The Importance of Being Congruent

I was devastated by the news from Zurich yesterday, that England had not won the nomination to stage FIFA's 2018 World Cup tournament.

My first reaction was sadness, which then - as I'm sure it did with other England supporters - turned to anger at the voting procedures within FIFA, and now this morning the realisation that the British media, and the bid team also played their part in the failed bid.

Being 'On Brand'
Being 'on brand' at all times is essential in business. The higher the stakes, the clearer the message needs to be at all times. In competitive industries, and football is one of the most competitive industries, if there is deviation from the core message, miss-communication, damage limitation, and sometimes meltdown occurs.

Learning today that the England bid received only 2 of the 22 member votes tells us that even though we implemented brilliant damage limitation after a catalogue of 'own goals' throughout the two year process, ultimately the miss-messaging caused a meltdown in that only our own FIFA representative and one other felt convinced enough to vote for the England bid.

The brilliant Andy Paterson Jones, of New England branding consultancy, whom I'm working with for my own site upgrade to be launched early next year, says being 'on brand' at all times is imperative to succeed in business. (read more)