Know-How Exchange : Branding

Although I have never really classified any of my previous and current exploits as "living the brand" (a term coined by the WOWappeal Program), I have done and am doing this very thing.

Obviously, communication and persistance is the key. I always start out with a coporate-wide memo which briefly outlines the parameters of the new branding. Next, I meet with the upper and middle managers of each department to give them specific details of the new practices to pass down and enforce to their subordinates.

If the company is small enough to have everyone in a conference room or auditorium for a corporate meeting, I would recommend a detailed explaination and some a Q&A session coupled with a detailed explaination of how the new brand will affect specific roles. If the company is too big, break the meetings up into departments, starting with the most vital: sales, marketing, customer service, AR. etc...everyone who has direct contact with your consumers.

Pass out t-shirts, pens, scribble pads, mouse pads, new templates for the telephones to serve as reminders, etc. The idea is to continuously pound the new brand into everyone's head. It's very much like starting a new job at a similar firm and having to learn THEIR brand versus the one you used to work for. If you ask your employees to approach it in this manner, it may avoid some confusion.

Get rid of EVERYTHING pertaining to the previous brand so people are not tempted to revert.

You can hire teams and/or branding experts to come in and write out a specific plan and host all of this for you. Feel free to send me an email if you would like some recommendations.

Good Luck! I hope this helps!

Hello Kreitman,

Yes. I work with a group of colleagues on these types of programs. We call it Brand Community Alignment and we use a six step process to help connect people with the brand and turn them into brand ambassadors:

• Awareness
• Education
• Buy-in
• Actions
• Results
• Recognition

To support brand awareness and education, it is important to use your existing and design new professional development programs. It is also valuable to build creative tools to help community members understand and nurture the brand. Some of the items we typically develop include:

• Creative brand clarity tools
• Identity standards and guidelines
• Training programs and tools
• Interactive tools
• Customized contests
• Brand steward awards
• Brand events

I hope this helps. Bravo to you for thinking about living the brand. Even among large clients employee brand building is often overlooked. I believe it is the single biggest opportunity to build and communicate the brand. If you need more info, don’t hesitate to contact me.

Best.
William
www.reachcc.com
What have you done for YOUR brand today?