Start from the Heart

The familiar mantra at corporations: advertising budgets are slashed, sales are down and there are more new cost-cutting and efficiency initiatives than you can keep track of. All this leads to confusion, low morale and poor results.

There is an answer. Start from the heart--internally market and inspire your employees before you launch the next big product or before you begin your consumer re-branding campaign.

Our company, LaBov and Beyond Marketing Communications and Training, is working with a major corporation to help them motivate their brand teams and sales force on a new initiative that could dramatically impact sales and profit. The obstacles to success include reduced budgets, reduced client staff, and at least a dozen other internal programs going on concurrently (ranging from cost-cutting to re-orgs).

The only chance for success is to engage the employees first, well in advance of the customer base. If the employees see this initiative as something positive, something special and something that is separate from the other programs that are mentally draining them, then we have a chance to move a mountain.

Start from the heart. Look at your employees as your primary market. If they buy in and are energized, you have a chance for success. If you ignore them and focus on the external customer, think how limited your results are if your employees don't believe...


Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond Marketing Communications and Training
www.labov.com