After understanding the consumer, the second most important step in brand development is training employees to consistently deliver the brand promise. Seeing an organization fully engaged in branding is a rewarding part of my job.
Everyone needs to understand the brand story, its meaning to the consumer and their personal role in its success. Most importantly, employees need to be as emotionally engaged and excited to deliver the brand promise as the consumers are in receiving it.
And it starts at the top of the organization—with senior and middle managers. These leaders should be interviewed to ensure they understand the importance of the branding initiative and participate in identifying ways to create enthusiasm within their departments. The interviews will foster engagement by enabling:
- Managers to have a voice in the branding process and offer valuable insights on organizational issues that might influence strategy implementation.
- The brand development team to identify gaps between employee perceptions and market, consumer and competitive realities.
- Creation of a foundation for communicating expectations and performance metrics for ensuring brand experience consistency.
Organizational alignment is often considered critical to service organizations, but not to manufacturers. Alignment is critical for both. An article written by Interbrand cited evidence that employee motivation and alignment efforts result in better employee performance and stock appreciation. Plus, I have witnessed employees identify new ways to enhance the brand experience and reinforce the brand’s point of differentiation.
Organizational alignment can be seen as a daunting task for many employers. I always assure them that although the climb maybe tough at times, the view at the top is worth it. Let us know if The Bloodhound Group can help you improve your brand performance through better organizational alignment. Check the Services section of our website for more details.