Corporate Amnesia?

The team at Business Communications Management has spent the week talking about 'corporate memory'.

Corporate memory is an extremely under-rated aspect of business that is not well understood and that's a pity since it impacts on mission critical areas of business including intellectual property, marketing and business operations.

For many small and start up companies, corporate memory is something the business founder has - they were the ones refining the business process and making marketing decisions. Eventually, as a business grows and other people - both employees and contractors - bring their talents and enthusiasm into the business, corporate memory expands exponentially.

While all business owners are encouraged to codify and streamline business practices by developing operations manuals, corporate memory held by employees and long-term contractors are often ignored.

How many times has a new staff member gone to a long-term employee to find out how things really work - like which clients need extra attention and handholding or knowing which clients respond more promptly to a text message instead of an e-mail or voice mail - none of these things will be found in an operations manual.

Likewise for your contractors, we know of many businesses who don't have a clue where to find their company brand art files or if they actually exist anywhere other than on their web site. In these cases the print company actually has a better corporate memory about their client's marketing and branding collateral than the marketing manager.

A good corporate memory helps business owners weather the challenges of a stormy economy. For example, some of America's largest companies have gone back through 30 to 40 years of corporate history to refresh their brands. Click for a larger image of how Pepsi has reverted back to it's traditional logo and font for its new Cola product.

With the economy still uncertain consumers will return to familiar brands and products. In the case of major US manufacturers are using 'vintage'-inspired branding. In the UK, for example, traditional biscuits such as chocolate digestives (better known in Australia as chocolate wheatens) and custard creams are flying off the shelves.

Respecting corporate memory stops companies from sliding backwards through new people making old mistakes and alienating customers. It also streamlines business operations and can provide macro perspective as well as new ideas.

Best of all, it's a gold mine of information and recommendations that money can't buy.