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Marketers have long
been focused on becoming more memorable in the eyes of their target
audience, whether it is in B2C markets or B2B markets. As firms attempt to
leverage their core competencies to strengthen their competitive
advantage, increasingly there is an emerging need to unify the external
brand with the internal brand -which is comprised of brand
values, brand behaviours and the personality of the
brand. The BrandNews spring
2007 edition outlined the 'shift from varying degrees of reaction to
new levels of interaction' as a best practice when branding in
external markets. This next phase of the branding evolution is becoming
widely adapted by many firms for the main purpose of building a stronger,
more memorable, and integrated brand. Brand Matters had
the opportunity to participate in a global branding conference
mid-September in New York City. While the conference had a financial
services sector branding focus, the branding insights that were shared
encapsulated best practices across many industries. In our fall
newsletter, we thought it would be of interest to our readers to share
some of the key branding insights that were discussed at the
conference. A key theme of the
conference was the need to engage employees in the branding process, just
as engaging consumers is required in best external branding practices. The
remainder of the article outlines four ways that organizations can most
effectively achieve employee engagement in the branding
process. 1. Involve the
Organization Involve employees by soliciting input during the
design, testing, and refinement steps in the internal branding process. It
is natural that when individuals are involved in the development or design
process that they feel an increased share of ownership over the end
product. In this instance, the end product (market positioning, customer
promise) will seem intangible but in actuality will not be once it has
been implemented and engrained into the organization (if done
successfully) so employees will be able to see how their input makes a
difference. Employees must not
only be involved during the initial phases but also in an on-going way
since a brand is such a malleable, and dynamic entity. Employees must have
an opportunity for long-term brand engagement; this can be accomplished by
offering on- going brand-interaction experiences and brand training (for
example, communicating the internal brand on web media or sharing brand
stories -a topic which will be discussed next). 2. Tell
Stories Companies are telling stories as an internal
communications tool in the internal branding training process. These
communications include showcasing external activities internally, as well
as discussing relevant activities of other organizations internally.
Internal storytelling will give employees a more tangible and accessible
feeling over the external brand. This will enhance their understanding of
how the internal brand should align with the external brand. Stories from
other organizations will help broaden individuals understanding and teach
best practices from other players to apply to their own internal brand.
For example, GE Money uses Starbucks to help teach employees about
customer experience - consider the added insight this provides GE due to
the close fit between the Starbucks customer experience and GE's core
organizational value of integrity. At GE, not only are employees
receiving internal branding training but so too are senior managers
through the current 'customer-centric transformation' initiative. Training
at all levels of the organization, as is occurring at GE, ensures
everyone's behaviours are aligned with the internal
brand. Storytelling should
not only focus on events in the past, but it should also involve the
future. Paint the future using visuals highlighting the company vision and
the direction of the company to spur employees' imaginations with wonder,
intrigue, and a sense of ownership. Engage current
internal brand detractors with a story: educate these individuals with
stories to help ease their knowledge gaps and thus address their tendency
to fear the unknown. Transparency is required, in other words, mix the bad
with the good and outline how the 'bad' is being rectified to avoid any
reoccurrences. There is a saying
that smart people learn from their mistakes, and smarter people learn from
other people's mistakes. Organizations should explore stories of success
and failure that are both internal and external to their organization in
order to optimize their internal branding process. Throughout the
process of 'storytelling', organizations must remember that the role of
internal communications is to pull the viewer in as well as to entertain
them, rather than in the past when it was sufficient to do one or the
other. 3. Engineer
Epiphany - Freedom Within a Framework Ask employees questions that
will lead them to the right answers. This is not to 'trick' individuals
into believing something, but instead this process seeks active processing
from those exposed. This 'open- ended' interaction allows employees to put
their own spin on the internal brand being communicated. There are dangers
associated with allowing employees to infer some aspects on their own, the
largest being internal brand inconsistencies within the organization, but
as long as the 'big idea' is clearly conveyed all employees will have a
central point from which to decipher the internal brand. The main benefits of
using this approach are threefold; (1) the increased ownership that
employees will feel over the internal brand, (2) the more memorable it
will become, and (3) most importantly, the more likely employees will be
to accept and adopt the new internal brand. 4. Demonstrate
Internal Branding Results At the branding conference, UBS stressed
the importance of linking the brand strategy to the business strategy
using organizational input. This will gain leadership buy-in and enable
the organization to see the brand beyond advertising. In order for the
internal brand to permeate deeply into organizational crevices, it must
provide value to employees. Value generation comes from increasing
individuals' performance or by making their jobs easier. Employees must
see what is in it for them in order for the internal brand to receive
credibility and thus acceptance and adoption. An internal brand on
paper is a good start; however, it must be developed, and maintained
-essentially operationalized, in a way that employees will whole-
heartedly want to live and breathe it. Re-branding internally is more
difficult than re-branding externally but the payoff of a harmonized
organization, governed by a unified brand, is well worth the time, money
and effort. Upcoming Industry Brand Events Federated Press,
Power of Branding Conference, Toronto, October 10-11. Brand Matters to
present a case study on integrated branding. Register by calling
1.800.363.0722 or visit www.federatedpress.com. Canadian Society
of Association Executives, Hamilton, October 20. Brand Matters to
deliver an internal branding workshop. Register at www.csae.com. American
Marketing Association, Toronto, November 29. Brand Matters to develop
and moderate a discussion panel entitled 'B2B Marketing - What it takes to
win?' To register, simply call 647- 393- 9649.
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