Regarding the much-discussed news about the Gannett/USA Today Purpose Team, Anonymous@8:16 a.m. writes:
"The agency that came up with the 'purpose work' is GSD&M in Austin, Texas. Chief Marketing Officer Maryam Banikarim has been trying to find a way to bring it into every aspect of Gannett in order to justify the project. So far, it's resulted in language on the website, memos from CEO Gracia Martore touting 'Hometown Advantage' and now a Purpose Wall at the Crystal Palace."
Coincidentally (or not) Banikarim is scheduled to speak at the PromaxBDA entertainment marketing conference with Haley Rushing, who is "chief purposologist" at GSD&M and at the Purpose Institute. The three-day conference starts tomorrow, in Los Angeles.
This is from her conference bio:
"Rushing co-founded The Purpose Institute along with Roy Spence. The Purpose Institute is an organization dedicated exclusively to helping clients discover and bring to life their Core Purpose. With a purpose in place, decision making becomes easier, alignment happens naturally and performance soars. She recently co-authored a Wall Street Journal bestselling book entitled It's Not What You Sell, It's What You Stand For: Why Every Extraordinary Business Is Driven by Purpose. This book guides leaders through their own journey of understanding the genuine purpose at the heart of the organization and teaches them how to harness that purpose in order to make a real difference in the world."
"The agency that came up with the 'purpose work' is GSD&M in Austin, Texas. Chief Marketing Officer Maryam Banikarim has been trying to find a way to bring it into every aspect of Gannett in order to justify the project. So far, it's resulted in language on the website, memos from CEO Gracia Martore touting 'Hometown Advantage' and now a Purpose Wall at the Crystal Palace."
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| Rushing |
This is from her conference bio:
"Rushing co-founded The Purpose Institute along with Roy Spence. The Purpose Institute is an organization dedicated exclusively to helping clients discover and bring to life their Core Purpose. With a purpose in place, decision making becomes easier, alignment happens naturally and performance soars. She recently co-authored a Wall Street Journal bestselling book entitled It's Not What You Sell, It's What You Stand For: Why Every Extraordinary Business Is Driven by Purpose. This book guides leaders through their own journey of understanding the genuine purpose at the heart of the organization and teaches them how to harness that purpose in order to make a real difference in the world."
www.thepurposeinstitute.com
ReplyDeleteSo gannett seems to stand for casting its most experienced journos aside, even those who get digital.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds a lot like the Gallup experiment from a few years back. I was lucky enough to be able to get out before that ran its course, but from what I heard from friends who are/are still there it died a slow painful death.
ReplyDeleteMan, I have to figure some bogus scam like this person and write a book about it and put together an institute. We are in the news business right? My purpose was to be first, right and beat the competition. Some folks have way too much time on their hands to think this crap up. And worse yet suckers are buying into it. Now where is that I'm OK, You're OK book I read in an earlier life?
ReplyDeleteRemember what happened in the 1850's Gold Rush?
ReplyDeleteThe people who made money were the ones who sold the supplies to the prospectors, not the prospectors.
I think I'm going to start a group to help dolphins learn to read online news and information.
ReplyDeleteI'll all it "The Porpoise Institute."
Any Angel Investors out there?
There was confusion here from the get go. Gracia thought she was singning off on another PAY wall, not some ditzy other plan.
ReplyDeleteI cannot see the NYT or WSJ doing something this cheesy. then again, we are best in class.
ReplyDeleteKindergarten class.
Most people can figure out their purpose, especially those that have a good upbringing and who listen to their inner self. When I was with Gannett I felt my purpose was to train and mentor new employees. But I knew Gannett was revenue driven so I better make the revenue numbers so they would allow me to pursue my purpose. When you don't have a purpose you hire consultants to give you one. Slick trick but it just does not work. Without a true purpose they are destined to fail. You just can't make one up by creating a purpose wall. It comes from the heart and they do not have a heart.
ReplyDeleteI bet Larry Kramer could figure out USAToday's mission without spending millions for inflated consultant speak.
ReplyDeleteKramer has been mostly MIA, leaving the junior achievers like Teeuven in "charge."
DeleteWe need help NOW.
Check out Haley's you tube an linkedin profile. fascinating.
ReplyDeleteRidiculous fraud. Most prospective clients laugh her and her $1,000 an hour fee out the door. in the real world, purpose means 1 thing: profits.
DeleteThe company's purpose is not the problem - everyone knows Gannett's sole purpose is to create Shareholder value.
ReplyDeleteThis is what needs to change.
After the way this company has sunk in the last few years, NOW they are looking for a purpose (and paying some consultant big $$ to find it)?
ReplyDeleteMaybe they should have definied some goals when they still had some experienced journos left to accomplish them.
Our site is filled with newbies who can't find their way around town, and don't even know enough to check and verify times and locations before a weekend.
Great future for Gannett...at least the newbies work cheap.
I used to mentor a lot of interns and new hires...now I keep my head down, do my own work and go home.
When is it going to be about content? Ever?
DeleteThis woman is a scam artist.
ReplyDeleteIn the 60s and 70s, people sat around in various stages of consciousness, "contemplating their navel."
ReplyDeleteI think we have the 21st Century version of that, right here.
As Steve Martin used to say, "The best thing is - I can't believe I get paid for doing this!"
I am amazed at the number of folks who are denigrating the idea of a Purpose Project. Just about every major company in America has a version of this going. I get you hate the company but do you have to embarrass yourself through your own ignorance?
ReplyDeleteReally? Name a few.
DeleteNo, your shilling for MB is embarrassing.
DeleteJust about every other major company in America isn't wasting money on Purpose Projects while firing and furloughing their employees on a regular basis so they can give their executives obscene salaries and bonuses.
ReplyDeleteI already found my special purpose.
ReplyDeleteI have a part time home decorating business. Can I post my business card on the Purpose Wall so as to attract new customers? My dry cleaner lets me do this on their community bulletin board. Got two calls just last week.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was our purpose:
ReplyDelete“USA TODAY hopes to serve as a forum for better understanding and unity to help make the USA truly one nation.” — Al Neuharth
So true. its also in the paper which many at the company obviously dont read.
DeleteJust read a complaint yesterday on Facebook, from a candidate for our city council. The paper got his Web site wrong. He called to correct it. It never was. He shouldn't have to had called in the first place. But he called again. Got a guy who said, sorry, he's new, just started. Sweet.
ReplyDeleteI contacted the candidate and advised him of the reality.
This is aspect I had always disliked about Gannett, but I focused on other things (for way too long): these better mousetraps. All they are? Justifications for the tippy-tops to preen themselves in the full-length, three-sided, mahogany-and-gold-framed mirror every morning.
ReplyDeleteThe mirror is worth more than their contributions to good business.
All one needs to be successful in any field is to provide a value to the consumer. Instead, it's Greek to Gannett.
Banikarim might have been more successful in her CMO role had she taken some time to learn the company before doing any "purpose" work. Steve Jobs didn't need anyone to tell him the purpose of Apple.
ReplyDeleteIt was focused on the product!
Jobs was a founder. Here, that is grounds for dismissal.
DeleteI always thought Martore was smarter than to buy into all this shallowness.
ReplyDeleteWhere is the ROI on all this marketing spend?
Interesting to see Rushing scammed Banikarim, who's been scamming Martore and everyone at Gannett for more than a year. Oh what Banikarim won't spend or give up or sacrifice for another trip and another speaking engagement.
ReplyDeleteThis is now the revised purpose:
ReplyDelete“USA Today hopes to serve as a forum to promote Maryam Banikarim and for better understanding of Maryam Banikarim and unity to help make Maryam Banikarim the most over-blown, ego-driven marketing joke in one nation.” — Al Neuharth
3:17,
ReplyDeleteWell said. That's been a regular complaint of mine since many of the new people started showing-up at our door. Very few, if any, bothered to take the time to ask questions to see what the the real issues were. They came in with an agenda fed by arrogance and thought they could change the world. They are finding their new ideas aren't magic, they don't have any original ideas, and things are much worse than they thought.
4:04,
ReplyDeleteYes, but the Purpose Wall should fix everything.
I don't work at CP but I can't help observe that Banikarim seems to spend a lot of time at conferences and "speaking".
ReplyDeleteIs this her job?
We have many of her ilk at the Crystal Palace. she is just the public face of lunancy.
DeleteBanikarim does not have a job. She has a purpose. And what that actually is nobody knows.
ReplyDeleteThey call her Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning, no one you see, is smarter than she.
ReplyDeleteYou did say Porpoise Wall, correct?
What a frigging fraud. the best thing employees could do is boycott the ceremony, despite the free ice cream.
ReplyDeleteOne would think a CMO'S main job is driving revoenue. through ad campaigns and marketing efforts. Ms. Banikarim seems to be unable, unwilling or unqualified for the role. More troubling is the lack of accountability. After more than a year on the job, what has this woman done for the company? Could any of her shills weigh in here? I just dont see it.
ReplyDeleteGSDM obviously was never told that 20,000 plus Gannett employees were laid off in local communities all over America. How is that serving the local communities?
ReplyDeleteCorporate Mission statements and Purposes should be believable by employees and others.
Nobody believes Gannett ( a holding company that bought and then stripped and consolidated many local newspapers) was anything but a cold corporate commodity traded on Wall Street.
From Rushing's LinkedIn profile:
ReplyDeleteAs Chief Purposologist, Haley leads a team of people who act as organizational therapists, anthropologists and historians. Every Purpose project involves a thorough exploration of the passions, underlying motivations, and strengths of the organization as well as a thorough examination of the impact of the organization in the lives of the people it comes in contact with.
I don't know whether this will work, because I'm posting from my iPhone, but watch this YouTube video of Rushing at a Ted conference last year. Quite the eye-opener.
ReplyDeleteA "life coach" by any other name. What a scam? My purpose? To hang on until I find something else.
ReplyDeleteCredit wikipedia...
ReplyDeleteIn February 2009, Roy Spence (founder GSDM), along with Haley Rushing authored Its Not What You Sell, Its What You Stand For, providing a primer to a brand management model pioneered by GSD&M Idea City called "Purposed Based Branding." According to Spence, "In a company without purpose, people have no idea what they're really there to do. They often look to the competition to decide what to do rather than navigate by their own sense of what's right. With a purpose in place an organization knows its reason for being and is driven to perform and innovate. Purpose sets you apart from the competition, authenticates your brand, inspires passion in your people and helps you achieve the impossible."
The journalist in me wants to try and connect the dots between MB, Gracia, Craig (yes, him), Austin (Texas), GSDM clients and the Gannett Branding Project. I just can't see Gannett spending a great deal of money with GSDM to do this type of work without GSDM steering ad dollars from its client list into Gannett properties.
By the way, most people left working for Gannett know what their purpose is: survive.
Forget the purposologist. We need a vice president of buzzwords.
ReplyDeleteI just watched. Did she actually open saying she was in a good space ater doing yoga on the beach and building sandcastles with her five year old twins Indie and Ziggy?
ReplyDeleteDid i hear that correctly? OMG. What a T-W-I-T.
This is like a Kristen Wigg Saturday Night Live parody.
If Martore actually buys intomthis woman's purpose driven mantra, the layoffs and furloughs would stop immediately. Because as this woman states, Southwest Airlines leaves $300 million a year on the table NOT charging passengers baggage fees.
ReplyDeleteBeusse's plan will deliver $300 million a year, too.
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ReplyDelete"Gannett employees were laid off in local communities all over America. How is that serving the local communities?"
ReplyDeleteBy maintaining the economic viability of, and forestalling the demise of, local newspapers serving those communities.
Another Seven Sisters alum, just like Martore and Banikarim. I guess that gives you extra special license to bullshit people and then laugh all the way to the bank. For the life of me, though, I cannot see Martore buying into this b.s. I'll be watching for her extra special faux sincerity at the Wailing Wall unveiling.
ReplyDeleteThis Purpose stuff sounds like a complete joke, like Zig Zigler infomercial type gimmicks. How gullible are these people?
ReplyDeleteChief Purposeologist? I would feel so much better if this were an April Fools joke.
ReplyDeleteWhat the hell does that even mean? Complete gobbledygook.
ReplyDeleteThe Great Purpose Wall of China.
ReplyDeleteMy purpose right now is to do a better job at work. Not because I believe this purpose pablum. Fuck that. Because I didnt get into this business to cower and fret about my job. And I am tired of feeling this way due to inept leadership.
ReplyDeleteNavin R. Johnson (suddenly yelling in a mixture of shock and excitement): Wait a minute - what's happening to my special purpose!?
ReplyDeletePatty Bernstein (in a passionate voice): What's your special purpose?
Navin R. Johnson (still yelling): Well, when I was a kid my mom told me... there goes my special purpose! And someday I'd find out what my special purpose was!
Patty Bernstein: Today's the day!
Navin R. Johnson: (moaning as we see the whole trailer shakes from the outside): Hey, this is like a ride!
Gullible is right. I thought Ms. Martore, no matter what else you may think of her, has smarts. But maybe not, if she has bought into this high-priced foolishness.
ReplyDeleteShe doesnt pay the bill, so why should she care? She'll just have another chit to cash in with these shysters when she crosses Queen Gracia.
DeleteSILLY. IDIOTIC. MORONIC.
ReplyDeleteGANNETTOID-ISM at its apex.
LOL, ROTF
GANNETTOID Purpose task No. 1: get map, try to figure out where Main & 1st cross, in new town that Gannett chain has sent you.
GANNETTOID Purpose task No. 2: run series of "Our Communities" stories, to figure out, where the F you are.
GANNETTOID Purpose task No. 3: suck up to Corporate for next job; propose an "Our Communities" series for next job in Gannett chain.
REPEAT
LAUGHING-STOCK
ReplyDeleteIf/when Jim Romenesko and Gawker gets a hold of this, this will certify Gannett as a bunch of "shit-kicker newspapers," as ol' Jack Germond used to say.
What would one expect from a bunch mindless yahoos and their suck-up underlings?
Purpose of a newspaper: to report the news, without fear or favor, fully and fairly.
A bill for $250,000 is forth-coming.
It all starts with Maryam Banikarim followed by her lap dogs Sandra Micek, Heidi Zimmerman and Laura Dalton. They have to go. Period.
ReplyDeleteThat is YOUR purpose Martore.
Ooooh Zig Zigler! My info center manager bought all us reporters tickets to one of his live appearances back in the day and encouraged us to get Zig's book. That was half a day I'll never get back.
ReplyDeleteIsnt Ziggy about 90? A Gannett, he would have been given the boot 40 years ago.
ReplyDelete"Its Not What You Sell, Its What You Stand For."
ReplyDeleteTo all the "Purposologists" out there:
It's about what you SELL. Everything else is after the fact.
When I worked at Gannett, I had purpose, but one day I found out it meant nothing because someone else's purpose was to get rid of me. I don't see that changing.
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