Trust at the Center of Brand Performance

 

Business Week notes that “trust” is evermore important in the current global financial crisis.  We couldn’t agree more and have been measuring brand trust for the global oilfield for several years. 

Gelb’s model is based on a combination of value, difference, and experience, which are all drivers of trust.  We are excited at the energy around this idea and continue our work this year to help leading oilfield service companies monitor the trust their customers place in their brands. 

For more information about our brand trust methodology, please visit: www.gelbconsulting.com/brand-research. 

Information about the 2009 Gulf Research studies can be viewed at www.gulfresearch.com.

A roaring start for Women’s Global Leadership Conference

The 2009 Women’s Global Leadership Conference in Energy and Technology started in full force this morning.  With well over 650 executives in attendance, John Royall, President and CEO of Gulf Publishing, kicked-off the event with great excitement.

John was followed by a powerful keynote from Karen Harbert, President & CEO of the Institute for 21st Century Energy, US Chamber of Commerce.  Ms. Harbert presented a compelling case for the United States to more clearly articulate an energy strategy to educate and motivate the business and consumer community. She introduced some “new to me” acronyms that were well received by attendees.  For example, BANANA (build absolutely nothing anywhere near anyone) and NOPE (not on planet earth).  Those terms were representative of  the tone of the presentation calling the question of the unpredictable investment environment.

Additionally, I was pleased to moderate a panel discussion on ethnic diversity.  Panelists Christina Ionnidis, Dr. Lorena Mascardelli, Jo Ellen Helmer, and Dr. Tausef Salma provided substantive insights regarding several scenarios. Bringing their unique perspectives, the common theme was that to leverage diversity of culture, gender, or opinion – individuals must be respectful and have a deeper sense of empathy.

I also presented some of the findings from our recent benchmarking study, the full report is available for download at www.wglnetwork.com.

Lastly, panelists on technology innovation identified the following emerging trends:

-Low cell (EOR/IOR) can result in a 40% increase in recovery

-”Green” chemistry that allow for better production without environmental harm

-Nanotechnology from companies like Oxane

-Digital rock physics from companies like Ingrain (a Gelb client, www.ingrainrocks.com)
(Jim Sledzik, Partner and President of Energy Ventures commented that “10 years from now, digital rock physics will be the standard.”)

-Susan Rosenbaum, Director of Knowledge Management at Schlumberger, commented that the two key drivers of innovations will be data (now more of it) and automation.

AMA Energy SIG Bridges the Gap

I had the pleasure of moderating a panel of seasoned marketers this morning at the AMA Energy SIG event.  Aside from my shameless plug of World Oil’s Women’s Global Leadership Forum in Energy and Technology (www.wglnetwork.com), the event provided great insights for engineers and marketers alike.

Graham Makin, Director of Technical Marketing at Weatherford, led off the discussion by presenting his career path from mining engineer to his present position as marketing manager.  He highlighted the similarities between the marketing and engineering disciplines being process driven and visually representative.  Speaking to the importance of detail and facts, he grounded his presentation on the reality that marketers need to respect the engineering discipline and recognize the stakes for mistakes in engineering are extremely high.

Gelb alumna Stacy Roll, who is currently the Global Product Line Marketing Manager, FMC delivered a focused presentation on the four challenges faced by marketers: different meanings for the same concept (e.g., product), different measures of success (e.g., product versus business), different languages, and understanding the “comfort zone.”  To bridge the gap, Roll recommended leveraging commonalities between groups (e.g., quantitative information) and encouraging acceptance.

Matt Sellers from Mustang Engineering rounded out the panel presentations using his 15 years of experience to illustrate the size of the gap between engineers and marketers.  He discussed the contrasts of precision versus clarity, and details versus conciseness.  Matt and other presenters agreed that by asking specific, open-ended questions of engineers, marketers can get a much better view of the technology being promoted.  He also suggested using internal strategies, as they do at Mustang, to build stronger cross-functional teams.

Gelb Consulting is a proud sponsor of AMA Houston Chapter .