I have been talking to many people within various industries and market segments-healthcare, business and industry, and college and university directors.
We have been talking about their brands. What is their brand? What is their talking logo? What do they do and for whom? How?
People were very inconsistent within one organization in the services and goods that they provided. I spoke to their customers and inconsistency was rampant.Inconsistency can lead to many things-poor morale, lack of united vision, poor sales, poor product/service image, etc.
Create a unified brand within your organization. The message needs to be embraced, understand and clear throughout every department, division, etc… If you are a company that selling widgets every department needs to have the same consistent message.
I decided to research and google on the internet and it revealed this as a problem for many organizations. Technology companies, coffee companies, food francishes.
You need to match your brand within your organization (internal branding) with your online brand (marketing materials, social media).
You need to decide who you want to be and then be that. Decide what brand you’re creating and then embody it online, offline, and in between line. Get over the brand identity crisis.
Brand disconnects hurt you because they weaken who you are in the eyes of your customer. It forces them to question your honesty and your authenticity.
Your brand is much more than just a logo. It’s who you are. I have been reinforcing this in my speaking presentations and in my business of consultation. Part of creating that brand means making sure that everything you do remain consistent with the image you’re trying to create. It doesn’t matter if the interaction is taking place online, offline, or through some hybrid – you need to build your brand on intrinsic values and remain consistent. Say, act, and produce what you are saying. Perception can become reality.
In order to protect your brand, you need to develop a strategy for how you’re going to keep it consistent. That means figuring out the voice, who you are and what channels are appropriate for what your brand is about. Follow up on those strategies. That means regular and consistent timing of internal communications, social media contributions, and external communications. It means watching your influences on social media and what they are saying, following up with your customers to see their expectations, checking the pulse of your employees, etc…Be consistent and it will lead to a unified brand and will yield positive results.
How are you going to make sure you do it better?
MARSHA DIAMOND 