If organizations are from Venus and businesses are from Mars, can branding be the bridge?
Fundamentally different in character, temperament and priorities, International Organisations/NGOs and businesses have traditionally been cautious, even suspicious of one another. But given these financial times there can hardly be more urgency for organizations and businesses to work better together. As brands are fundamentally about relationships, branding can be the bridge to trust and accountability, the chief components reported to be lacking in public-private partnerships today. This 10-step guide to ‘stellar partnerships’ is fully grounded in well-established brand-building principles.
By Sue Mizera, Young & Rubicam, 2011
What we spy from our telescope’s eyeOrganizations think that all Business wants, is new business, a higher profile for Corporate Social Responsibility, more shareholder value and good press. Businesses think that all Organizations want is money, money, money. Organizations think that Businesses aim to improve their reputations on the back of – or even at the expense of – Organizations’ good reputations. Businesses are sure Organizations are wishy-washy, can never post results, are slow to move and are happy to confuse talk for action.
- “Business is in the business of creating more business for their business.” (Senior UN representative, 2008)
- “Who says GATT is disbanded. It still exists with the Organizations and stands for General Agreement to Talk and Talk” (Executive banking representative, 2008)
Times they are a changin’
No doubt, over the last few decades, the times they are a changin’ and progress is being made. A simple timeline suggests that radical is mainstreaming and corporations, politicians, governments, entertainment and the public at large are all embracing larger, social and environmental issues.
We know as well from Businesses, especially those with experience of partnerships, that partnerships are becoming more important. When asked, How important do you think partnerships will be in the next three years? – among companies with prior partnership experience – 81% responded “extremely important” or “very important” for their own organization, 64% for the market in general. This corresponds with strong, but lesser responses – 61% for my organization, 55% for the market – among companies with no prior partnership experience.
To continue reading, download Venus and Mars (pdf, 1.6 Mb)