America’s unemployment rate is back to a historic low of 3.5%. That’s great news for U.S. workers, but the skies aren’t so friendly at Australian airline Qantas. For the next few months, senior executives in Sydney and Melbourne will volunteer as baggage handlers for up to six hours per day.

Nope, this isn’t a new season of Undercover Boss. Qantas’ COO explained that “a COVID spike across the community, coupled with the ongoing tight labour market, make resourcing a challenge across our industry.” He added, “There is no expectation that you will opt into this role on top of your full-time position.”

The execs might have themselves to blame, having cut thousands of ground crew jobs in recent years. If you want something done right, do it yourself, sure — but effective leadership usually means delegating some tasks.

Reset button: Nintendo’s ex-president on brand reinvention.

Morning routine: Start your day like @Reggie.

“The” trademark office: Here’s a patent nobody saw coming.

(Source: Shutterstock)

You spent a lot of time, effort, and money creating your company’s brand. So, why would you change it? That logo and typeface were fine a decade or two ago — what’s wrong with ’em now?

Times change … and tastes change alongside them. You can either embrace the “vibe shift” and update your aesthetic to something more modern — even a subtle refresh can work wonders — or remain stuck in the past while your competition appeals to a new generation.

Then again, not every rebrand is a good one (who even knows what’s going on with RadioShack lately?), so you need to put serious thought into it, creating trends instead of mindlessly following them. Very few business leaders have pulled this off as well as Reggie Fils-Aimé, former president of Nintendo of America, so we asked him for a few pro tips.

As president of Nintendo of America, Reggie Fils-Aimé (or just “@Reggie” as the internet knows him) revitalized a legendary but lagging video game brand. In the ’00s, Nintendo was losing the console wars to Sony and Microsoft, but with the Nintendo Wii, Fils-Aimé’s strategy — which focused on fitness and new gameplay concepts — brought old fans back while creating millions of new ones.

Fils-Aimé’s new book, Disrupting the Game, traces his story in life and business. He shared his insights with b. on the importance of reinvention.

First, Understand Your Core Identity 

Your company’s new identity should have some continuity with the old; make sure you aren’t throwing the baby out with the bathwater. “I always start by understanding the fundamental truths about the brand,” Fils-Aimé says.

That means asking three questions in particular:

• “What are the key words and images associated with the brand?”
• “What differentiates the brand from its competitors?”
• “What current topics or themes can be associated with my brand that make it relevant today?”

Next, Expand Your Target Audience

Entirely new products should attract entirely new users. That sounds obvious but companies forget it all too often. “The Nintendo Wii tapped into the desire for consumers to play video games together and broadened the appeal of playing games with older consumers and women,” Fils-Aimé says.

With a successful brand refresh, new customers will join your current ones, not replace them. Even for veteran gamers, the Wii was still a blast. As Fils-Aimé explains, “The Wii remote controller was easy to pick up and the games were highly accessible.”

Always Learn as You Go

No business leader is perfect, and Fils-Aimé is not afraid to reflect on his own occasional failures. In fact, he believes that it’s absolutely critical for leaders to acknowledge when a new marketing strategy is going poorly.

“The leader must not ignore the data or results that show a problem,” Fils-Aimé says. “Immediately review alternatives to course correct the problem. You need to be as unemotional as possible [and] boldly take action.”

Finally, Disrupt Your Own Disruption

When the Nintendo 3DS launched in 2011, the $249 consumer price point was too high — and the software pipeline of new games was six months behind — so Fils-Aimé made a bet that massively paid off.

“We decided to execute a massive $80 price reduction to rebuild momentum until the new software was available,” he says. “And we provided free digital games to early buyers … to keep them as positive ambassadors for the device.”

The result? “Nintendo 3DS went on to sell more than 75 million devices during its lifetime.” Now that’s a high score.

Disrupting the Game by Reggie Fils-Aimé is available now.

5.3 Billion

Nintendo games sold since 1983

[Source]

• “I was in my office by 7:30 a.m. … I had done all my preparation for [all-day] meetings the day prior.”
• “My morning ritual would be to respond to overnight emails from Japan and to review reports on the current progress of the business against our objectives. This would include daily updates on revenue and the performance of new game or system launches.”
• “I still get up early every day and spend the morning digesting information that helps me create ideas and business hypotheses that shape discussions with fellow board members or other executives that I advise.”

Is it possible to trademark the most common word in the English language? (We just used it twice in the previous sentence. And there it was again!)

The Ohio State University tried and succeeded. It now enjoys an official claim on the word “the” as granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which turned down the same request a few years ago but finally relented. (Buckeyes have long been sensitive to including “the” when asked where they went to school. Ask a graduate!)

Don’t worry, this trademark protection doesn’t extend to use in everyday speech. It only applies to the school’s branded products such as athletic clothing — which bring in more than $12.5 million annually — so lawyers aren’t going after any business that happens to use “the.” In any case, perhaps Mark Zuckerberg was ahead of the curve when he shortened “the Facebook”?

(Source: Instagram)

“Disruption is hard work.  Most organizations are set up to handle the ‘regular business’ in an orderly and efficient manner. But disrupting a business means that you are implementing new and typically complex initiatives.”

— Reggie Fils-Aimé

Written by Antonio Ferme and Jane Meggitt.