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Due to the interest I’ve gotten on a recent blog entry which was a commentary on a business article I had read on employee value, and the discussion it sparked, I thought it might be a good idea to do more than comment on someone else’s opinions on the topic....
What is this concept dubbed “Internal Branding” anyway?
Basically, it’s an organizational strategy to train company employees and align them with the corporate brand and its values. That can’t happen unless the employees truly understand the company brand. And, in my view, each and every employee is an important part of the company whole.
We can debate corporate structure and hierarchy all day long, and try to peg people when laying out the corporate flow chart, but bottom line: every employee either contributes to the company’s brand or impacts it in a negative manner.
Internal branding is crucial to a company’s success. All of the fancy branding initiatives aimed at the customer are meaningless, if the company’s employees are not brand ambassadors to their customers, and that goes for B2B and B2C companies alike, because its customers are either other companies or consumers.
Human contact is the most critical touch point in any business. Some employees may not see themselves as brand ambassadors because they do not interface with the customer, but the quality of their job performances, and their very attitudes, either build the brand or devalue it.
If company employees understand and embrace the corporate brand, each of the following questions can be answered with a resounding “Yes”!
- Do the company’s employees believe in its core brand values, and in its product or service offerings?
- Do they personally take ownership of the brand and faithfully represent it in word and action as they carry out their duties and responsibilities as well as their all-important interactions with the customer?
- Do they buy into the company’s vision and mission, and do they understand the purpose of its branding objectives?
Many employees mistakenly believe that branding initiatives come from the marketing department. They think that marketing and advertising, packaging, promotions, point of sale, special offers and bonus programs are corporate branding initiatives. It is management’s job #1 to teach their employees that superior customer service is the most important brand initiative of all.
Creating great customer experiences are the ultimate objective of branding, and as I said, the human to human points of interaction between employees and customers are the most important component of branding. More companies need to understand the reasons for and principles of internal branding and employ them. By doing so, they will build their brands on very solid foundations and create unique cultures within their organizations.
Building a corporate brand, from the inside out, is the most solid way I know of to be able to meet the challenge of growing competition, and to build true brand equity. And that translates into real company value.
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Comments
Ted,
Great post. Whether it’s an internal branding campaign or an initiative to build and leverage customer advocacy front line employees and in fact every employee becomes a critical link in the process.
Jet Blue is an oft mentioned example of a company that works hard to be aligned in this manner.
Beyond that, the CMO Group Leadership Board at Forrester Research recently published a report titled The Marketing of Marketing that speaks to a similar idea. A core premise is that marketing success is a function of co-dependencies with other functions and people within the company. In order for marketing to succeed and drive growth, CMOs must prepare an internal marketing plan and execute it with the same rigor with which they approach their external plans. In this manner they can build influence, credibility and support for key programs like internal branding, loyalty, advocacy, that rely on other people within the company who don't reporting to marketing but who are key for successful implementation.
Marketers can’t just start talking about great customer experiences and expect everyone to get in line. But as the stewards of brands marketing needs to own this process and the experience. Taking a sub set of the best practices outlined in the Marketing of Marketing report, CMO’s who execute and invest time and energy to educate their peers, proactively collaborate so as to add value for others and engage openly in two way communications, will have an advantage when it comes to internal branding, employee support, and the delivery of great experiences, brands and cultures.
Make sense to you?
Posted by: Dwight Griesman | 08.03.06
Ted, this post is important information for my company, which is facing the challenge of weak internal branding and loyalty. I'm giving a presentation this afternoon about brand management and will include this piece in my handouts (properly attributed, of course). Thanks for the great material!
Posted by: Susan Cergol | 08.07.06