|
[ March 2004 ]
Key Principles of Brand Alignment.
by Michel Hogan
First understand what’s
true.
Brand is how you are perceived – it is born of the many actions, thoughts and messages of an organization over a period of time. These originate from the true core of the company and cannot be manufactured. Trying to put a brand face that is aspirational, not built on some facet of truth, never works. It is more important that a brand be true than it be different (or duplicative). The truth about who you are is most often found in the origins of the company. And while many feel that with the fast pace of change, history is less important than in times past, there are numerous companies that prove its value. The founder of adidas, Adi Dassler was a committed athlete and founded adidas with the goal “…to provide each athlete with the best footwear for his respective discipline.” Taking that original spirit of the company forward today Adidas “…stands to be the leader with sporting brands built on a passion for competition and a sporting lifestyle” represented in their ongoing promise – forever sport. This gives them a point of focus to drive decisions and development throughout the global company.
It’s a commitment… not a
campaign.
Strong brands cannot be bought. They take time to develop, take root and grow. Perhaps one of the most overlooked principles of brand is patience. Even when a brand is built on truth there may be practices and policies within your organization that need to shift to be in alignment with the underlying foundation of your brand. As with overall business goals, your brand requires commitment top to bottom and across your organization. For example – from the beginning Volvo set the underlying foundation of the Volvo brand as safety “… cars are driven by people. The guiding principle behind everything we make at Volvo, therefore is and must remain safety…”
That continues to be reflected from yesterday to today across all aspects of their business, even when safety wasn’t cool, they held that ideal.
Don’t confuse
who you are with what you do.
Over time strong products and services can overwhelm your organization’s brand. While what you do can, should and will change over time, the core foundation underlying them – the who – will not. THAT is your brand. Remember people buy things from companies, not from products – seems obvious – but it is amazing how many people forget to look to the deeper reasons their company exists. And without that deeper reason, growth into new areas is difficult, painful and often out of alignment with who the company is. Technology start-ups founded on a singular idea or product are particularly prone to this; The company is born out of the product which is in turn so closely tied to the company that when the time comes to grow building the necessary separation becomes expensive at best, at worst, next to impossible.
Have a consistent conversation.
What you say as an organization internally top to bottom and side to side, and externally to your partners, customers – anyone you touch must be consistent. But beyond that it must completely align with your actions and thoughts. How many times have you responded to something said by a company only to have what was said disproved by their actions? Remember that feeling? When you say one thing and do another – whether it is with an employee or a customer – that feeling is the result. Telecommunications companies are well known for touting great customer service and then leaving any customer who needs help lost in a endless holding pattern. Or perhaps you have worked for a company that claimed to value employee input only to ignore and undermine any attempts by employees to provide useful suggestions. It’s simple – if you can’t live up to it – don’t say it. Period. If you do say it – do everything in your power to live it.
Never brand just for the neighbors.
One of the first things organizations do in the “rush” to reinvigorate a business is to develop the snappy new logo and tagline; update the website; throw together a new brochure. But branding for the neighbors is just that – you paint the house, trim the hedge, mow the lawn and plant a few flowers, but what if things inside tell a different story? A recent example saw Gateway computers venture down this road. Jettisoning their beloved cow icon in favor of another generic “try to be cool” approach was quickly shown to be out of sync with who they were – because at their core they were still about the “everyday” person. The “new brand” launched in Oct 2002 lasted under six months before a return to their foundation as the computers for everyday people (and cow icon updated as a box was reinstated). If your effort to “brand” is
only about appearances without being supported by principles
1-4 then all you have done is give yourself a makeover. That
might feel good for a while, but eventually the “real” you
reappears. What now?
|
