At some point, brands went from recommended to required. As the importance of branding developed, companies became more adept at spreading their values. At a good company, every employee can recite the brand promise forwards and backwards.
Unfortunately, talking about the brand in the mailroom isn’t the same as using it in the boardroom. At too many companies, “brand” is just a buzzword given lip service by executive leadership instead of being what it should be – the impetus behind every decision.
Companies who struggle with this must find a way to allow the brand to emerge from its place as a simple marketing buzzword.
A company’s brand must be the force propelling its mission into action. Brand values not only shape the mission initially, they invite it to shape everyday activity. This influence starts at the top and trickles down to every corner of every department.
It might seem like common sense for a company’s brand to shape its outward-facing decisions, but internal focus is just as important. After all, people are every company’s most valuable asset. Brand values must shape the way employees are managed, and in turn, the company promise will extend to their interactions with customers.
Every single aspect of strategic planning, big and small, should be driven by the brand. Companies that give their brands this kind of prominence operate in a unified way from the top down, and they’re often most successful for that reason. They remove “brand” from the pile of marketing dogma and hand it the steering wheel.
Image via (cc) Steve Snodgrass
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