HeimannHills Assists Unilever to Advance with Strategy Inculcation

This past Spring, in the fast-paced alpha city of Singapore, HeimannHills served as a partner for the International Association of Business Communicators in aligning internal communication employees at Unilever in the Asia, Africa, Middle East and Thailand region. Employees came from 8 countries – Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, UAE and Singapore – to become inculcated with Unilever’s business strategy, corporate policies, standards and culture and to bring all up to an externally recognized global standard of strategic communication and ability, the Accredited Business Communicator.

The development and accreditation program was accomplished through a series of workshops and virtual training modules through the course of 10 months that culminated in the final week-long development and credential exam administration in Singapore. Media training, ethics, corporate social responsibility and integrated marketing communication were just a few of the skill sessions. Leadership development and planning workshops resulted in each employee developing a go-forward plan for their country office.

Early measurement and results indicate a unified, synergistic approach that has benefited Unilever as a multi-national company and enhanced employee performance multi-fold. Imagine the increased value Unilever will realize as this inculcation really delivers alignment with plan implementation?

Social Media Impacts Local Political Campaign

The HeimannHills Marketing Group had the opportunity to work with Desiree Grode in her campaign race for Chicago Cook County Board of Commissioners. Desiree’s major competition was the incumbent, with a large campaign budget.

The primary objective for our campaign was to communicate Desiree’s positions and successes to the right messengers (influencers). That’s because the right messengers that share the initial messages with the greatest credibility and velocity, deliver the message while it’s still fresh, new, and worthy of sharing.

Reaching the right messengers with social media tools would be essential to a successful campaign. One of our initial campaign tactics involved identifying the right messengers – people who care passionately about a better local government, and winning over those who would spread our campaign message.

To do this we used Twitter to identify and engage people who most likely would care about Desiree’s campaign. For example, shortly after Desiree was endorsed by a State Representative and Alderman, we followed their followers on Twitter and then Tweeted them about the endorsements, winning some of their supporters. This type of targeted communication hasn’t been available before.

We also used trackable URLs to learn what parts of our messages were resonating. For example, the “Where to Vote” link on the campaign website was one of the most popular links, followed by the Chicago Tribune editorial endorsement link and then the Chicago Sun-Times editorial endorsement link. This type of feedback enabled us to create Email and Twitter communications that were important to our messengers.

We were successful in achieving 2^nd out of 4 candidates. This was Desiree’s first political campaign, and social media was a key success factor. In the past, a candidate needed a much larger campaign budget to finance a costly direct mail and television campaign.

CITCA is a Unique Collaborative Association

A couple of Fridays ago, the Chicago International Trade Commissioners’ Association (CITCA) held its friends’ and members’ holiday pot luck party. This wonderful affair brought forth favorite national dishes from all who attended. We brought cookies – oatmeal raisin and chocolate chip– the U.S. grab-as-you-go dessert.
While the food was absolutely delightful the most amazing thing about this association is that it is unique as an overarching-trade association for trade groups who usually view each other as competitors. Very few other markets have a group where trade commissioners, who primarily promote trade with their own country, come together to meet and network with trade counterparts from other countries. What an innovative and collaborative effort in market development. It’s good for trade commissioners, their countries and the Midwest. And it’s happening here in Chicago, home of HeimannHills Marketing Group.

US 2010 Census Data Key to Accuracy

Every 10 years, the U.S. Census Bureau conducts its count of every citizen and noncitizen residing in the U.S. The data gathered becomes the base consumer data for U.S. marketing and communication efforts. When accurate data is gathered these activities are more effective and efficient.
Many people are hesitant to share their personal information due to concerns that their information may be shared with other government agencies such as Immigration or the IRS, and they will be subject to some sort of unsettling scrutiny. However, by law the census cannot share respondents’ answers with anyone, including other agencies and law enforcement bodies.
The sole purpose of the census is to produce statistics on people residing in the U.S. The U.S. Census is devoting tremendous resources to increasing awareness of the privacy and confidentiality nature of the census in the hopes of increasing the accuracy of the census statistics.
Let’s spread the word on participation when those forms arrive March 15-17 so the stats generated give marketers and communicators an accurate representation.

Corporate Social Responsibility - An Amazing Differentiator
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) seems to be the latest buzz word in corporate development. The reality is that CSR dates back some 5,000 years with the earliest concerns focused on forest preservation. Through the years the definition evolved to include stewardship, responsible actions, transparency, philanthropy, giving back, worker’s rights and most recently business operations. In addition, the consumer is now paying attention which may be just the impetus CSR needs to become part of the business strategy rather than through a foundation agenda.
And there is no better place for CSR activities to reside but in a collaborative team composed of members from the marketing and communication functions. The 2009 Edelman Trust Barometer found that when survey participants distrusted a company: 77% refuse to buy their products/services; 72% criticized them to a friend/colleague; and 34% shared their opinion/experience online. These are marketing and communication issues concerning the bottom line that deal with brand image and reputation. So can CSR restore trust in the world’s corporate companies and become that key differentiator in the marketplace? Thoughts?