Why Simple Brands Win

The greatest brands make life simple. Think Google, Amazon, or even Dunkin’ Donuts. They cut through the clutter by delivering what consumers want, when they want it, without hassle. By simplifying customer experience in a complex world, these brands win customer loyalty, which drives business results and creates value for shareholders.

For the past six years, Siegel+Gale has published its Global Brand Simplicity Index — a study based on a survey of thousands of consumers from around the globe — that ranks brands according to their perceived simplicity or complexity, and the overall simplicity rating of a brand’s industry. This year’s index, derived from the responses of more than 12,000 consumers in eight countries, provides a definitive measure of which brands excel at providing simple experiences – and reveals rising brands that could threaten these incumbents.

It also confirms how simplicity can drive performance: a portfolio of the publicly traded companies in the global top 10 brands has beaten the average global stock index by 214% since we first started conducting the study in 2009, and this year’s top 10 continues the trend.

Let’s look closely at the 2015 top 10 brands in the U.S. Each fulfills a consumer need quickly – sometimes instantaneously — and with minimal friction.

Google shouldn’t be a surprise and indeed it’s ranked in the top 10 for the past five years. Netflix gives instant access to a universe of entertainment with a mouse click, and Amazon and Zappos have perfected streamlined discovery, purchase, and delivery. The grocery retailer Publix is consistently praised by customers and industry insiders for its convenience, superior store design, consistent quality, and customer-service orientation. And this year’s fast food and fast casual dining brands excel at keeping the in-store experience simple, fast, and reliable in part by offering a narrow but satisfying menu. (Chipotle’s recent struggle with an E. coli outbreak came after the survey was completed.)

Brands like these benefit in many ways from their simplicity. In addition to strengthening customer loyalty, we find that simplicity reduces price sensitivity and drives positive word of mouth. Our 2015 survey found that 63% of consumers are willing to pay more for a simpler experience, and 69% are more likely to recommend a brand because it provides simpler experiences.

Threat of Disrupters

While these top performers may seem to be secure in their positions, our survey sheds light on a set of simplicity-oriented brands we call “Disrupters,” newcomers gunning to overthrow the existing powers in their respective industries, or create completely new ones. Disrupters are given simplicity scores but are not included in the regional rankings as they have not yet reached a comparable level of national awareness. These are the 2015 top 10 disrupters in the U.S.:

Dollar Shave Club, the #1 ranked disrupter in the U.S., is in many ways a paragon of brand simplicity. With its delightfully clean branding, uncomplicated product, and reliable service, Dollar Shave Club has thrown down the gauntlet to Gillette and other established players.

In fact, were the disrupters included in the full rankings, the top 10 would look very different — only the top four incumbents would avoid being supplanted.

Disrupters serve as a reminder that even brands with the highest simplicity scores cannot stop innovating. These leading companies must maintain their commitment to simplicity, as disrupters in every industry are ready to take their place if given the opportunity.

A new battleground 

Customer experience is the new battleground for loyalty. Years of findings in the Global Brand Simplicity Index demonstrate that when brands build cultures of simplicity, all parties benefit. Employees have the clarity to innovate and deliver superior customer service, consumers have better brand experiences, and ultimately reward brands with their loyalty.

Growth is welcome and inevitable for any successful company—but complexity is an unavoidable side-effect of growth. Companies must be on the lookout to simplify processes and create fresh and clear brand experiences. A commitment to simplicity starts at the top. Senior management must be committed to implementing practices that encourage simplicity. Brand purpose—what a brand does and why it does it—should be articulated in a way that is easy for employees to internalize, and customers must view a brand and its services in a manner consistent with this purpose. While it is necessary to look inward to refine and simplify, ultimately the customer’s perspective matters most.

Achieving simplicity is not easy, but the brands that harness its power stand to reap a multitude of both reputational and financial rewards.

VW to offer U.S. diesel car owners $1,000 'goodwill package'

 Volkswagen AG's (VOWG_p.DE) U.S. marketing operation said on Monday it will offer $1,000 worth of credit cards, of which half may be spent at VW dealerships, to owners of certain diesel models the company has admitted do not comply with government emissions standards.

The automaker said eligible U.S. owners of Volkswagen and Audi models equipped with 2.0 liter TDI diesel engines can apply to receive a $500 prepaid Visa card and a $500 dealership card, as well as three years of free roadside assistance services. Volkswagen has said about 482,000 cars with four-cylinder diesel engines had software installed that allowed the engines to pass government tests for smog-forming nitrogen oxide emissions, but pollute at levels far above government limits in normal operation.

Myanmar’s People Joyful in Voting, Final Results Days Away

YANGON, Myanmar — Among the voters braving long lines at polling places across Myanmar on Sunday, there was a sense of jubilation at taking part in what many described as the first genuine elections in their lives.

“We’ve been suppressed for a very long time by the government,” said U Saan Maw, 63, who voted Sunday and made sure his friends and family did, too. “This is our chance for freedom.”

After five decades of military rule and a series of rigged or canceled elections, Myanmar’s nationwide electionsappeared to proceed without violence, raising hopes that the country’s five-year transition to democracy had reached another milestone.

Though the official tally may not be known for days, early results on Monday showed the opposition, led by the Nobel Peace laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, leading in Yangon, Mandalay and the capital, Naypyidaw. On Monday morning, the speaker of the lower house of Parliament, Thura Shwe Mann, conceded defeat to a member of Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s party. He posted the message to his Facebook page.

Much remained uncertain about the outcome and how the results will be received by the military establishment that still retains the reins of power.

By many measures the elections have already been less than free and fair. Hundreds of thousands of people from the country’s Muslim minority were disenfranchised by being taken off the voter rolls.

Yet those who voted Sunday said they felt a thrill knowing that their country might be guided by the will of the people after so many years of military domination. More than 32 million people were registered to vote.

“This is the first time I have voted,” said U Okkar Oo, a betel-nut seller in Yangon. “Of course I am excited.”

Mr. Okkar Oo entertained passers-by with a song, “Mama has to win!” It was an ode to Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi.

Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of the country’s independence hero, Aung San, who was assassinated just as the country was emerging from British colonial rule. Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi has brought star power to the elections that her rivals in the military establishment lack. She is 70, is seen as a semi-deity among many of her followers and is often called “Mother Suu.”

“Her father’s work was unfinished, and she has always felt it was her duty to finish it,” said Bertil Lintner, one of her biographers. 

Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi is a member of Parliament, a post that she assumed after a by-election victory in 2012. She voted on Sunday at a school near her home in Yangon, surrounded by reporters and photographers.

Coming to power would mean overcoming many obstacles that the generals have put in her way. Under the Constitution, the military retains control over three crucial ministries that oversee the police, army, border affairs and a vast bureaucracy across the country. Twenty-five percent of seats in Parliament are reserved for the military, which effectively means that Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, must win two-thirds of the vote to secure a simple majority of the seats in Parliament.

More than 90 parties were registered to participate in the elections, including many from ethnic minority groups that may play an important role in postelection haggling over a president, who will be chosen by the upper and lower houses of Parliament early next year.

Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi must overcome the skepticism among the elites in Myanmar about what many describe as a domineering management style and a lack of experience in an executive role.

The generals wrote a clause in the Constitution that bans anyone who is married to a foreign citizen or whose children are foreigners from becoming president. Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi was married to a British citizen, and her two children have foreign nationality. But she said last week that if her party won, she would run the government and be “above the president.”

That comment drew the ire of the ruling party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party, which serves as the political wing of the military.

“The president is head of the country — no one is above the president,” U Htay Oo, the head of the party, was quoted as saying in The Nikkei Asian Review over the weekend. “It would be violating the Constitution to appoint and direct the president.”

The Myanmar news media has predicted a “roller coaster” of negotiations and back-room dealings in choosing a president. Many in Myanmar say they are not fully convinced that the military will hand over power if it loses — the generals canceled election results in 1990 after Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s party won in a landslide.

Last week, President Thein Sein said the government and the military would “follow and respect the results of a free and fair elections.” The president described the elections as “the most meaningful and important in Myanmar history.”

On Sunday, voters said their main focus was more immediate: to make sure no one cheated.

More than 10,000 election monitors registered with the country’s election commission, including members of delegations from the United States, the European Union and Japan. Voters themselves were also vigilant, posting suspected irregularities to social media. No major irregularities had been reported as of 4 p.m., when polls closed, but the counting was only beginning.

Mr. Saan Maw canceled his classes Sunday and took what he said was his first day off in three years. He plans to monitor the counting process at his neighborhood polling place. 

“I’m just a citizen,” he said. “But I will be watching.”

Iran deal: Obama, Netanyahu set for first talks

 U.S. President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet on Monday for the first time since the Israeli leader lost his battle against the Iran nuclear deal, with Washington seeking his re-commitment to a two-state solution with the Palestinians.

Netanyahu, who infuriated the White House by urging Congress, in an address in March at the Republican leadership's invitation, to reject an emerging accord with Iran, hopes the talks will help outline a new 10-year military aid package for his country.

While that issue will be on the agenda of Netanyahu's talks with Obama, U.S. officials said the president would also press Netanyahu for steps to keep alive the possibility of a future Palestinian state alongside Israel.

U.S.-sponsored peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians collapsed in 2014. The eruption of a wave of violence between the two sides last month has made an end to that bloodshed a more immediate priority.

In public remarks to his cabinet on Sunday about his Washington visit, Netanyahu spoke only in general terms about "possible progress with the Palestinians, or at least, stabilising the situation when it comes to them".

He said the Syrian crisis and U.S. military aid for Israel would also be discussed in his first meeting in 13 months with Obama. The Democratic president and the conservative Israeli leader have little personal chemistry and have clashed often over the Iranian and Palestinian issues.

In a conference call with reporters last week, Rob Malley, the U.S. National Security Council's coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa and Gulf region, reiterated Obama's view that he would leave office without an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.

Given that reality, Malley said, Washington wanted to hear ideas from Netanyahu on how to stabilize the current situation and sought a signal from both sides that "they are still committed to and moving towards a two-state solution".

During Netanyahu's re-election campaign earlier this year, the right-wing Likud party leader vowed there would be no Palestinian state on his watch. Even when Netanyahu backtracked and insisted he was not reneging on long-time policy, the White House was unconvinced.

Seeking a boost in U.S. defense aid, Israel argues that sanctions relief agreed by world powers under the July deal that curbs Iran's nuclear program will allow Tehran to invest more heavily in its missile development, while redoubling funding for Hezbollah and Hamas guerrilla allies on its borders.

Israel now receives $3.1 billion from the United States annually and wants $5 billion per year for 10 years, for a total of $50 billion, Congressional officials have told Reuters.

One U.S. official predicted the sides would settle for an annual sum of $4 billion to $5 billion.

Africa apps give BBC a leg up

TWO applications (apps) developed in Africa are set to help the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) consolidate its position as one of Africa’s most trusted and used news sources, BBC digital development editor Dimitry Shishkin said on Friday.

BBC research released at mid-year showed the corporation’s weekly global audience is around 308-million people. The BBC World Service’s audience increased by 10% in its first year of licence fee funding and now stands at 210-million. The research showed the countries where the audience increases for World Service English were highest were Nigeria, Tanzania, the US and Pakistan.

The two apps were developed at "hackathons" — events at which computer programmers and others involved in software and hardware development, collaborate intensively on software projects in competition with other teams — in Cape Town and Nairobi, Kenya. Both apps were developed in conjunction with the broadcaster’s digital innovations team, Connected Studio, and are to be piloted via BBC Taster, an innovations test site.

"We need to take up to the fact that people on digital (platforms) consume news differently," said Shishkin. The two apps — both "light" in data use — were created to appeal to the young, and take advantage of the way in which African audiences have "leapfrogged" to digital-first news consumption ahead of their developed world counterparts.

BBC Minute CatchUP, developed by social enterprise lab RLabs at the Cape Town hackathon, is a simple media player designed to "sit within any online page that will let users hear and share the latest version of BBC Minute", the BBC said in a statement. BBC Minute is a news website providing 60 second news bulletins. It is updated half-hourly.

BBC Drop, developed in Nairobi by technology start up Onagir, is a responsive website showing users news content specifically tailored to them. "It works sort of like (online dating service) Tinder," said Skishkin, demonstrating that users can swipe left or right to indicate their news preferences. The app will "learn" a user’s specific tastes and begin to tailor the news feed accordingly.

The BBC wanted to increase its global audience from 2011’s 308-million to 500-million by 2022, said Shishkin. This year the BBC had already launched its Africa edition of the bbc.com website, and the Africa Live page on the BBC News website. Both provide dedicated "digital spaces" where those interested can find African news, in English, French, Arabic, Hausa, Swahili, Somali, Kirundi and Kinyarwanda.

"We have 150-plus people on the ground," said Shishkin. "Instead of running a stream of editorial content (only), they Tweet, post pictures and video…. It’s going very well, we have doubled our audience since our launch in April."

Users’ activities online offered the BBC unprecedented insight into how much people tend to read of any one article, how many pictures are optimal, and what type of news people want to consume.

"I am a great believer in mixed content and format," said Shishkin. "If you want to cover something and the audience is not usually responsive to it in print, why not cover it in pictures?"

An example of this, flighted on BBC Taster, was a five-part series that used cartoons to tell the story of how West Africa’s Guinea-Bissau is used by South American drug cartels as a route to smuggle cocaine to Europe, and the impact that trade has on the people of Guinea-Bissau. "We are always on our toes, finding out new ways to reach our audience. That is what will differentiate us from the rest," said Shishkin.

Buy South Africa Wireless Company Cell C

Telkom SA SOC Ltd. said it’s in talks to buy Cell C Pty Ltd., South Africa’s third-biggest mobile-phone company, an acquisition that would bolster the operator’s wireless unit as it seeks to offset declining sales from its larger, fixed-line business.

Telkom, 40 percent owned by the South African government, is carrying out due diligence and will update shareholders accordingly, the Pretoria-based company said in a statement on Monday. The shares gained 0.7 percent to 64.05 rand as of 9:32 a.m. in Johannesburg, valuing the company at 33.8 billion rand ($2.4 billion).

Cell C’s majority owner, Oger Telecom Ltd., has already rejected a 14 billion rand offer from Telkom for the Dubai-based company’s 75 percent stake, a person familiar with the matter said last month. Telkom operates South Africa’s fourth-biggest mobile-phone provider in a market dominated by two larger competitors, Vodacom Group Ltd. and MTN Group Ltd.

“A combination of the two players makes a stronger player,” Vodacom Chief Executive Officer Shameel Joosub said by phone on Monday. He declined to say whether he supported or opposed the transaction on an anti-trust basis.

EU will offer African elite visas & money to stop flood of migrants

The EU will offer African states fewer travel restrictions, more foreign exchange scholarships, and a €3.6 billion fund to incentivize them to control the influx of migrants to Europe. The offer is to be made during a summit in Malta next week. “There is no secret that the Africans are looking for opportunity for legal migration, work permits and these kinds of things, while the Europeans are focusing more on returns and readmission,” an EU official toldEU Observer.

Some 140,000 Africans have arrived in Europe by boat this year, according to the International Organization for Migration, while the European Union is predicting that 3 million new unregistered migrants from around the world will enter the continent by the end of 2017.

The latest available draft of a 14-page Action Plan from October 26, which is to be discussed at the summit, outlines the quid-pro-quo.

The plan aims to “promote mobility of students, researchers and entrepreneurs” and double the number of Erasmus student exchange scholarships offered to top students, as well as “simplify entry proceedings” and “facilitate the procedures related to applications for legal migration, including family reunification.”

In return, the countries along the main migration routes are expected to “strengthen capacities of countries of first asylum, transit and destination,”essentially by building more refugee camps south, rather than north of the Mediterranean. A previous draft of the plan had explicitly called for building “pre-screening” centers, where asylum seekers could be evaluated on their worthiness to go to Europe, while the new one concentrates on vague “return and readmission policies” that would see thousands of migrants repatriated from Europe.

A migrant dives into the water from an overloaded wooden boat during a rescue operation 10.5 miles (16 km) off the coast of Libya, August 6, 2015. © Darrin Zammit Lupi / Reuters 

The program will be funded by a new commitment of €1.8 billion, which is yet to be collected, and previously allocated international aid in the same amount, which together will form an Africa Trust Fund available to those states that sign the agreement.

African states are also expected to boost “national capabilities to control land, sea and air borders, as well as maritime surveillance capabilities.”

Criticism has arrived from both continents thick and fast.

Africa’s EU representative has condemned the plan to stop and re-settle failed migrants.

“If there is no clarity on how these [migrant] reception centers are going to be constructed, managed, operated, who has oversight over them, how sustainable will they be, we are going to end up with open sky prisons, where human rights of those interred will be violated,”said Ajay Bramdeo, according to EU Observer.

There have also been objections on ethical grounds saying the program amounts to horse-trading refugees for high-flyers. Others have said the plan is unenforceable.

The African exodus’s most active hotspot is Eritrea, a repressive state in international isolation. It is one of the countries that will only be sending send a minister, not its leader to Malta, and will reportedly not be signing up for any Action Plan. Another perennial migrant home state is Somalia, which has a barely functional government. It appears optimistic that Africans giving up everything to travel to Europe will abandon their quest, simply to give other people from the same continent the chance to go there legally.

Nigel Farage, the leader of UKIP, an anti-immigration and anti-EU party, says that while the Africans will take advantage of the new perks, no one will stop the migrants, and the net inflows will only increase.

“The EU’s way to stop illegal mass migration from Africa is to make it legal. This is sheer madness,” said the politician, as quoted by the Telegraph.

There seems to be skepticism at the government level too.

So far only 8 European states have pledged even the minimum €3 million contribution to the Africa Trust Fund, raising just over €30 million – far short of the money necessary.