Connecting the Silos of Marketing and HR
Something really cool happened for The Miller Company this year. In January, we received a Golden Pyramid Award from Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) for having done one of the year’s best promotions and just a few weeks ago we learned that The Miller Company is #5 on HRO Today’s list of Top Recognition Providers based on customer surveys.
The Miller Company is the only PPAI award winner on the HRO list and vice versa. This distinction is incredibly meaningful to us as it represents the fulfillment of our core belief that a company’s external brand promise must align with its internal values and communication. In short, bridging the gap between Marketing and HR.
The reason this is unusual and exciting for us is because those awards have historically gone to companies that are more singularly focused – they sell recognition programs or they sell promotional products. We have dear friends working for some great companies that go to market with that focus, but we choose to go to market differently and we think that benefits our clients. Here’s why…
Creating and operating a Recognition and Reward System (RRS) is about understanding organizational Brand/DNA/Culture and then building a RRS that reflects who the organization is. I think it helps to be creative and to have a good set of tools to work with – intellectual capital, technology, communication, training, and high impact products are all important components of getting the RRS right. If that’s done well, there’s a good chance of creating higher engagement levels among the targeted audience – primarily employees, distributors, and suppliers.
Creating effective promotions involves understanding where a company is trying to go with its brand and what it’s trying to accomplish with the specific opportunity at hand. I think it helps to be creative and to have a good set of tools to work with – intellectual capital, technology, communication and high impact products are all components of getting the promotion right. If that’s done well, there’s a good chance of creating higher engagement levels among the targeted audience – primarily customers, prospects, employees, potential employees, distributors and suppliers.
You can see where this is going…
While RRS certainly involve a good bit more long-term strategic planning and promotions are primarily a tactical effort to get a singular response (a response that is tied to a strategy), the work and the tools necessary to accomplish those objectives are remarkably similar.
At its core, our work is about influencing the important people in our client’s universe in a way that motivates them to increase their engagement with our client.
That’s what our business boils down to – Engaging People, Growing Brands. When we approach our projects with that mindset, we’re able to focus on what our clients are trying to do, not what products might get sold along the way. This line of thinking gives us more flexibility to think creatively, a sense of “stickiness” with the companies we serve and it’s a much more interesting and rewarding way to approach our work.
We’re extremely grateful for the clients we have and the work we’ve been able to produce to earn these awards; but we believe our best work remains in front of us, and we’re more anxious than ever to begin it.
Comments are closed.
