Sage Blog

We’re chuffed to have made the top 50 Business Superbrands, so to celebrate we asked Stephen Cheliotis from The Centre for Brand Analysis to talk about what makes a Superbrand and why it matters.

The Business Superbrands results have just been released. The annual survey, conducted by my team at The Centre for Brand Analysis on behalf of Superbrands UK, identifies the UK’s strongest business-business brands as judged by both experts and 2000 UK business professionals.

Stephen Cheliotis Chief Executive, The Centre for Brand Analysis

Why this matters

But why should the results be of any interest to you? Simply put it is because brands matter. This survey is not an evaluation of logos or simply brand names; it is an assessment of how a range of brands operating across diverse industries are perceived in the UK. These opinions affect individuals’ attitudes and behaviour, including their purchasing intentions, toward the brands. It thus in-turn affects the business success of the brand owners and ultimately their bottom-line.

Brands are valued at millions, often billions of US dollars but why are they worth so much? A powerful, well-regarded brand can, put simply, shift the demand curve. They can enable the brand owner to stimulate interest and desire for their products and services, thereby increasing the volumes sold and / or the premium that the brand can command over weaker branded alternatives. For the owner possession of a powerful brand also reduces their risk, for example during an economic downturn, like the one we are experiencing, the loyalty and trust consumers have of strong brands results in less switching than experienced by rivals. Equally a flight to quality from weaker brands is evident across all industries. When demand picks up strong brands tend to enjoy the upswing quicker, whilst in normal conditions ownership of an influential brand provides an opportunity to enhance revenues further through product extensions, licensing or geographical expansion.

Brands also positively impact upon other stakeholder groups, not just the consumer. For example the very best employees and graduates will be attracted to companies with a high profile and esteemed brand. The result is a virtuous circle. The brightest sparks are recruited, once inside the business they are motivated and engaged, resulting in enhanced innovative levels, better customer service and increased advocacy. This in-turn creates more customer demand and satisfaction, which makes the brand more successful, which motivates its staff further.

I could go on for pages about why brands matter but in today’s modern world, where product innovations can be swiftly mimicked, brand reputation can be an essential and unique asset that is hard to replicate.

How do we select the brands

Firstly brands do not submit an entry or case study to be considered as a Business Superbrand. Instead, all of the key brands operating in the UK from across over 50 sectors of industry are identified by our researchers and feature in the initial population list. This list is sent to an independent and voluntary council of experts who rate the brands. Council members are experienced high profile individuals from the business and marketing community. Their scores are collated and ordered, with only the top circa 60% of brands, based on the collective council score, going through to next stage. The top 40% are then judged by 2000 senior business professionals whose opinions are canvassed.

Both audiences when voting on the Business Superbrands were asked to judge the brands based on whether they represented;

• Quality (e.g. are its products or services of high quality)
• Reliability (e.g. can consumers trust the brand to deliver against its promises
• Distinction (e.g. does the brand stand out from its competitors; does it have personality and values that set it apart from its peers

Ultimately both the council and business professionals’ views on the top 60% of brands are combined on an equal basis to give each an official score and rank. Only the highest scoring brands based on this combined official score are awarded Business Superbrands status.

The results

The 2011 league table sees Rolls-Royce Group named as the number one UK Business Superbrand. This will be the first time since 2007 that the list has not been topped by either Microsoft or Google. Having come in 2nd place for the last two years, Rolls-Royce Group has toppled technology giant Microsoft which comes in 3rd, whilst BlackBerry climbs one place to take this year’s number two spot.

Other brands to feature in the top ten for 2011 are internet giant Google, which comes in at number four, followed closely by Apple at five, which is a new entry into the top 10. The remainder of the top 10 consists of the London Stock Exchange, accountancy and consulting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers, pharmaceutical behemoth GlaxoSmithKline, Visa and Bosch. Eight out of this year’s top 10 also featured in last year’s top 10, proving that a highly regarded and powerful brand has staying power.

And how did the owners of this blog fair?

Sage, has been a very strong and improving brand over the five years that The Centre for Brand Analysis has been conducting the research. In 155th place in 2007 it has improved its position every year since then and now sits just inside the top 50 in 49th place. Out of the thousands of brands considered that is a pretty impressive result. Over a third of UK business professionals rate Sage a Business Superbrands, which is more than rivals including giants such as SAP and Oracle, which considering their size and spend capability is a remarkable result. The key for Sage will be to consolidate their position and continue to build brand equity with business professionals through innovative reliable and effective products, excellent customer service and strong marketing and communication.

As for your own brand, whether you work with a small or large company, whether it is in this listing or not, you have to ask what your brand stands for, how it is perceived by key stakeholders, whether it has any traction, how you can build its reputation and ultimately how your brand can result in a better, stronger and more stable business.

For more information or to review the top 500 Business Superbrands for 2011 do visit the Superbrands’ UK site on www.superbrands.uk.com – In the meantime well done to Sage, Rolls-Royce Group and all of the brands securing a strong position in this years rankings.

Stephen Cheliotis, Chief Executive, The Centre for Brand Analysis and Chairman, UK Superbrands & CoolBrands Councils

Why E-marketing and CRM are more effective when used together

CRM expert, Duncan Wood

I have been recently working with Dan Ogden of Swiftpage on our presentation “CRM and eMarketing – the targeted marketing dream to create more qualified leads” for next week’s Technology for Advertising and Marketing (TFM&A) exhibition and thought it would be good to share some of it here; of course it’ll be even better to pop along and see it in person on 1^st March at 3pm in the CRM Theatre!

Customer Relationship Management and Enterprise

Customer Relationship Management, or CRM as it is more commonly referred to, is a pretty well understood term and business strategy. However, CRM software can be somewhat of a battle to implement within the enterprise especially if it is only about one particular aspect of the business. The simple truth is that people only naturally champion things that they believe in. The challenge for any CRM project is to find the business objectives of people across the enterprise and provide the tools to make it easier. I think the combination of E-marketing and CRM is a highly potent cocktail of business value that can deliver such tools.

Why CRM?

The main reason people use CRM is to help them manage and improve relationships with both current and prospective customers and suppliers. Once CRM is embedded into an organisation’s integral business processes then a highly illuminating insight is revealed about what works and what doesn’t work in a business strategy. Hopefully with reflection on these insights an organisation can achieve its CRM goals which normally centre around increasing revenue, higher profitability and increase customer satisfaction. The improvement normally comes down to changing and tuning business processes in one or all of the Sales, Marketing, Customer Service areas of the business.

Why E-marketing?

The E-marketing toolset is a fabulous, low-cost way of creating and nurturing relationships within your marketplace. One of the historic problems with Marketing has been cost, potentially stifling creativity and the ability to learn from the audiences responses. E-marketing changes all of that. It allows you to deliver on the theory of best practice Marketing by designing, testing and measuring your ideas on specific target segments of your audience – all done quickly and at very little cost. The solution provides a fantastic way to find profitable relationships and deliver the content a customer is actually looking for in a timely fashion.

Why together?

I love the phrase “data is just data until you do something with it”; CRM and E-marketing together create a mutually beneficial relationship which is why our CRM software, Sage CRM, Sage SalesLogix and Sage ACT! all integrate with Sage E-marketing provided by Swiftpage.  From the CRM point of view E-Marketing helps both the Sales and Marketing departments work closer together and more efficiently – overall it could be one of the key benefits that makes the difference between the CRM project being successful or failing. From an E-marketing point of view CRM provides the critical insight and data to making successful targeted marketing campaigns.

In summary, having a single place where both CRM and E-marketing live provides benefits to the whole ecosystem both inside and outside the organisation using it.

If you’re interested to hear more, and why not register for TFM&A for free online and say “hi” to Dan and I.

Duncan Wood, CRM Expert

Money, money, money. With talk of inflation, interest rates and rising utility costs, a Sage survey has found that rising costs has topped the list as the biggest business challenge for the forthcoming year. Other contenders included by maintaining/growing revenue and managing cash flow.

Sage Business Index

This is just one of the business insights taken from the Sage Business Index research. We surveyed over 6400 of our customers across Germany, France, Spain, Canada, the USA and here at home. We wanted to get a snapshot of the business landscape, a picture of what was significant to businesses in 2010 and what challenges and opportunities face business in the coming year.

Business confidence

As it’s an international piece of research we’ve got the opportunity to compare and contrast ourselves with our fellow participants. You may not be surprise to find that Germany was the most confident about business in the year ahead. And guess who was the least optimistic? Yep, dear old Blighty.

Is it all gloom and doom?

Should we really have such a gloomy outlook for the coming year? Well not entirely, there are some great things about being a business based in the UK and top of the list is our entrepreneurial spirit and good business culture. It seems that in spite, or maybe because of, the challenging economic environment we still see ourselves as people who can seek opportunities, take the initiative and find creative solutions. If that doesn’t give cause for optimism then nothing will!

To download the full Sage Business Index report visit http://businessindex.sage.com/

Do you agree with the results? What are your biggest business challenges and opportunities this year?

Cath Sheldon, Sage PR Team

Hello, thanks for stopping by, but the survey and prize draw is closed.

Scientia potentia est otherwise known as ‘knowledge is power’ to those of us more familiar with the English dialect! We’re not actually power crazy here at Sage but we are always looking to improve and a little knowledge goes a long way (to coin another phrase).

We’re running a survey…and you could win some Amazon vouchers!

That’s why I’m putting out this short and sweet appeal to anyone who owns a small business to spare 10 minutes to take part in a short survey we’re running here.

Oh and you can also boost your own power (spending power that is) with the Amazon vouchers available in our prize draw for those of you who take part.

To take part just go to our Small Business Survey by 28 February 2011.

Thanks

Geoff Phillips, Small Business Team

It was hailed as the answer to British firms’ long-term lending problems – a billion-pound pot of bank-backed equity that could bridge the financial gap for hundreds of companies. But as it prepares to launch this year, experts are wondering just how effective the Business Growth Fund (BGF) is really going to be.

The innovative new body has already promised to make more than £1.5 billion available for small to medium-sized companies in 2011. But despite the hype, commentators and industry are already divided about how well the equity system, backed by the high street banks, will work and what it can realistically achieve.

What is the Business Growth Fund?

So what exactly is it and how will it work? Why might it be so important for kick-starting expansion for businesses and the economy as a whole? And why are critics urging caution?

The idea of a bank-sponsored BGF was first raised last year, by then Chancellor, Alastair Darling, in response to the general downturn in lending. With net lending down six per cent in the last 12 months, he hoped making funds available in this way would stimulate future growth – and have a lasting, positive effect on the economy.

Darling proposed working with the major high street banks to establish an investment fund for small and medium-sized businesses to tap into. Signing up Lloyds, Santander and Clydesdale, Darling created a £200 million resource that aimed to reach £500 million of capital. Other banks were less keen to get involved – saying that civil servants’ preference for distributing monies to existing venture capital firms would not build capacity in the market.

Then in July, while coming under political pressure to increase business lending from the new Coalition Government, the major banks took on the project for themselves.

What’s the thinking behind it?

Explaining the thinking behind it Chancellor, George Osborne, and Business Secretary, Vince Cable explained: “This government has always insisted that banks need to increase lending to our essential small businesses, in order to support economic growth, while also restoring customer trust.”

So, which banks have signed up?

The new fund, backed by Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander and Standard Chartered, aims to invest in individual companies with a turnover of between £10 million and £100 million, in return for an equity stake of at least ten per cent.

Managed by an independent investment company based in London and a range of regional offices, banks will put £350 million into the pot over the next two years – spreading the rest of the total £1.5 billion contribution between now and 2020.

As Fund Chairman and Barclays Chief Executive, John Varley, explains: “As banks we have an obligation to help the UK economy return to growth. The private sector will play a key role in the recovery and it’s our job to help viable firms to be successful.”

What can the fund achieve?

But Angela Knight, chief executive of the British Bankers Association, says and her members are still cautious about how much the fund can achieve – and says its scope could be limited.

“The anticipation at the moment is it will do about 75 companies a year, a bit like where 3i (an international investment company) used to be when it was in this sector,” she explained. “That figure will also depend on what businesses want and we are hopeful that others will come in and commit to the fund.”

The BBC’s Business Editor, Robert Peston, agrees – urging a seasoned, measured view of what the BGF can hope to achieve.

“It is important not to get too carried away,” he says. “I calculate that it will be able to provide risk capital to around 250 middling companies over a number of years (based on the banks’ assertion that they’ll provide £1.5 billion of equity finance in individual lumps of between £2m and £10m).

“That will be seen as a useful contribution to the growth potential of a segment of the economy that has typically found it hard to raise capital. But it won’t be transformative.”

It may not be the cure-all solution that the Coalition originally hoped for but with such a large amount to invest, the BGF’s contribution will at the very least represent step in the right direction.

Steve Porter, Accountants Division

I recently listened to a radio piece about leadership and one of the topics covered was whether gender matters in leadership. Of course there were differing views but it got me thinking about my career progression from trainee solicitor to Legal Director of Sage UK and whether the fact I’m female had seemed to matter either positively or negatively on that journey.

Louise Hall, Legal Director

Self doubt?

I’m quietly ambitious, but something I’ve lacked over the years is confidence in my own abilities and I’m told that regardless of talent, us females are more prone to self doubt than males.  So, how have I achieved my current role and why am I striving to achieve more?

Leadership; what not to do

One of my first male bosses at a law firm was an out and out bully who really taught me how to stand up for myself and how not to lead. My next boss was a glory taker who cared not a jot about customer experience, so once again I learned how not to do it. I was then recruited by a male to the Head of Legal role at Sage UK and whilst I now knew what not to do, I wasn’t sure what I could or should do.

Is self belief at the heart of all leaders?

Sage gave me lots of tools and techniques suited to being an inspiring leader, but that self doubt kept on nagging away and holding me back. Enter stage left my next male boss, an inspiring individual who kept trying to drag me out of my comfort zone. Finally, I decided that if this intelligent individual saw something in me that spelt out “leadership potential”, then there had to be something there and I started believing in myself. As a result I’ve been able to pitch in more around the Executive table and to challenge those around the table without feeling that maybe I shouldn’t ask that question or give that opinion. It seems my colleagues have benefited too as I’ve had positive feedback about my input and the difference it has made. So for me, whilst everyone has the potential to become a leader, you can’t just give them a bunch of tools and set them on their way. There has to be a nugget of self belief and we can all give someone else a helping hand with that by demonstrating we truly believe in them, male or female. It worked for me.

Lead by example

And in turn, I’m trying to lead by example and ensure I demonstrate that I believe in each of my team regardless of whether they have manager responsibilities – I expect them to lead even if not in a position of authority. So how do I do that, well on the one hand I make sure achievements are verbally celebrated amongst the team so we mark them and the individual is aware of why what they’ve done made a difference and on the other hand, where there’s room for improvement we don’t let it fester or sweep it under the carpet – if we need to have an honest conversation, we just get on with it being mindful of where the other person is coming from and keeping an open mind to the outcome. As a result it’s great to see I have a string of successor material in the making for when I go under that proverbial bus…..

Louise Hall, Legal Director, Sage UK

Sorry, this competition has now closed.

A while ago we asked you for your top tips for motivating employees and had a fantastic response. Here are our five favorites, but there can only be one winner. So watch the videos and get some great ideas then vote for your favorite.

The company whose video receives the most votes will win a fantastic team building day worth up to £2500!