What's in a name ?

What's in a name ?

As a life long student of marketing, I am always looking out for creative examples to capture and be used to engage a future group of like minded students.  My wife despairs of me at times, because out of nowhere, she will have lost me as I have stopped dead and quickly look to whip out my camera and capture the memory of an inspiring vignette for a yet to be determined class.  (It has got better - I used to teach lots of aviation related topics, including a module on airport terminal design, and this meant arriving an hour early at each airport, not to avoid traffic delays and the stress of rushing to the airport, but so that I could explore the entire airport more completely and pick up as many brochures and leaflets as I could find.)

Recently I have captured a number of images of products or companies that I feel are particularly clever names.  This idea of "Doing exactly what it says on the tin" is one what has been rather relentlessly used by a certain varnish/coatings brand (Ronseal), to an extent that this phraseology has entered the common UK vernacular.   Rather annoyingly for Ronseal, their brand name is often the omitted element.  Take a look at an example (above) of their straight forward approach to advertising, one of many advertising executions that have a certain appeal.  Lasting too, just like it says on the tin ! 

We moved house recently and rather reluctantly I agreed to the buying of a new mattress for our bed.  I was particularly grumpy about the whole exercise until after we had secured the (rather heavy) item on its iron frame.  My face lit up the moment I spotted the manufacturers label.  Instantly, it evoked a powerful, highly memorable, fairy tale of old. But, at the same time, in line with effective advertising approaches, a single minded proposition that suggested that the huge expense was going to be worthwhile, years of comfortable sleeping lay ahead. 

And sure enough, the mattress is very comfortable.  Unfortunately for me, it is so firm and straight,    -all-the-way-to-the-edges-, that my duvet keeps dropping off the bed in the middle of the night.  Sublimely comfortable, but cold.



PDFprint@btclick.com strikingly obvious service offer !

On my way back from a days meetings in Bloomsbury, where the University of London offices are, my eye was attracted to a bold, large and particularly prominent sign. 

PDFprint@btclick.com is the only visible sign in this central London print shop, drawing more attention to the sign using clean white font on bright red background. Perhaps the outlet was limited by planning regulations from putting this sign on the outside or windows.  Apologies for the poor photo (I was on the run, with only my camera phone to hand).  I particularly liked this banner, as it clearly explains what you have to do within the confines of an email address.  You need to send PDF (not word or any other text file format, to this email address and this print shop will have it done for you...)  Why pdf ? I guess to ensure that the spacing and pagination is not altered in any way.  It is a shame that the strategic branding team at valiant UK champion of airline deregulation British Midland, in its final years re-branded as bmi (all lower case), did not think about their naming conventions more carefully.  When they wanted to give birth to a baby (a popular strategic notion in the 1990's and noughties) and repackage their predominantly price sensitive, leisure oriented UK regional flying they called it bmibaby.com.  Warning: the Google search for be-my-baby is remarkably similar, and not to be undertaken using a company owned computer. 

"Can I have a pint of T.E.A please ?"

I recently attended a stag (noram: bachelor) party that saw an illustrious gang of fine, middle aged men take a slow walk around a local Surrey brewery, whilst sporting Hawai'ian T-shirts and traditional lei garlands.  T.E.A (Traditional English Ale) from Hogs Back Brewery is a very clever name, a gag that sees public house patrons order "a pint of tea, please", a talking point that will no doubt make the brand more memorable. The clever visualisation of the brewery on the ridge of a male pig another pun.  More anon on this particular pet project I promise. 

I try always to bring in a sense of my work place into these blog postings.  My own Alma Mater, Warwick University, benefits from a bit of creative naming.  With part of the campus in Coventry (the closest city) and part in Warwickshire, the foresighted decision makers went with Warwick University (pronounced Warrick, not War-wick).  With a pounding from German bombers in WWII and an economy reliant on manufacturing, Coventry did not have a great reputation in the twentieth Century.  I imagine still today, as my undergraduate days, each September new students pitch up to Warwick train station and find themselves some 10 miles from the prestigious university's campus. 

Royal Holloway, University of London

Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL) is the trading name of a much longer legal entity (so long I don't dare try to write it out fully, lest I get it wrong) that evolved after the merger of UK's first and second higher education institutions that were open to women.  Most of the central London property that came with Bedford College was sold and the funds used to build luxurious student halls of residence that boast bright airy communal kitchen spaces and individual rooms with their own toilets.  The remaining central London footprint enables meaningful use of the umbrella 'University of London' (as most students study at the Egham campus, set in the leafy, Surrey suburbs a short train journey from central London) which has a strong brand resonance globally.  The 'Royal' title comes from the association with Queen Victoria, who opened the College and is recognised with a large, white marble statue in the northern quad of the signature Founders building.  'Holloway' is the last name of Thomas and Jane, the childless benefactors on whose fortune the College is founded.  I like to think of 'RHUL' as being multi-faceted, that helps establish a strong, vibrant brand for our College community. 

Sharing Cultural Experiences: MBA's learn the power of social networking

Following a suggestion from MBA Director Justin O'Brien during their induction a hardy gang of The Royal Holloway MBA students chose to spend a rare 'off' day from the hectic study schedule to familiarise themselves with some English culture with a visit to Windsor. Organised by Russian born but locally resident Elena Savchenko the group benefited from her knowledge and by all accounts enjoyed a 'fun' day of touristing, eating, shopping and bonding.  Naturally, no visit to Windsor is complete without experiencing the changing of the guard. 

The iconic bear skin busby hats and red tunics worn by the Queens Household troops provide strong associations for Brand Britain around the world.  (Prince Harry's cavalry regiment, Blues and Royals, is assigned to the Windsor barracks when not on active duty overseas in theatres such as Afghanistan.)  MBA candidates will study the country of origin effect on brands, covered in marketing, and look at the benefits and risks associated with linking with a geographic identity.

Quaffing not olde Englishe beer, but cool, contemporary cider

The importance of social networking cannot be understated and the group prioritised a small amount of time on a quirky and traditional English practice of  re-hydrating with a warm, cloudy, frothy liquid served in elongated glass cylinders and referred to as "pints". Joking aside, the power of social and semi-social networking cannot be under valued. Academic studies of General Manager activity have highlighted the high proportion of time spent focused on personal networking/bonding, and the relative limited focus on business issues, suggesting that relationship nurturing was a higher valued activity.  These guys, from the photo evidence here presented, look set for high flying careers !

Thanks to Elena for organising the visit and Mariusz for photos.


 

Mind the Gender Gap: MBA Parity at Royal Holloway, University of London

The Pareto Effect, the ratio of 80 to 20 has an unusual prevalence in describing customers and revenue share, and often this numerical rule of thumb becomes etched firmly in the minds of many Business School graduates.  However, in the world of gender breakdowns for MBAs the special number appears to be 70:30.   In 2011/12 the AMBA (one of the leading MBA accrediting bodies) statistics for UK MBA programmes suggested a 70% male, 30% female gender breakdown. 

The Economist Which MBA ? survey for 2011/12 full time programmes showed that the majority of leading UK Univeristies had female MBA gender per centage balances in the twenties.  Just three had around a third women and just one with 45%.  AACSB (another global accreditation body for Universities with a strong US base) data shows that overall masters programmes have an even spilt of the sexes, thus pointing at the MBA as being perculiarly more popular with men globally.

Thirty percent seems to be a magic number - with this FT.com blog entry flagging that a number of world leading MBA institutions targeting this level, and suggesting that exceeding this level was problematic.

Perhaps because Royal Holloway has a human scale campus or because of its proud Victorian heritage as the UK's second Higher Education institution for women, whatever the reason for a second year running equality very much rules on The Royal Holloway MBA, with both a growth in total numbers and also an increase in the female gender share, with now a small majority (54%) of the MBA class of 2012/13. 

When interviewing prospective MBA candidates the question of gender and nationality split is often raised.  According to Justin O'Brien, MBA Director at Royal Holloway "From my interaction with applicants it seems females, in particular, are perhaps keen not to be be signing up for a year long experience to find themselves in a tiny minority and are often pleasantly surprised to learn of the close to parity gender split on The Royal Holloway MBA." 

Once again the RHUL MBA demonstrates its truly international credentials with a highly diverse cohort of over 35 candidates hailing from 21 different countries.  One of the attractions of this MBA programme is the opportunity to study for the MBA in a truly multi-cultural context, with extensive opportunities to learn about a wide range of global cultures. 

Embracing Group Working

The ability to build and retain a network is a crucial life and business skill.  This takes time and can be arrived at through a variety of different avenues – naturally through department, organisation and industry ‘teams’ but also from University alumni groups, shared sporting or music interests, hobbies, career oriented associations or common shared experiences. Perhaps (some way down the track) even other parents at your childrens’ schools.

In some cultures, organisations and roles the ability to work in a variety of both formal and informal groups and to develop deep and wide networks is an essential capability, the lack of this kind of political connectedness resulting often in failure. 

University is a relatively safe place where you are encouraged to take risks and learn from success, failure and anything in between.  It is unusual to see a group that has worked hard failing an assignment, thus the cost of failure is very low.  The chance therefore exists to take risks and learn from them. 

 

There is great social value attached to the group based skills of being able to pull favours, ask for help, get special consideration comes from (often) enduring relationships built up over a long time and multiple interactions across a wide network. 

Think of building and maintaining long term relationships with every opportunity. Spend time strategically when working in groups getting to know one another, do not mistake group work as tactical, functional activity of low importance.

Possible perceived problems with group working

• Nothing to learn from others  (good luck on your desert island !)
• Hard to co-ordinate (yes – they can be)
• Risk of plagiarism (not everyone understands this fully)
• Risk of low mark (but also the potential for a higher mark)
• Being put in groups (anxiety of working with unknown entities, challenge of getting everyone together sufficiently)
• Self-selecting groups – making ‘safe choices’ rather than looking to experiment (and have a richer learning experience)
• Personality conflicts (we don’t get on, we worked together previously – they didn’t add much value/turn up/pull their weight)

Olympic Sponsorship reflections during BT Tower visit for Royal Holloway MBA's

 

Royal Holloway MBA candidates treated to a contemporary reflection of BT's highly successful involvement in the London 2012 Olympic games. 

Rob Thomas, Director of Cost Transformation, BT Wholesale hosted an International MBA seminar exclusively for the Royal Holloway MBA 2012/13 group in October 2012.  The timing and theme selected could not have been better, as the highly successful Para and Olympic games has just drawn to a close, giving a number of senior BT business leaders a chance to reflect on their organisations involvement.

The Royal Holloway MBA 2012/13 cohort and academic staff at the BT Tower

The seminar took place at BT’s premises in London - the iconic BT Tower.  In addition to Rob Thomas, other key BT speakers included; Mick Wayman, BT Managing Director, London 2012 Programme, Lee Hamill, BT Brand/CSR, Marketing Lead and Mark Wilson-Dunn, Global Sales and Marketing Director, BT Media & Broadcast.  The invitation to host a group of MBA students was extra-ordinary, the BT Tower is closed to the public and usually reserved for hosting important customers and hosting the ocassional high profile charity event.

Presentations given covered BT’s involvement in the Olympic & Paralympic games providing key insights into the company’s role as a key service provider in delivering the most connected games ever - responsible for carrying every call and every TV picture transmitted.  Thanks to BT, London 2012 was the most connected Olympic games ever, with 27 live streamed web channels. 

 A special lunch was provided in the restaurant at the top of the BT tower providing spectacular views over the whole of London, along with the exclusive opportunity for our MBA’s to network with the key speakers.  Students spent time orienting themselves, spotting the gerkin in City, the shard at London Bridge, Canary Wharf, the Emirates, Wembley and the Olympic park, of course were also visible, thanks to a reasonably cloudless day.  The University of London's main campus and iconic Senate house building were close by and easy to view.

Several areas key to the MBA syllabus were covered during the highly engaging and interactive sessions, including; operations, marketing, HR and strategy, providing our MBA’s with highly valuable insights from BT. The dedication and commitment shown by all BT staff throughout the games was made evident and served to inspire our own MBA’s as to how to lead and motivate people that they may manage in their future roles.

Each seminar ended with ‘Lesson for the future’ and a highly engaging Q&A session between the speakers and our MBA’s. The event was deemed highly successful by both parties.  Justin O'Brien, MBA Director at Royal Holloway, stated "This was a brilliant opportunity for our international group of MBA students to engage with one of UK's leading companies and to focus on their successful involvement with a highly current and enormously impactful Olympic games."

 

Interesting fact: The BT Tower was completed in 1964, though until 1993 the building was officially a secret and did not even feature on official maps. Public access to the building ceased in 1981 and the building was awarded Grade II listed building status in 2003.  It is one of the seven largest global television hubs and place a crucial role in distributing audiovisual programming worldwide.

 

 

Special thanks to:  Sonya Murrell for text copy and Rix Cao for the images.

What differentiates Royal Holloway's MBA ?

The  Royal Holloway University of London offers a very appealing MBA programme with the following key differentiators;

• Interactive learning that draws on academic expertise and extensive peer industry experience

• Week long cross-cultural study tour to a European city

Leafy campus

• Quiet leafy campus, allowing concentration on studies, but easy access to central London for rich cultural and social entertainment options

• Highly diverse cohort - one of the UK leaders for diversity - wide range nationalities, business experience and gender balance (rare on MBA)
  
  
• Quality assurance signified by AMBA (Association of MBAs) accreditation

• Strong MBA identity and extensive formal and social interactions allows profound friendships to develop and long lasting network creation

Culturally diverse

• End of programme live business consultancy challenge, (real business, real question) putting theory into practise by demonstrating group problem solving

• Skill development in the context of multi-facetted business engagement, with a range of interesting companies


• Growing alumni networks around the world, particularly useful for internationally oriented careers

• Strong international reputation for critical and international research, challenging examination of theory

Networking in action

• Industry speakers, professional body events, business engagement exercises and company visits offered across the year

Stunning campus environment

• Royal Holloway is a friendly and safe mid-sized campus university, its human scale allows you to feel part of things very quickly

• The School of Management has a leading international research reputation that supports the global resonance of the University of London brand – nobody asks “Where is that ?”

Dynamic student group

• Study at a very modern, dynamic business school located in the heart of a beautiful and clean campus, with a long heritage as a place of higher level learning that dates back to Queen Victoria. Offers a big wow factor for visiting family members and friends

• Stimulating and life changing learning within a boutique sized, highly international and diverse peer group of experienced professionals drawn from a wide industry base. Experience extensive in class interactions in intimate MBA only classes where you can really get to know the professors and develop MBA friends-for-life

Alumni experience sharing

• Theme based modules allow wider, deeper and more integrated learning approaches without the anxiety and pressure that can come from a battery of functionally silo oriented examinations

HP company visit, Sweden

• The integrative week long international study visit (to a major European city) provides a powerful cross-cultural perspective on management learning

Business networking

• Extensive opportunities for business engagement with a range of company visits, guest speakers, experiential learning and practical assignments. Lots of theory, but complemented by opportunities to apply new ideas and ways of thinking

• A powerful mentor offer that is coordinated through the alumni team

• The college liberal arts heritage is integrated into enrichment activities, including elements from drama and history academics as well as a wide range of campus community events, activities, clubs and associations 

Drama class

• Innovative, bespoke professional development programme supported by dedicated MBA careers advisor

• Accreditation by the only widely recognized specialist MBA quality body, AMBA. Be confident that your MBA programme stands up to regular, independent quality assurance auditing

Royal Holloway Distance Learning student featured in Styling magazine feature

Olga Zhukova, pictured presenting here during the recent Egham based distance learning plenary, was invited by Styling magazine to be interviewed for a photo story concentrating on her work and Royal Holloway, University of London distance learning MBA.

Click here to read the piece

Egham Plenary 2012 Introduction Week

The last week in June 2012 saw the traditional 'plenary' (coming together) of distance learning students from the Royal Holloway, University of London MSc and MBA International Management programme.  Week 1 is designed for students to benefit from an introduction to the College (this year they stayed in student dorms that transformed into an Olympic Rowing village the day after), to experience first hand some academic lectures from the teaching team, to engage with a variety of businesses and most importantly to build a wide range of friendships with fellow students from around the world.

A number of highly innovative business engagements were trialled for the first time on the Distance Learning programme, a visit to a leading amusement park and a Q&A session with the whole board of successful UK manufacturing company. 

Students spent a day at Thorpe Park, (owned by global #2 Merlin Group), an amusement park that positions itself as the thrills capital of UK targeting teenagers and young adults with a range of wet and wild roller coasters, fast food franchises and traditional amusements.  Having experienced some of the more extreme rides in the morning plenary participants spent the afternoon engaging with two members of the parks management team, challenged with coming up with ideas to recommend solutions to three key strategic questions. 

Having run a successful AGM in Founders board room the nine strong board of directors of Norman Hay plc (an innovative UK based international manufacturing company that specialises in coatings processes) joined the plenary participants for a challenging interaction that invited student groups to make recommendations on how the company should invest for continued growth.  With a wide range of industrial experience and drawn from markets all around the world the student groups were able to provide Peter Hay, Chairman of the group, and the board of directors with a number of salient recommendations. 

Students combine busy family lives, usually working full time with a distance learning regime that relies on high levels of self-motivation.  The opportunity to network with others, to make friends and to enjoy some social time is often cited as a highlight of the learning experience.  The programme seeks to offer a variety of evening activities that this year included a visit to a traditional student pub, the chance to undertake some tourism in London, a Thames boat trip, a cricket club BBQ and a formal black tie gala dinner.