The idea for the brand sprang up during a charter flight from Moscow to Bodaibo, one of the oldest gold-mining regions in Russia. The project was initiated in the confined space of the plane when all of the top-managers of the company “Polyus” got together for several hours at a height of 10,000 meters. The experience of these people ranged from putting up the first tent in the taiga to negotiating large transactions and managing enormous enterprises and whole industries.
The problem was that none of these highly experienced gold-miners understood why they should need a brand. These people, the leaders of the biggest goldmining company in Russia, were not acquainted with the books of Thomas Gad, Jesper Kunde or David A.Aaker.
The specific feature of the gold business is that selling gold as a commodity does not depend on a company brand. The annual world production of gold is half as much as the amount of the metal in bank depositories. The very word “gold” has always been the most powerful brand in human history. However, gold bullions kept in depositories are very much alike; they are, we can say, deprived of personal character.
The process of designing a brand for a gold-mining company is also impeded by the fact that there are certain stereotypes concerning the methods of gold production. Many people think that gold is still produced by washing gold-dust in a river. Therefore, the attitude to gold production is akin to the attitude to a game of chance, like in a casino. In fact, a modern gold-mining enterprise is a huge industry, which processes between 100 thousand to 10 million tons of ore annually.
The activity of a gold-mining company is tightly bound-up with the interests of the investors, workers, local communities and public bodies. In Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Magadan regions and in the republic of Sakha (Yakutia) there are several company branches that have an established corporative culture. It was important not only to find values which could be shared by all parties, but also to consider the future international prospects for the development of the company.
Although the functional part of the brand was clear, it was necessary to discover other components. The idea that brands are not created, but discovered, appeals to me. Inside every person, as well as inside every company, there are many values existing concurrently; however, only some of them get developed.
On board the plane we talked for a long time about the meaning of “real business”. Every prospector has many stories of deeds they are particularly proud of. It is amazing what audacity and strength of mind a person has to have to perform a geological survey, to build enterprises and to mine gold in the vast expanses of the North near the Arctic Circle, so far away from inhabited places.
Thus, the idea that united us all appeared: “We know gold’s worth”. The idea was clear-cut, emotionally vivid and close in spirit to each of us. Such a brand, whose idea is shared by all the employees, officeworkers and managers of a company, is every brand-manager’s dream.
In order to develop the brand both inside and outside the company, respective activities should be coordinated. Here are two real-world examples.
In gold-mining industries a shift method of work is commonly used. It means that month after month people stay away from their families in severe coditions. The program of internal communications in the company is called “Golden moments in life”. Initially, it was the name given to a photographic competition, which was held a year ago. The project exceeded all expectations in terms of the number of participants and in the interest it aroused. Nowadays, all the company’s sport competitions, children’s and festive events go under the general name of “Golden moments in life”. Second, before the appearance of this brand-concept our company had difficulties in carrying out charity activities. We were regarded as sponsors who ought to share their riches. Having determined the values of our brand, we decided to help those people who were prepared to do everything in their power to achieve something in life. Thus we started to support children’s sport, including sport for orphans. At the beginning of 2006 in Magadan the first activities of a program called “The first gold” took place.
Every person who has had achievements in life knows what gold is worth. We would like to have more people of that kind in our country and we believe that life would be better as a result. This might be considered as our contribution to the national idea.
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