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Brand delivery is a choice
by: Dr. David Hyatt, President and Partner
The older I get, the smarter my parents become. For more years than I care to remember, my folks have advised me in subtle (and when I needed it, not so subtle) ways that we are defined by the choices we make. While few would argue with the truthfulness of this statement, some may question what it has to do with the topic of this month's newsletter.
In order to clarify how "choices" drive your brand, let's take a step back and define "brand" so that we are all speaking the same language. At Corvirtus, we define a brand as the meaning a consumer attributes to your organization as a result of the interactions they (or people they communicate with) have with you. This definition implies a number of things. First, it implies that your brand may or may not be what you intend it to be. Second, what really matters is what your consumer thinks and feels about your brand, not what you want them to think and feel about it. Third, it implies that you don't necessarily have to interact with a consumer for them to have a sense of who you are. Thanks to the explosion of social media (thank you Twitter!) it is easier than ever for consumers to have a perception of you based on someone else's experience! Finally, it implies that every choice you make has the potential to make an impact on the meaning you create in the hearts and minds of your consumer. Given those conclusions, where do you start to ensure that the brand you want to have is the brand that you actually have? The answer, as we have discussed in the past, has two primary components: clear articulation of the consumer experience you want to create and ensuring that your talent at all levels of the organization have what it takes to deliver that experience.
So, what does this have to do with the increasing wisdom of my parents? Simple, everything you do and every choice you make affects the meaning you create and the consistency of your consumers' experiences. Given that, why would you leave the biggest drivers of your consumers' experiences to chance? Why wouldn't you choose to care as much about how you select, develop, and retain your talent as you do crafting the message you deliver through your advertising and marketing? To thrive in today's competitive environment we would all do well to remember that it's all about the choices.
Building your brand and why it is important to your business
by: Rhea Costandine, Marketing Manager
I have a very simple question for you: What is your brand? I posed this question recently to a group of people and received many different answers and a lot of confusion. In the past, the term "brand" was easy to define. It consisted of a very basic view of your company's face to the world - a name, logo, and a statement of how your products or services were of value. Now answering this very simple question has become quite complex. With the evolution of business, and with an increasingly complex customer who demands more, the term "brand" has gone well beyond a logo and a tag line. While these are important elements, how your organization delivers your brand is also an important piece of the puzzle. In an effort to differentiate, companies now are carefully constructing a positive brand image through multiple channels of the customer experience to gain a lasting relationship with today's more savvier customer. With the new found popularity of social media, the deluge of customer feedback is immediate and often can be fierce. A company must not only examine their reputation in the sea of competition and find ways to differentiate, but it must also make certain it consistently delivers on that differentiating promise. With a multitude of new brand defining concepts to juggle into the customer experience, it might leave you wondering, "How can I get my customer to truly experience my brand and build a relationship that lasts?"
While there is no way to provide a foolproof answer to this question, there are ways you can increase consistent brand delivery in your organization. Building positive brand equity starts with the people you hire and trust to deliver your true brand experience as they ultimately determine how your brand is perceived. Many organizations have frontline employees who directly interact with the customer on a daily basis. In these types of organizations, employees will always be the most critical touchpoint because they are responsible for providing those memorable interactions with your customers. In addition, many forward thinking companies are taking note of the role social media is playing in managing the customer experience. Companies like Toys R Us and Zappos (and many others) have employees monitoring social media networks and many have built social media customer pages to have a direct connection with their customers. This is not only a smart way to alleviate customer complaints and protect a company's reputation on the web, but it gives the customer a way to have a direct relationship with your business, which is essential to build loyalty. Although social media does offer many opportunities for businesses to connect with the customer, it is not the holy grail of customer experience. It is just as important (if not more) to safeguard the type of experience your business creates in face-to-face interactions. To achieve this, it is critical to have the right frontline employees in place with the personality and skills needed to ensure your customers' expectations are met.
So, why is all of this so critical to your business? The answer is simple; if your company is not able to reconcile your brand's message (call it a promise if you like) with what the customer is truly experiencing, it could be very costly to the bottom-line. The memory your customer carries of your brand is more important than ever. Whether you are able to deliver (or not) on your brand promises will determine what type brand you are and the amount of loyalty you are in position to gain.
Bridging the gap between your intended brand and brand delivery
by: Dr. Bobby Baker, Vice President
Most, if not all, organizations today aspire to create a specific brand image in the eyes of their consumers. They strive to accomplish this via a variety of channels (e.g., marketing materials, facilities, customer messaging, products, and service). Still, two common misconceptions about what it takes to bring an intended brand to life sizably hinder the accomplishment of this goal in many organizations.
Two common misconceptions of brand delivery:
- Brand delivery happens predominantly as a result of careful planning and communication. It is true that a brand must be thoroughly thought through and planned. It is also true that it takes sound communication to ensure it is delivered appropriately. However, this is not nearly enough to ensure that a brand fully springs to life. Organizational leaders must also continually monitor the actual delivery of the brand at the management, employee, and customer level. A brand that is not continually nurtured and rewarded across all of these levels will eventually dilute into something far from what was originally intended.
- A brand is a reflection of the tangible part of the business. In truth, a brand does not simply reflect product or service delivery, facilities, physical appearance, or consumer messaging. It is all this and much more. The experience delivered to consumers and, most importantly, the memories that this experience creates, are the most important factor when it comes to developing long-term brand recognition. Not surprisingly, these all-important memories are created by an organization's people.
How to ensure brand delivery through your people
Any intended brand is delivered by an organization's people. Regardless of what an organization's intended brand is all about, the following six foundational brand accelerators are a must. Front-line employees must show full engagement, positive spirit, and brand awareness. Front-line managers must provide clear direction, create a sense of community, and give their employees the license to succeed. In order to create brand ambassadors amongst your customers, you must first create brand ambassadors amongst your employees.
Further, all people-related assessments (e.g., hiring tests, employee surveys, customer surveys, performance evaluations) must be aligned and must tangibly embrace the spirit of the intended brand. This goes all the way from the assessments used to hire managers and employees to the surveys used to appraise customer satisfaction. All too often, organizational assessments are designed independent of each other and frequently do not encompass aspects that are foundational to an organization's intended brand.
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