Decideware

Procter & Gamble were named the Cannes 2008 Advertiser Of The Year.

A.G. Lafley, Chairman & CEO, and Jim Stengel, Global Marketing Officer, will jointly accept the award.

The organisers said: "This important award is presented to advertisers who have distinguished themselves for inspiring innovative marketing of their products and who embrace and encourage the creative work produced by their agencies."

"Five years ago, Procter & Gamble made a public commitment to embrace creativity to drive their marketing. This public commitment was a message to their agencies and to the people who work in their agencies and resulted in many thousands of column inches being written about this initiative in the world press. The vision materialized in 2007 when P&G won 14 Lions at Cannes, including the coveted Press Lions Grand Prix. There can be no greater commitment to the cause of Creativity than that displayed by P&G and we are delighted to be awarding them this prestigious honour," said Terry Savage, Festival Chairman.

“We are humbled by this terrific honour,” said Jim Stengel, Global Marketing Officer, Procter & Gamble. He adds, “We are inspired every year by the great work and ideas we experience at the Festival. To be named 2008 Advertiser of the Year is an accomplishment we’re proud to share with all of our agencies who touch P&G brands. They have been key partners for us in our commitment to advance creativity and innovation on P&G brands around the world.”

Source: Canneslions.com, 11 Feb

Author: Richard Benyon 

This is the second article in a series inspired by a book published by Harvard Business School Press called "Managing Performance to Maximize Results". It is a compilation of articles, all based around Human Resources Performance Management - and in many cases the ideas and practical examples have direct parallels in the area of Strategic Relationship Management.

What we all hate to do!!!

One of the most difficult aspects of Relationship Management is how to tackle poor performance. Faced with an uncomfortable situation, people often simply gloss over the problems.

In a client-supplier relationship this can lead to 'churn' which in many cases comes completely out of the blue because underlying issues have never been surfaced and discussed, yet alone resolved.

Fix or Fire

When a significant issues has been identified, perhaps the first decision is whether you actually believe that the agency / supplier can improve? And secondly, you want an ongoing relationship with them. If you do then the next step is to engage with the agency / supplier to address the issues that you have identified. And at this point you need to invest to fix the relationship.

So here are three tips we have gleaned from the Human Resources space that can help in managing relationships with your few key suppliers.

1. Be Direct

The first element is to make sure that you clearly, explicitly communicate that the supplier's performance does not meet your expectations.

At the same time you should ensure that you also communicate that you do hold out hope for an improved performance. The fact that the discussion is being held is evidence of your commitment to fixing performance and continuing the relationship.

2. Be Specific

Address the specific issues. Detail exactly what is wrong. And how you think it could be fixed. And consider this, what resources are you prepared to mobilize to help fix it?

This element of the action or development plan has been mentioned in many previous Blog articles. Without a commitment to address issues, the entire process is merely performance evaluation, rather than performance management.

3. Be Objective

Do not attack the team or personality in any way. Be sure to stick to as factual an account as possible. it needs to be about observable events, not hearsay.

Try to maintain an objective eye and ensure that in no way does it degenerate into any form of personal attack.

You may find that keeping these three points in mind will help keep a focus on the future of the relationship and not allow it to degenerate into a historical beat up session.

Author: Richard Benyon (Decideware)

British Airway's purchasing chief Paul Alexander made insightful comments on how they view supplier relationship management at SRM2008 in January.

In his view, the massive growth in India and China has resulted in a situation of global scarcity where buyers must now compete with each other for critical supplies.

Further, the relative power of suppliers has increased.

Accordingly, buyers must now look for competitive advantage in sourcing  - and that includes putting in place measures to encourage your suppliers to view you as their 'customer of choice'.

Alexander cites examples of BA efforts, including:

* A focus on building a union with suppliers

* Employing simple but effective gestures, such as thank-you letters

* Avoiding an approach to play suppliers off against each other

* Rethinking their approach to supplier relationship management (SRM)

Source: Supplymanagement.com, 14 Feb 2008

Author: Derek Groom (Decideware)