Top Five Brand and Innovation Tips From 2014

Research insights from the faculty of The University of Texas at Austin

I work among brilliant people at the McCombs School of Business. For your benefit and mine, I keep my eyes open and watch for the big ideas that are most useful for brand builders and innovators. Here are five of the best tips gleaned from Texas Enterprise during 2014.

1. Don’t Tell Me About Your Brand, Engage With My Life

Professor Art Markman reminds us that communication is only one, and not the most important, factor in engaging consumers with a brand. “We are all lazy creatures,” he writes. “That means that [marketers] need to help customers to arrange their environments in ways that support the continued engagement with a product.” He points to a redesign of the Febreze container, designed to encourage consumers to leave the product out and visible rather than hidden away under the counter. Usage and sales increased.

2. Your Personal Brand is About Relationships, Not Just Connections

In a must-see presentation for professionals, especially those currently looking for a job, Rajiv Garg uses his research on social networks to show that the quality of your professional network will advance your career, not the size. While having hundreds of LinkedIn connections may reward your ego, when it comes to leveraging your network when you need it most, there is nothing that replaces trusted colleagues who know you well and are willing to vouch for your abilities. Garg offers three key suggestions for building your personal professional brand: Identify, Connect and Convert.

Herb Kelleher’s Classic 14 Ways to Be a Leader

“You must be jazzed by problem solving, the same way that a fireman gets a buzz out of extinguishing fires.”

Originally published in McCombs Today.

Despite soaring fuel costs and a glut of domestic airline seats, Southwest Airlines reported its 32nd consecutive annual profit in 2004. At that year’s McCombs BBA commencement, Herb Kelleher, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Southwest Airlines, delivered the keynote remarks in a lecture entitled “Fourteen Ways to Be a Leader.”

Kelleher began by proclaiming the commencement to be a splendid occasion. “Why? Because you are the kind of audience I crave; you have to listen to my thoughts, no matter how dull, how puerile, or even how depraved those thoughts might be,” he said with a grin.

The address that followed was classic Kelleher.

Ten years later, since retired from his leadership role at Southwest, Kelleher remains an astute and beloved commentator on life, business, and the principles of success. As commencement approaches for 2014, we’re pleased to present “Fourteen Ways to Be a Leader, Centennial Edition” with one modification (point No. 4), suggested by Kelleher in retrospect.

Live from the Workshop on Social and Business Analytics

“We have to unite the art and science of marketing. The MadMen and the MathMen.”

This post was created as a live blog from the Workshop on Social and Business Analytics (#McCombsWSBA) at McCombs School of Business on March 28, 2014. I’m not a data scientist, and much of the material presented was way over my head, so I’ll apologize both to the readers and the presenters. I know I got some of this wrong, and the rest is stated in an overly simplistic way.

Perhaps I’ll pull it down later, but for now I’ll leave it up as a resource for others who attended and want to recheck their own notes.

Welcome & Logistics: Rajiv Garg, University of Texas

Rajiv Garg is a new faculty member at McCombs, in the department of Information, Risk, and Operations, and he has played a primary role as an organizer and promoter of this event. For the first workshop of this kind at the university, that I’m aware of, he has managed to assemble a stellar list of guests and attendees.

Welcome Remarks: Janet Dukerich, Sr. Vice Provost, University of Texas

Purpose of this session is to bring industry and academics together. We can produce massive amounts of data, but how we manage to make sense of this data is a critical area to explore. There are enormous policy considerations in the management of these data. 

Session 1: John S. Butler, Chair

Shyam Venugopal, Frito-Lay/Pepsico “Analytics as an Organizational Change Force”

Frito-Lay is no longer on the sidelines on how to use business analytics as a decision tool. 

You don’t have to understand every complexity of analytics. Figure out how to organize the data and the questions. The “sexy tools” aren’t going to get you anywhere. 

When the CFO leaves a company, who do key metrics and processes stay in place, but when a CMO leaves everything changes? The reason is that marketing lacks metrics and processes that reliably tie our activities to financial return in a predictable manner.

This is easier said than done, because the world is very complex. It can be quite overwhelming to get to our consumers. We have to unite the art and science of marketing. The MadMen and the MathMen.

Frito-Lay centralized our marketing decision making for all of our brands, so that what works for the individual brand must also work for the entire portfolio.  This was a difficult transition. “Toto, I don’t think we are in Kansas anymore.”

The One Millionth SXSW Guide for 2014

Gentlemen and gentlewomen, start your Prii. 

Gosh, is it even possible to get a blogger foot in the SXSW publicity door? The whole thing is like a giant ballroom full of chicken dancers–everyone is having fun but nobody is holding your hand. I honestly don’t know what that analogy means, but here is the One Millionth SXSW Guide for 2014, selfishly featuring friends and alumni of McCombs School of Business.

Friday, March 7

Ubuntu Leadership: Leaders for a Connected Africa

Africa is on the rise, with a projected GDP by 2050 bigger than the U.S. and China combined, and a population that is young and anxious to experience economic and cultural growth. As evidence of that, their cell phone network already kicks our butt, but that’s another story. Enter John Kidenda, who graduated from McCombs with support from the African Leadership Bridge, a program designed to train the next generation of African Leaders. Kidenda will be joined by presenters Frank Aswani, Rick Reeder, and current UT Austin student Takalani Malivha.

Sunday, March 9

Should You Drop Out of School to Start a Company?

Short answer, it worked great for a small handful of people. Good luck! But seriously, Andrew O’Hara dropped out of the Texas MBA program to found Chiron Health, and he wants to tell you about “multiple perspectives surrounding…the value of staying in school for starting a company to dropping out to accelerate a career in entrepreneurship,” along with Cam Houser and Michael Gibson. Does anyone edit these session descriptions?

Big Data & Web Communities: Connect with a Click

Tying online activism to community organizing in order to achieve a better world. Gentlemen and gentlewomen, start your Prii. Luke Kyohere is a recent MSTC grad at McCombs and he just won the Austinpreneur of the Year for 2014, so listen up. He is founder of Beyonic Technologies, which helps businesses in Africa incorporate mobile-based bulk payments into their operations. He is joined by Asha Curran, Larry Irving, and Parker Harris.

Banish the Holiday Blues! Three Tips From the Happiness Professor

“I think you ought to be happy. It’s a gift to others.”

Let’s depart from the normal ID University editorial flavor for a bit of light-hearted advice from a very talented marketing professor who also happens to be an expert on feeling happy.

Raghunathan’s research on consumer behavior spurred his interest in the elements of human happiness.

As most everyone knows, the holiday season is often filled with pressure, unrealistic expectations, and complicated personal feelings involving family and friends (either their presence or absence). In short, a recipe for sadness rather than joy.

Professor Raj Raghunathan of McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin, creator of the blog Happy Smarts and author of the upcoming book If You’re So Smart Why Aren’t You Happy? has spent several years studying the true determinants of leading a happy and fulfilling life.

He has three recommendations for relaxing, enjoying the moment, and facing down negativity during the holidays, and throughout the rest of the year.

1. Employ positive role play

Humans are social creatures, and the holidays bring families and friends together (sometimes too close together). That may mean face time with negative people who can bring your mood down with their non-stop pessimism, anxiety or distrust.

When walking away is not an option, Raghunathan believes the best alternative is to purposely assume the mindset of a happy, fully secure person. “Act like someone who is respected and loved by others, even if you struggle to feel that way at first,” he suggests.