Soft is hard. Hard is soft.

In other words: It’s the ‘numbers’ stuff that’s abstract and lifeless. (Hard is Soft.) It’s the ‘people’ and ‘passion’ stuff that moves mountains. (Soft is Hard.)

To our delight (and surprise), the world took note – not because of our scintillating prose, but because the competitive situation demanded it. Our ‘wild stuff’ has now become commonplace:

Engage your folks.

Make things that are cool and that work.

Stick your neck out.

This is all a long-winded way of saying that … PASSION (aka EMOTION, aka CARING, aka DRAMATIC DIFFERENCE) … has finally become recognized as the Staple of Successful Business. Not a poor second cousin to the ‘quant stuff’ that business school still strives on. Not an ‘option.’

►Read the extract, make a short talk titled ‘Re-imagining Branding’ and be sure to keep to the following guidelines:

1. A vision or image that a business must have of its goals before it sets out to reach them. It’s a bit like an old saying: ‘If you don’t know where you’re going, then for sure you won’t get there.’

2. For a vision to have any impact on the employees of an organization it has to be conveyed in a dramatic and enduring way.

3. The benefits attributed to mission statements.

4. Great leaders create great visions e.g. with the help of a catchy slogan to show what the company is really about:

• Harley-Davidson’s ‘It’s not the destination, it’s the journey’

• Nike’s ‘Just do it’ or ‘More go’

• IBM’s ‘Solutions for a small planet’

• Nokia’s ‘Connecting people’…

►Think of other examples from your own experience, observations, or reading. Use your initiative! And don’t hesitate to root for your performance by using visual aids.

‘GRAMMAR’ POINT

►The example below is taken from ‘Theory-5 Point’:

They had experienced a couple of decades of exceptional growth, and it seemed to be slowing.

►Translate the example into Russian and explain:

1. Is it correct to replace ‘to be slowing’ with ‘to slow’ without a change in meaning?

2. Can ‘seem’ be replaced with another word without a change in meaning? What are other words that can be used the same way?

3. What are the differences, if any, among:

• Our sales turnover seems to be slowing.

• Our sales turnover seems to have slowed.

• Our sales turnover seems to have been slowing.

►Translate into English using ‘Grammar Point’ and ‘Summary Points’:

1. Кажется наши продажи резко возрасли.

2. Видимо наши основные конкуренты представили на рынке новый товар.

3. Похоже, что за последние месяцы компания Maersk получает существенно высокую прибыль от капиталовложений.

4. Аудиторы заявили, что при проверке финансовой отчетности за текущий год, они натолкнулись на целый ряд серьезных недочетов (нарушений).

5. HealthWatch, крупная фармацевтическая компания, заявила об изъятии с рынка (снятии с продажи) лекарственного средства Anticanceron в течение предстоящих двух недель.

‘WWW.1’ POINT

Tom Peter says: ‘BP (British Petroleum) is re-imagining itself, establishing a Dramatic Difference within its industry (and irritating many of its competitors in the process) by Going Green. While many are justifiably skeptical of this move, I believe that this Green Thing is very real, and very potent.’

►Go to www.bp.com and other web sources to make a short competitive benchmarking, the comparison between BP’s standards and those of other buoyant companies involved in the modern oil industry and explain what Tom Peters means by ‘Dramatic Difference’ along the three ‘laws’ of ‘marketing physics’ by Doug Hall (see ‘Theory-5 Point’). Show how BP’s mission statements – a vision of the direction and purpose of the organization - address the following important questions:

1. What is the purpose of BP?

2. What is unique about BP?

3. What are its principal products and markets?

4. What are its values?

5. Where is it hoping to be in five or ten years’ time?

‘WWW.2’ POINT

Richard Branson, Virgin Group founder: ‘The idea that business is strictly a numbers affair has always struck me as preposterous. For one thing, I’ve never been particularly good at numbers, but I think I’ve done a reasonable job with feelings. And I’m convinced that it is feelings – and feelings alone – that account for the success of the Virgin brand in all of its myriad forms.’

►Go to www.virgin.com and other web sources to get insights into the Virgin brand created by Maestro Extraordinaire Richard Branson. Make a heartfelt talk on The Ultimate Value Proposition of BRIGHT RED VIRGIN MAGIC. ‘Branding is ultimately about nothing more than heart. It’s about passion,’ says Branson. So let your presentation reflect the passion that has been in the heart of

‘SHOW-2’ POINT

The following products have been taken from the list of products named by BusinessWeek magazine ‘The best products of 2005’:

• The 2006 Pontiac Solstice, www.pontiac.com

• Stamps.com PhotoStamps, www.photostamps.com

• Nokia N90 cell phone, www.nokia.com

• Yamaha Morphous scooter, www.yamaha-motor.com

• LandRoller skates, www.landroller.com

• Microsoft Xbox 360, www.xbox.com

• Coopertone spray sunscreen, www.coppertone.com

• Bugaboo Chameleon stroller, www.bugaboo.com

• Sonos Digital Music System, www.sonos.com

• EyeToy: kinetic fitness program, www.eyetoykinetic.com

►Learn about the products and prepare a talk on What makes these products hot and innovative?

‘CASE’ POINT

(1) With a focus on product and brand development Schulstad has been responsible for raising bread’s share of total grocery sales by 50%. Until 1995 the bread market was characterized as being a generic category consisting of traditional bread types with few brands. In the rye bread market these categories were simply ‘light’, ‘dark’ and ‘full corn’ – sliced or unsliced. Today’s market looks completely different. Danes now eat bread as never before – a development for which Schulstad and Kunde & Co can take credit.

(2) With a focus on developing higher quality products combined with a comprehensive communication spectrum, Schulstad have gone from strength to strength.