in detail. A good plan exploring all possibilities and in priority format to achieve the original goals is essential.

Mentoring Challenges

Mentoring starts as a good idea, and many people volunteer especially is the sponsors are Senior Leadership Team led. But for many mentors there is little training on how to make mentoring work.

Mentoring often fails because the mentor does not know how to set up their role as a mentor. Meetings can end up being chats and moans if not structured. They become nothing more than a nice to have with little progress and experience story-telling by the mentor if the mentor does not know how to structure their support. The 5C model of problem solving is useful here in creating high-value mentoring programmes.

The 5 Cs Problem-Solving Model for mentoring

This framework provides structure for successful mentoring conversations:

Challenges: Identifying and defining the specific difficulties the mentee is facing.
- Think SMART goals not “better at wishes”
Choices: Exploring various paths or options available to address the challenges.
- Create several options and scenarios routes 1,2,3 to support mentees
Consequences: Discussing the potential positive and negative outcomes for each choice.
- Change shapes and reshapes people and relationships, make sure that mentees have a wide base of skills for any new role or relationship.
Creative Solutions: Brainstorming novel ideas, with the mentor sharing experience to offer new perspectives.
- Bringing new ideas and researching all possible options should be discussed and evaluated with mentees with consequences and requirements in commitment fully discussed.
Conclusions: The mentee makes a final decision and commits to specific next steps.

It is always up to the mentee to make the final decision and to make the first step. Mentoring moves at the pace of the mentee’s movement.

These 5C’s help mentors become effective mentors, and provide the structure to making mentoring matter. Get in touch here today to learn more.

Like to know amor about mention then see theses links:-

Director Mentoring 6 Great Reasons to Be Mentored by Richard Gourlay

Learn more about Mentoring by Richard Gourlay here:- Richard Gourlay Mentoring

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Creating A High-Performance Team Culture

by Richard GourlayBusiness culture, competitive advantage, Strategy, Vision 03/02/202605/02/2026No Comments

In the contemporary business environment, cultivating a culture of excellence is often regarded as the pinnacle of effective leadership. Such a culture serves as a strategic asset, providing a distinct competitive edge that facilitates sustained growth, enhances employee engagement, and improves profitability. Creating a high-performance team is therefore a strategic decision a leader takes to create and sustain competitive advantage.

A high-performance work culture extends beyond leadership alone; it embodies an organizational ethos where every individual is dedicated to achieving outstanding results. This necessitates an environment where employees feel empowered to challenge existing practices, seek continuous improvement, and foster innovation—hallmarks of an environment rooted in excellence.

The Purpose of Excellence

For any leader, establishing a high-performance culture is not an instantaneous act but a deliberate strategic endeavor. It involves creating, nurturing, and maintaining an organizational climate conducive to excellence. The underlying motivation— the “why”— centers on the tangible benefits such a culture imparts within its sector. Achieving this requires significant investment in terms of time, commitment, and energy; however, the resultant advantages justify these efforts.

The rewards of fostering a high-performance culture include enhanced innovation leading to increased profitability, improved market positioning, stronger customer acquisition and retention, and superior talent retention. As articulated by Dan Pink in his seminal work Drive, motivation rooted in mastery, autonomy, and purpose depends fundamentally on a robust supporting culture. Without such foundational elements, these motivational drivers cannot realize their full potential.

In essence, cultivating a high-performance work culture is an essential strategic priority that yields long-term organizational resilience and success.

Leading by Example

At the forefront of any environment of excellence is the leadership’s vision. A vision explains why we are creating a high-performance culture. That starts and ends with the leadership’s actions in everyday behaviours. Are they walking the walk or just talking the talk? Leaders must create the right environment for a culture to exist. Leaders must focus on developing the “How do we do this better” questioning while creating a safe space for people to try, and that starts by asking awkward, uncomfortable and challenging questions.

To get better we must break what we have always done. Not accepting the ‘good enough mentality’ or ‘it’s not costing us anything to keep it as it is’. The other major danger leaders’ face is letting a committee acceptance approach to retain the status quo. Ask the importance question ;does everything we do add value to the customer?” or “Can we find new ways to add value to our customers?” Is a better question! As is; “What do you think we should do differently to be more valuable to our customers?” This mentality creates an engaged workforce that challenges them to not only try but feel safe in looking for new ideas.

Leadership’s Role in Cultivating a High-Performance Culture

Central to fostering an environment of excellence is the clarity and consistency of leadership’s vision. A compelling vision articulates the purpose behind establishing a high-performance culture, serving as a guiding light for organizational efforts. The realization of this vision hinges upon leaders’ daily actions and behaviours—whether they exemplify the standards they set or merely articulate ideals without tangible follow-through.

Effective leaders are tasked with creating an environment conducive to continuous improvement and innovation. This involves cultivating a mindset focused on “How do we do this better?”—a question that encourages reflection, learning, and adaptation. Equally important is establishing a safe space where individuals feel empowered to experiment, challenge existing practices, and voice difficult or uncomfortable questions without fear of reprisal.

To progress beyond current limitations, organizations must be willing to challenge ingrained habits and assumptions. This requires moving away from complacency rooted in the belief that maintaining the status quo incurs no cost or consequence. Instead, leaders should consistently ask whether their actions genuinely add value to customers. An even more impactful inquiry is: “What should we do differently to enhance our value proposition?” Such questions foster an engaged workforce motivated not only to try new approaches but also to feel secure in taking risks that lead to meaningful improvements.

Creating a Culture of Excellence

Starts with a clear statement of intent, what are the standards you expect to see throughout the organisation. Define what excellence means within your organisation. By establishing expectations and defining them in language to each person within their role. That requires that every touch point, from recruitment, people engagement and development through to KPI and day-to-day operational and behavioural activity.

Leaders must display that excellence. By leading from the front, especially in the small day-to-day people engagement behaviours in listening, learning and problem-solving. Setting the standards can only come from leaders and their behaviours.

To create a high-performance culture to exist people must be continually learning to create continuous improvement. A learning culture in both formal, professional development and informal learning especially with mentoring and peer support is an essential pilar of the environment of excellence. In Dan Pink’s book Drive several examples of learning reflect this in different environments in delivering what he terms autonomy, from Google’s 20% employees time self-invested in personal projects through to recognition of learning in what he terms mastery of a topic area.

The key element leaders need to focus on are in creating a positive challenging environment. One where people feel safe to challenge themselves, challenge the status quo and challenge why not perception. That challenge leads firstly ‘a growth mindset’ asking where can we take the organisation in both capability and capacity? Intellectually that is supported by a clear vision of where we want to be that supports and sustains that challenging drive to be better.

High-Performance Culture

Trust Matters

A growth mindset is built upon doing the right things consistently. From believing in others intentions, to let them look beyond what we currently do, through to creating an emotional safety within their organisation that fosters integrity and responsibility.

Leaders must enable a safe fail learn faster trusting mentality, that rewards people who try and learn rather than those who play it safe or look to shame those who fail. Giving accountability over to people to try something new and developing feedback to enable fast learning rather than running away from early failures.

That emotional safety is a cornerstone of a high-performance culture. As Steve Jobs famously said, “There is no point hiring the brightest people and then telling them what to do?

Feedback Drives Culture Change

Feedback is an essential element of a growth mindset. Ultimately feedback is the only outcome that matters in a high-performance culture. Excellence-driven organisations create multiple open feedback loops. Feedback loops are the result of true honesty within an organisation culture and drive the ability for growth to happen both rapidly and constructively.

Honesty in feedback is not a negative, but an essential element in challenging assumptions. Where can it be better is what feedback should be focused towards. So positive feedback loops including arenas such as brainstorming, project design, pilot testing as well as process engineering.

Supporting High-Performance Teams

An environment of excellence is underpinned by a continued support for others. From being available to walk the walk around the whole team, through to resource provision and mentoring through to the essential leadership role of being a resource provider.

Supporting cultures are enablers and sustainers of an environment of excellence which underpins high performance. A culture of supporting is linked to the overall vision and capability creation enabling individuals and teams to perform to new higher standards. Support in resources is not just financial, although that is important but also in ideas, emotional engagement, in having time to listen and understand as well as connect people to the right resources.

Resisting Resistance

A supporting culture is also essential to deal with managing employee and stakeholder pushback. Dealing with change is the single biggest challenge to creating an environment of excellence to deliver a high-performance culture. Resistance comes in many formats form active hostile resisting actions through to passive resistance in non-compliance.

A supporting culture is the most effective way to overcome the lack of active engagement. For an environment of excellence to emerge leaders must acknowledge resistance from those who feel threatened. Listening to their concerns, perceptions and reading between the lines as to why they might or are resisting and offering solutions without compromising your goals as a leader are vital to create the environment that delivers high performance culture.

Defining expectations, often turning aspirational language into practical steps and outcomes often reduces and mitigates fears and uncertainty in change. Clear expectations matched by tangible behaviours which can be trained and adopted overcome misunderstood aspirations.

Supporting others must also deal with underperformance. Ensuring that performance matters and is impact is fully realised and clarify that they must achieve the new standards with support and timeline that improvement.

While many leaders overfocus on those underperforming an environment of excellence requires leaders to shift their mindset away from underperformers to those who excel at making change.

“Don’t reward failure with your time, reward good behaviours with your time and resources”.

Investing your time and praise for those going in the right direction is the right messaging inside any organisation. While initially seen as counterproductive to good management, deal with under performers it works to spend time working with those who get it to pull and nudge those who should get it to make the move. This not only drive the environment towards excellence. Not only that but is far more rewarding and less energy draining.

Leading by Stepping Back

To deliver a high-performance culture we need an environment of excellence, but that is not singularly down to the leadership team. Creating champions across and throughout the organisation creates a team effort in delivering results. Engage employees to construct it, find champions from early adopters, create champions of change for each stage of your development of the environment, so that you have a team effort and cohorts of people who are part of the solution which they can shape and drive.

Leading from the back can only happen when champions are in place, and leaders can step back and see what is happening and where they need to concentrate their efforts and resources. If a leader only leads form the from then they often miss what is going on behind them.

Stepping Back to Sustain Excellence

Stepping back also allows leaders to ensure proper oversight and monitor performance throughout the organisation. Knowing where to pace change to find quick wins, and customer requirements and respond to pressures and opportunities requires leaders to be able to see and feel what is going on. Being a resource provider, a leader is there to be available to overcome barriers and develop team and cultural resilience.

High Performance Culture

There are so many benefits to create a high-performance culture in today’s business world. Pushing people to do their best, and be the best they can be, delivering creative and innovative solutions that is recognised and rewarded.

Building the environment of excellence within which a high-performance culture can grow, and flourish starts with a clear vision, supporting a growth mindset of trust and a supporting environment within which a culture can thrive.

The end goal is creating an environment where everyone pursues being excellent in everything they do.

Like to know how we can support you create a high performance culture, then get in touch below.

Director Mentoring 6 Great Reasons to Be Mentored by Richard Gourlay

by Richard GourlayDumfries and Galloway, Innovation, opportunity, start-up advice, Strategy, Uncategorized 03/12/201901/09/2025Comments are Disabled

Richard Gourlay Director Mentoring

Being focused and clear on where you are going is vital as a director. Clarity of direction with a clear focus with your business puts leaders in control of their business. Being in control ultimately ensures leaders are successful. But taking control is one of the biggest issues leaders face. Knowing where to start, and even how to start making positive changes to your business can be a real challenge.

Leaders Mentoring Needs

Successful directors must be able to create and make change happen. Making change is essential to make their company able to meet demands and expectations of its customers. So leaders must become change makers within their organisation to make it and keep it successful. Knowing how and when to make what changes is the many skills which leaders need to develop. Being able to see the need, communicate it and deliver change is a major skillset senior people need to develop. Leaders have to be able to move outside their existing comfort zone in taking people through change..

Successful change makes a real bottom-line difference to your business success. But to go through change is often painful and difficult. This is where an experienced mentor makes a real difference.

A good mentor is someone who has not only been through change several times, but someone who also has seen it across multiple markets and with different types of people. A good mentor gets to know you as a person and gets to understand the real challenges the mentees are facing. That’s why leaders find mentors who support them achieve their goals. Richard Gourlay has been mentoring leaders for over thirty years.

The difference between Telling Mentoring and Coaching

Mentoring is the process which supports leaders develop their skills by working with them in developing the mentees skills. Mentoring is a specific set of development skills where a mentor shares their knowledge, skills and/or experience, to help another to develop and grow.

To see how mentoring sits between telling and coaching, see the graphic below. Mentoring is more effective than telling as it enables leaders to develop their skills through their real-life experiences. By talking through situations leaders learn and develop their skills, rather than being told what to do. Coaching on the other hand walks people through situations and provides guidance on specific issues. The greta advantage of mentoring is therefore that the mentee learns how to deal with business challenges rather than being coached through situations. About Richard Gourlay Mentor

Over the last 30 years I’ve worked with hundreds of business owners. Working with micro-businesses through to international PLC’s and I’ve identified that there are some key common factors that successful leaders do which ensure their success, while other business owners struggle to keep their heads above water. What I’ve learnt is that there are simple and logical steps that successful people undertake. These steps which make that something different in what they do delivers real results in taking the guess work out of their business success. This is the basis of effective mentoring.

I’ve spent years refining those key steps into a programmes of business mentoring for senior people. My mentoring programmes support personal growth. Mentoring creates bite-size action planning that develop people in their role. My director mentoring programmes enable people to develop their personal and professional skills. We develop key outcomes into sessions which develop a clear programme of development. Each programme starts by identifying mentees core strengths and areas to work on. This is then developed into a bespoke plan of what they need to do differently to be even more successful in their role.

My Director mentoring programme

Taking the guesswork out our business success requires people making simple steps over time. Mentoring support is usually a monthly process of development. Each step is small and measured, typically spread over a monthly. People are held to account to make the change they want to see. By making each step happen leaders grow themselves and their team as their confidence and competence grows. Our bespoke programmes enable business owners to work ON their business effectively rather than just spending more time IN their business.

Below are some of the key things to consider in taking the guess work out of your business success:-

1. Mentoring: Know What to Work ON

Knowing what you need to focus on makes a huge difference in where to invest your energy and resources. I’m a huge fan of the leadership culture of working ON it not IN it. If you are not working ON your business then how is it going to improve? It is the leader who must make the business stronger.

How will you, or your business be ready and able to face tomorrow’s challenges without making change happen? But you need to know what is important to work on within your business, and why! That’s where mentoring supports you grown and develop as a leader.

2. Directors: Why you are working ON your business

The only certainty in business is Change. Today that has never been truer. The pace of change in every market has, is, and will change at an ever faster rate. Changing market conditions, to customer demands, through to employee expectations have all created additional extra pressures on leaders to respond quicker. Accelerated changes within the business environment require leaders to adapt quicker and more effectively.

How should you respond to those changes? Fast enough and effectively enough to take full advantage of those changes, without loosing site of where you are going and why. If making change is a challenge or if you have ever wondered how to make positive changes, then my mentoring programme will enable you to understand why and how to make change happen. Working on your business is the most valuable actively any leader can undertake and puts you in the driving seat of your business.

3. Director Mentoring: Where to Grow

Every business owner wants to grow turnover, profitability or customer base, but how is the important question. Where is tomorrow’s growth coming from and how can you access it effectively and efficiently? This step-by-step mentoring programme will show you where growth is going to come from and how you can effectively access it.

What is good profitable growth rather than just growth. An important distinction which leaders need to recognise that all growth is not good.

4. How to Make Change Happen

Doing what we’ve always done is the natural default behaviour that people fall back into despite best intentions. Change does not happen unless you make change happen. Mentoring, working with an external advisor is an effective way to develop yourself offline from your existing line management structure. Being able to discuss personal skills development with an external mentor allows people a “safe space” to bounce ideas around, share frustrations and concerns enables people to think through making change happen.

Change is always easy to talk about, but harder to actually deliver. Change is always necessary to achieve success. This step-by-step mentoring programme enables you to create the right changes, which deliver the right results for success. Every step involves a single simple activity which is supported by a template in a workbook to create your success.

5. Director mentoring Reduce the Risks

Taking your business from where it is today to where you want it to be tomorrow is essential to keep your business competitive and successful. But change involves taking risk, but there is an even bigger risk in not making change. Director mentoring programmes reduce these risks by evaluating and balancing the risk factors effectively. Each step is focused around making sensible pro-active decisions which have been tried and tested.

Being mentored by an experienced independent director allows you to talk through ideas and thoughts with a neutral advisor . An experienced mentor provides a sounding board for director decision making and will challenge your assumptions prior to you making a decision. This reduces risk and allows a director to talk through scenarios and likely consequences. This puts risk reduction and mitigation in place to manage and overcome those risks. Being mentored therefore provides confidence and certainty in decision-making.

Richard Gourlay is an approved MentorsMe mentor, click link to see Richard Gourlay MentorsMe

6. Director Mentoring Effective Way to Grow

Taking the risk out of your business success is all about taking small, simple but highly effective steps. Steps, sometimes small, but always forward move the business in the direction you want it to go. I have designed personalised mentoring programmes to fit every type of person and business by size and sector and at every stage of its development.

Short bite size learning, on face to face or remote sessions support leaders lead successfully. I design a mentoring format with clear models (including templates) suitable to each leaders specific needs. I then bespoke design it to enable you to achieve your success. Supporting your personalised mentoring programme are emails to help support you undertake each step and keep you on track.

So if you want to take the guesswork out of your business success? Then this effective mentoring programme is specifically designed for business owners from start-ups to established businesses owners to take the guess work out of your business success. Our mentoring programmes are a combination of online and face-2-face, depending upon your needs and location.

So get started today, make the first step and contact Richard Gourlay today to start your mentoring journey, just fill in the form below.

What makes a great BRAND

by Richard GourlayBusiness culture, Business Identity, Business mission, Business Values, Dumfries and Galloway, opportunity, Strategy, Uncategorized, Vision 29/11/201901/09/2025Comments are Disabled

What makes a great BRAND?

Despite what marketing people passionately believe most people don’t think about brands, they just get on with their lives. The coffee they buy, the supermarket they go to and petrol station they visit happen almost by accident. In Britain today we are too busy to think through these everyday inconsequential purchases, focused on saving time, not forgetting something or rushing from place to place on a tight deadline. So do brands matter as much as they used to and if so why and how? Brands matter where consumers can value them. In today’s wealthy world every product or service perceives itself as a brand, even if it is just a label. So what makes a great brand?

Consumer Choice

Let’s start with the basics, the consumer has choices. Endless choices if they choose to use them. But in many everyday cases as in my examples above, the consumer sacrifices those choices for simple expedience. The inability to see (or value) brand differentiation, between Starbucks and Costa, between Tesco and Morrisons between BP and Shell, and yet they each fight for space in consumers minds through tiny differences which if we stop and think about do actually exist and we the consumer do actively value.

So much more than First Impressions

So in today’s Britain, what is important about a brand? Is it the halo effect, the first impression, like the smile on the front of a car or is it something more, something deeper and more tangible? Ask the owners of Sunny D (the 90’s orange juice lookalike) and you will find that the halo effect does not last if your brand is not true to itself and to its consumers. Customers have to believe in a brand, it must tell the truth, be transparent and honest if it is to be successful. Gerald Ratner (former MD of Ratners the jewellers who said about his products “because it’s total crap”) also found out that in today’s world everyone must truly believe in the brand, not just the marketing department but the whole company has to believe it and most importantly practice the brands beliefs.

Clear Brand Strategy

Being clear and precise is also important in the company’s messages for a brand to succeed, a strong undiluted brand message must enthuse internally but must also consistently connect with customers through touch points, look at Innocent, Dorset Cereals or Apple as classic examples of touch point. They also demonstrate a clear story delivered with passion about who they are what they do and why they matter. This focused and consistent message is not just a marketing message but an ingrained set of values which consumers buy into with passion. These brands not only position themselves as premium players in their fields and earn more but they also continuously find new ways to spread their key messages to customers, they have a clear brand strategy to achieve it.

Everyone Lives the Brand

Another vital aspect of any brand success is that the people within that brand demonstrate what they preach, they live that lifestyle, support that brand and contribute to its success. It is their lifestyle, it is a part of the way they and their brand do business.

Great brands go beyond the brand to understand its real value to existing customers but also to tomorrow’s customers. Whether it is a family run local shop or a global supermarket chain great brands position themselves so they develop and hold a market position to develop long-term success.

Vision and Purpose

Great brands create, sustain and evangelise a culture which supports and drives their brand. Creating a culture which underpins an organisations vision and purpose is a key prerequisite for ensuring sustainability of a great brand. Sustainability of a vision can only be achieved if the organisation is supported by an underlying culture which fits with the brands ethos.

Great brands can only transpose from the innovative visionary founder if they create a supportive culture to sustain the brand. An effective and appropriate culture is one which supports the brand and ensures it is can sustain its market position over time. Great brands sustain themselves through a great culture.

The culture of a brand, otherwise seen as the handwriting of the organisation, enables sustainability of the brand over time. Culture today matters from how people work together through to acquisition of appropriate talent. The right people are drawn to a brand they aspire to be part. Business partners focus on brands with likeminded cultures andante to be part of a great brand. In the exact same way customers aspire to be associated with a great brand.

Great Brands are not Labels

Great brands drive markets. By challenging them through innovation and changing perceptions. Labels on the other hand feed off brands by picking of successful innovations for downstream ‘me too’ market following customers. Great brands invest high proportions of their resources in driving markets forward, through innovative products and services. Great brands are seen to out invest other players more double the the market average.

Creating innovative pipeline cultures thinking long-term make positions rather than short-term tactical single product successes. Labels focus on creating market winning season products, they act as followers often being low-cost alternatives to the brand leaders in any sector. Brands focus on the longterm innovation which shift the paradigm of relationship with the customer through the brand.

Great Brands Add Value

Great brands also develop their own uniqueness, not just the product or service but the whole package is how we do it around here. There needs to be not only consistency but the brand hand writing and value on how they do it. The best brands always develop singular simple signals for customers, cutting through jargon to create clarity without patronisation.

For brands to succeed in today’s global markets these golden rules have never been more important as consumers have never had so much information, but if you follow these simple rules of brand success you can develop and maintain a great brand.

Looking for Advice

If you want to develop your company’s brand and are looking for some advice on developing your company, its marketing, its sustainable competitive advantage then contact us at Cowden to see how we can assist you, or read more about us in this blog or at Cowden

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Cowden Consulting is a strategic planning and implementation business which works in partnership with customers to grow and develop their business, contact us to learn more.

Posted 1st December 2011 by Richard Gourlay

Location: Old Glenstocken, Colvend, Stewarty of Kirkcudbright, Galloway

Labels: brand brand identity brand strategy brand strength branding business success marketing strategy strategic direction strategy sustainable companies values vision