Influx

At yesterday’s Wired Business Conference, it was fantastic to be able to hear Steve Case of AOL and Revolution Health, Howard Schultz of Starbucks and Vivian Schiller of NPR talk about the changing world of business and its impact on their brands.

Case was clearly championing “The Long View” explaining just how long it takes to convince people to change behavior and adopt new practices. He told stories of investment bankers who never believed the internet would add up to anything and of PCs without built-in modems. His overall philosophy was to go for the masses, even if the digital elite were poking fun at his “internet with training wheels”. He seems equally passionate about the opportunity to transform the landscape of health in America by focusing on wellness and prevention. However, he’s a realist and knows this is no easy task, he know it might take 10 years to make progress, given the protectionist approaches of the incumbents.

However, Case isn’t just about the “The Long View” and the mass-market, he also appreciates medium term opportunities and sees hope in the niches, that’s why he’s a leading investor in Zipcar.

Vivian Schiller had a different story, she was all about responding to changing times and about embracing digital platforms as rapidly as possible. She was proud that NPR’s radio listeners are at an all-time high (60% increase in the past 10 years), but yet NPR is rapidly embracing all things digital.

One of her most interesting ideas was to ensure all 300 journalists at NPR received digital training, so they knew how to integrate digital elements into their stories.

Schiller impressed with her push for innovation at NPR, which clearly must be full of challenges, she told us how the NRP iPad application has received 350K downloads and used the conference to announce the launch of a digital public media platform with dozens of contributing brands and an open API.

One surprising thing, was when asked about the percentage of programming consumed through the internet, she had to admit that she didn’t know and this wasn’t ignorance, but due to the lack of data, apparently Arbitron’s people meters don’t measure those that listen with headphones!

Schultz was probably the most passionate about brand of the three, he clearly seems like a CEO who’s decision to step back into the limelight has been vindicated by the turnaround in the brand’s fortunes. He has a good grasp of the contemporary challenges most brands face and understands that social and digital are today’s pathways to build a greater bonds with the customer.

More than this, there aren’t many CEO’s who see brands the way Schultz does. He told an interesting story of an institutional investor who in the middle of the financial crisis suggested it was the perfect moment to get rid of the company’s health care plan and save $300 million, that investor cut their holdings in half 3 weeks later when Schultz refused to back down.

He firmly believes the mission of Starbucks is bigger than selling coffee and is aware of its enormous power in the area of fair trade, values transparency, believes in the power of the brand within its local communities and is keen to gather input from consumers to help shape the future of the brand.

While Starbucks has dabbled with entertainment in a way that seemed very loosely connected to the brand, its latest initiative of a digital content hub seems a better way to go. Available in 17,000 stores on its upcoming “free” Wi-Fi access points, this new digital hub provides tailored content at a local level and will be integrated into the existing loyalty program by offering the most loyal customers access to special content.

In summary, it was fascinating to see three people with very different approaches to  corporate leadership and branding, driven by the own personal values and the specific challenges each of their brands faces.

Perhaps, it’s an unfair comparison to suggest that one approach or leader is better than the other, but maybe there are lessons from each that can be learned.

1. Think about behavioral change like Case. He’s interested in getting consumers to make radical changes to their behavior, which he knows takes time. What behaviors is your brand trying to change and can you build a realistic time frame for this change to happen.

2. Think about the changed world like Schiller. How can you bring your people up to speed on this changes? How can you get them to contribute and participate? How can you think like a media company and open up your content?

3. Be as passionate about your brand as Schultz. Really understand what you stand for. Know how you can be true to your brand and expand to be relevant to changes in culture and the consumer.

Posted by Ed Cotton