Sweat the small stuff. Communicate the wrong message with any part of your organization and you make your branding job that much harder.  In football the analysts focus on how well the Offense is performing, or how well the Defense is shutting down the other team. But close games are usually decided by the Special Teams.  If they don’t maximize yardage, then they’re working against their own team’s Offensive or Defensive effectiveness.  Same with brands.

Employees.  Your employees and your organizational culture determine the quality of work your organization achieves.  Work tirelessly towards aligning their outlook with what your brand communicates.  If your brand cares about the environment, make sure your employees care about it too.  I’ve personally witnessed many companies whose products preach being green, yet their office has no recycling bins for used paper.  Hippocrisy at its best. And the staff takes note of this.  Their statements about the company to their peers now become empty.  With time this detracts from your purpose and brand impact.

Management.  Yes, they should live the brand as well.  Richard Branson lives for adventure. Virgin’s businesses consist of adventure.  Steve Jobs wore jeans and sneakers because Apple stood for anti-establishment.  Bill Gates dressed like an overworked accountant for a reason.  Windows at one point dominated corporate computing.  See a trend?

Correspondence.  Your email signatures are another chance to brand yourself.  Seems straightforward, but if you aim to be edgy, add some edge to what your email signature says.  Don’t miss any opportunity.

Company site.  Does your brand evangelize your customers’ right to self-expression?  Then think twice about limiting the types of comments that can be Continue reading →