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Internal branding: marketing and human resources
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With the growing recognition that the brand promise
must go beyond the logo and permeate throughout
the organization, Human Resources has become a
natural partner for Marketing. At a recent AMA
roundtable in Toronto, leading marketers and human
resource professionals discussed the new shared
responsibility.
At the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), Cheryl
Blackman, Director Visitor Experience, works hand in
hand with Marketing to find unique and exciting ways
to give the brand message of ‘wonder and
inspiration’. “The goal is to tear down walls, bring
people together, and focus on the brand promise. We
actively seek out front-line brand champions.”
Cheryl chairs a weekly committee, developing action
plans with the management program. These have
included ‘hard hat’ construction tours, led by the
ROM CEO. Valerie Taylor, Director Marketing and
Sales, explained: “It’s not all about the logo. At the
ROM, the catalyst for our new brand is the new
building. Staff see the new brand happening. Two
committees help bring different people together.”
“Today’s HR needs to be a business person first; a
business partner, delivering programs that help build
the brand and help build business,” agreed Gary
Burkett – Managing Director HR, Federal Express. He
explained how Fed Ex has several very different and
independent companies; the one unifying link is their
brand promise – the Purple Promise. Brenda
McWilliams, Managing Director Marketing,
added: “The Purple Promise gives people merging
from different backgrounds something to connect to
and explains what they need to be doing. The Purple
Promise says ‘I’ll make every Fed Ex experience
superb.’ It’s galvanizing.”
HR helps keep the purple promise alive through
selection and training, and with a recognition and
rewards program. For example, a global program for
hourly employees ties Purple Promise performance
into variable compensation
The roundtable was moderated by Patricia McQuillan,
President & Founder of Brand Matters Inc.
Marketing trends:
the new brand metrics
As organizations devote more funding to brand
development, many marketers find themselves
wrestling with the need to demonstrate to board
members and shareholders that these efforts are
resulting in tangible pay-back. Stakeholders want
to see the ROI; they want quantifiable results from
their brand building investment.
But how do you draw a hard data link between the
customer experience and business success? How do
you produce hard numbers that benchmark employee
engagement with the brand promise?
Tina Rosenstein, Market Research Director of
Brand Matters, recommends measuring employee
engagement through an Employee Survey
process that customizes the questionnaire to a
client’s brand strategy/customer promise.This is a
key process for benchmarking employee engagement
and assessing organizational gaps versus desired
brand behaviours,” says Tina. She stresses the
importance of creating a two-way mechanism to gain
continued employee feedback and sustain and
measure progress against the brand. “When you
demonstrate how internal efficiency and service is
being increased, it helps operations understand the
value of brand.”
Brand Matters also employs a variety of qualitative
and quantitative market research methodologies to
measure brand effectiveness, including focus group
moderation and quantitative online surveys.
Today’s brand has to be seen as a business tool.
Effective brand metrics places a dollar value on the
brand and demonstrate its absolute value to the
organization.
Upcoming industry brand events
American Marketing Association - November 23,
2006: Internal Branding - the next trend. Brand
Matters will be moderating a panel of brand experts
including Starbucks and AMEX. This panel typically
sells out – pre-register soon - non-members are
welcome.
To register contact: info@ama-toronto.com
Federated Press - December 6, 2006: 5th Annual
Power of Branding Conference.
Brand Matters will be participating in a lively panel
discussion at this 5th Annual Branding Conference.
More details and registration information is available
through: kevin_strychalski@federatedpress.com
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This newsletter is published by Brand Matters, a
management consulting firm that
specializes in brand assessment, repositioning and
implementation. With Patricia McQuillan at the helm,
the firm has delivered success-driven results for a
variety of renowned organizations. This newsletter
was sent to friends, clients and associates of Brand
Matters.
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