Learning #3 – Live your brand
3rd December, 2021
Our light-hearted learnings for 2021
In learning #3, we talked about the importance of communicating your story when it comes to creating an effective brand, but there is more work to do! If you really want your brand to burst into life and offer customers authentic engagement, you need to be ‘living’ it.
What does this mean? Well, this is where brand values come into play. Your brand values are the characteristics of your organisation that you most prize; they are the guiding principles by which your entire organisation should live and they are translatable into actions and decisions.
We believe that, if you live brand values internally, they will be felt externally. Your customers, partners and stakeholders will get a real sense of the business’ personality through consistent and engaging interactions, and it will be easier to build lasting relationships with them. Nothing builds brand loyalty like relationships… this is truly an investment in your future.
It can seem a daunting task to embed values across your organisation, but if your brand values are truly established they soon become the culture. Every single employee has their role to play, both in creating and maintaining the culture. The brand should be clearly articulated to each and every staff member and they should be empowered to confidently live the brand values, recognising their own ability to build the brand and enhance it’s value. However, don’t forget that each individual employee also has the ability to damage the brand, and that’s why culture is key – you want the whole choir to be singing from the same song sheet (even the bad singers, like me).
Seasonal solution: Brainstorm some creative ideas to engage your employees and make sure they know why the brand exists and what it is fighting for. Give them a reason for getting out of bed each morning to deliver their absolute best! If nothing else, make sure your values are memorable and meaningful. “The best way to spread ‘brand values cheer’, is singing loud for all to hear.”
