Branding from the Inside
Think of marketing or branding and you could be forgiven if you thought this encompassed a primary focus upon sales, the brand’s position, or even the customer. Just as critical and often omitted in this equation are employees, your brand’s ambassadors and the very people who carry the brand to make it meaningful to the customer.
In the midst of marketing executives developing brand campaigns, we wonder how this crucial element has been so often overlooked by most companies. Ask any group of employees and many will readily admit they don’t actually believe in their brand, feel disengaged or even quite hostile towards it, or the company. By building an employer brand your internal teams are given a powerful emotional connection to the products, services and the company.
Decline of the brand promise results because employees simply don’t understand or can’t relate to what the company has promised the public, and often unwittingly undermine expectations created by the company in its communications with the customer base (advertising messages etc), or sometimes even work at cross-purposes to it. We all want employees who believe in the brand and who are motivated to go that ‘extra mile’, staying committed and working harder. Trust and loyalty to the company then also increases.
Many CEO’s underestimate and are unable to relate to the countless true opportunities that organisational and employer branding present, i.e. that brand is a powerful business asset and by aligning this through business processes and internal culture, brand acts as the ultimate source of competitive advantage for your company. If having unified and inspired employees (with common purpose and identity) is such a primary goal for companies, why is it internal employer branding is performed so poorly, if at all?
As leaders we should guide our teams of employees to better understand and have a passion for our company’s brand vision. It’s so much greater than simply recognising a need to have regular communication and/or keep employees informed of company strategy and direction. Brand revolves around applying principles and behaviours which enable your employees to ‘live’ that brand vision day-to-day. When this happens, your customers are much more likely to experience your company’s services or products in ways which consistently deliver upon the Brand Promise. Sometimes, as organisations undergo fundamental change or challenges, their employees require and seek direction; this makes them even more receptive to brand initiatives, such as clearer articulation of what makes your company unique; differentiated from its competitors etc.
The timing has never been more perfect (following the fallout of GFC) to be addressing your company brand internally. However, ensure there’s definite synergy between the internal and external communications, because without this alignment it will confuse employees, and potentially negatively influence their perceptions of the company’s integrity, not to mention, limit their abilities to effectively deliver upon customer expectations.
Focus upon your company and employer brand, conduct internal campaigns which influence the way your people think and carry out their functions, from selling, naming products, customer touch points…everything. Think of this external & internal equation as end-to-end branding, even your customer marketing will prove more prevalent because those messages have been developed based on not only your company’s strengths and capabilities, but your employees’ behaviour and attitude.
Do your employees understand and/or relate to the Brand Vision? Do they regularly consider whether or not they’re supporting the brand with each and every decision or action they take? Employer branding develops more competitive Employee Value Propositions to position your organisation as an employer of choice in your market and counters your competitors who threaten to poach your quality people with higher financial incentives.
Market research also plays a central role to understanding employees; most organisations don’t even invest in this greater understanding of their employees’ opinion of the brand (whether that is through any focus groups, in-depth interviews, or surveys). Mapping findings from these initiatives gives you an indicative picture of the company’s overarching culture (and different subcultures). If you can identify and understand employee feelings, you can tailor the internal branding campaign accordingly, utilising specific metrics which may include engagement, morale, empowerment, leadership and communication etc. This level of research most benefits your company when it comes down to implementation especially if, for example, a subculture of resistance has been identified, greater attention can then be directed at any resisters when executing brand initiatives.
Employees should be considered the most critical asset to your company’s business, and end-to-end branding avoids the creation of brand messages which don’t resonate with your employees; or worse, which build resentment. Strategic consideration of both the organisational and employer brand signals that your company is not only transparent but takes its team pledge very seriously. In truth then, this exercise is about weaving your brand throughout the entire fabric of your organisation to positively impact on all the ways your employees and customers experience the workplace.