Nov 15, 2005
Branding is a hot topic these days. Much of it revolves around the concept of what is called "experiential" branding -- creating a positive experience for your customers. To build a brand that’s a positive asset, a brand platform should be built on your company values, communicated to all your employees and then implemented consistently in all your business processes, marketing materials, communications, and behavior.
Brand Management must be driven by the top management of a company or the brand will drift. They must ensure that everyone in the company understands the company’s brand vision, support development of processes for delivering brand assets consistently across multiple media, and they must be zealous about “policing” the brand.
In order to communicate what your brand stands for to all employees, there must be Vision. That vision needs to be articulated to all employees and, in particular, should be part of every new hire's training. The three key elements of branding are:
- What you look like -- Image
- What you say -- Message
- What you do -- Behavior
Image is not just a logo -- it goes beyond that. Beyond the visual image of your branded materials, your company “persona” is part of your overall brand image. Your executives and employees are ambassadors of your brand. How they interact with customers, how they behave in the business setting and sometimes personally, and even how they look, impact a company’s “image.”
Message is the set of words that are used to communicate about your company and its products or services. It’s not just your tag line. It’s not just the description of your company. All your communications should capture the fundamental elements of your business philosophy, product features, and corporate values.
Behavior is a critical component of brand creation. It's the context in which people experience your brand. How any of your employees -- customer service reps, sales personnel, technical support reps -- interact with customers has a direct impact on your brand.
The bottom line is that building a strong brand depends on everyone in the organization. It’s not just the job of the marketing and advertising departments. It’s the result of customer service, product performance, employee behavior. When the whole organization conveys a consistent Image and clear Message through all Means of marketing materials and customer interactions it will create measurable brand value. Studies show that aligning internal business processes with brand vision leads to increased profitability.
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