Article
Published by Michael Vachmiel on the 28th of February 2018Why Discipline, Morality, and Vision in Leadership Counts at every level
by Destroying Trust in the Brand. A Lesson For Every Business.
As any business person knows, people do not buy products, they buy brand. People invest in a company, purchasing with their hard earned money, the products and services they need because they believe that the product and service adds value to their lives in align with their social and moral stances. When a consumer feels that their morality is in line with the company they do business with a bond of trust is established. This relationship of trust is the foundation for a successful relationship between consumer and business.
The recent debate on guns is an important example of brand vs product. Manufacturers are producing products of quality, yet they are loosing sales because the brand is associated with a situation that is against the morals of the consumer.
This is Business 101.
This week in the Vampire Community News a discussion of the Unity Organization, is it positive or negative for the real vampire subculture, occurred.
Instead of a healthy discussion on customer service, improved messaging and PR, and how best to present a healthy presentation of culture, and other solid conversations, the direct opposite occurred.
The conversation became negative and toxic. There was libel, slander, and other issues that, under normal circumstance, would have lead to a PR nightmare and termination of employees along with a heavy charm offensive to manage damage control.
Instead of honest evaluation of the situation there was just acceptance of toxicity and negativity as the status quo. A morose acceptance that the culture self destructs every five years and that this behavior is normal.
The challenge is self inflected.
This display of unprofessional behavior demonstrates why it is difficult for any artistic or philosophical movement to re-brand itself into a positive and healthy consumer desired marketable product. The same for any start up business with a unique concept.
Failure of leadership to elevate the brand into a desired item in alignment with the morality of its consumer.
In this case, of the vampire community the item or products, if you will, is the creation of a stable and functional community that with stand public examination.
Address the issue.
Seeing that the community itself was not able change course, I adapted a business model. Created a Social Business Plan for my organization along with a Social Vision Statement.
When you no longer can afford to allow others to define you, you must turn to solid, reliable, and traditional methods to get your message to the public.
Answer Chaos with Order.
You can not pretend that things will take care of themselves. You must respond in a clear and decisive way to demonstrate to the general public that you are not like the rest of your competition.
My response to libel, slander, insults, and a host of other attacks is as follows
“Do you think name calling, insults, and personal attacks further this discussion?
The 300 people who chosen to follow me are not a joke.
The 4000.00 we raised last years is not a joke.
The 300.00 we have raised so far this year is not a joke.
This is where failure in leadership lies.
The “Trumping” of the vampire community.
In normal society making accusations get you sued and fired. In normal society, when you make libel claims, accusations of criminality and mental defect, you get fired.
In vampire culture it is celebrated.
Which is why vampire culture reinvents itself every five years.
Because no one wants to learn the hard lessons of the past.
The vast majority of the people do not tolerate this behavior.
You can not go through the natural maturation process from fringe culture, to sub culture, to general pop culture without a sense of discipline and maturity.
Thus attempts of unification, at unity, at gathering, and all the other grand names and ideals last about 5 years, until they are only memories on video, footnotes on research papers,
Which is why I turned my court into a business.
Run it like a business.
Run it on mature and disciplined principles of “Best Practices”
Have a Business Plan for the court that is updated and reviewed regularly.
They only way to stop the cycle of self destruction is just to remove yourself from that cycle.
I did.
It is working.”
Credits
This article is the property of
Michael Vachmiel (2018)
