Your brand is the totality of your company’s reputation, values, and experiences in the minds of your customers. Often times people associate brand building solely with marketing teams and graphic designers, but the truth is that everyone in a organization plays a crucial role in building and maintaining the brand.
Every interaction with a customer and the public shapes your brand’s image, which means everyone from the board room to the mail room plays a role in influencing the brand. We are all brand builders.
Defining a Brand
I’ve said it before – a brand is more than just a name and a logo. It encompasses everything that a company represents, from its values and culture to the products or services it offers. Maintaining a clear and consistent identity sets the stage for creating long term emotional connections with customers.
Apple’s simple stylized logo of an apple with a bite taken out of it represents innovative advances of knowledge and tech through computing. But Apple has successfully upheld this visual symbolism by becoming a brand synonymous with innovation, quality, and design.
Coca-Cola’s visual identity is built around its iconic logo, its classic red and white colors, and unique taste. But as a brand they evoke feelings of happiness, refreshment, and nostalgia in the minds of customers.
Both Apple and Coca Cola see their brand as an entity that extends far beyond their visual identity, and they have used it to help communicate their values and promises to customers for decades.
The Role of Brand Builders
So if every employee in a company is a brand builder, that means everyone from the receptionist to the CEO has a role to play in shaping your brand’s image. Each and every interaction with a customer shapes the impact of your brand.
Think about customer support. These interactions are critical touchpoints where an employee’s behavior has a direct impact on the customer’s perception of the brand. When customer support reps are unresponsive, unhelpful, or dismissive, it can lead to frustration and a negative view of the brand. And those negative interactions can lead to poor reviews, social media backlash, and customer churn – a fact the cable industry has grown all too familiar with in recent years.
But have you ever had interactions with a support rep who is attentive, empathetic, and asks meaningful questions? Have you experienced support sessions where the person helping you goes above and beyond to help? Those types of engagements very naturally lead to positive word-of-mouth marketing, great customer loyalty, and repeat business for the brand. As a business leader, you’ll want to coach your team to strive towards serving customers in that really natural, very human way to inspire that type of loyalty and word-of-mouth marketing.
I remember the first time I visited Chick-fil-a, the Georgia based fast food chicken restaurant. Sure, they’ve got great chicken sandwiches, tasty waffle fries, and a pretty good sweet tea — but what struck me during my first visit was the response from the server when I said “thank you” for my order. He responded immediately with a cheerful “My pleasure!” What an interesting response I thought. I figured it was an isolated remark from a single employee, but over time I began to understand that saying “My pleasure!” instead of “You’re welcome” was a very intentional, strategic, and compelling decision as part of Chick-fil-a’s brand strategy. It’s really quite brilliant, and every Chick-fil-a team member executes it flawlessly regardless of which restaurant you visit.
Brand Consistency
A consistent brand means you’re communicating the same message and identity across all touchpoints. This of course includes visual elements like logos, colors, and typography, as well as your tone of voice and positioning statements used in marketing and customer interactions.
Consistent branding builds trust and recognition with customers and helps to differentiate a brand from its competitors. But inconsistent branding can confuse customers and over time dilute the brand’s message.
In 2012 Volkswagen launched an advertising campaign called “Think Blue”, which focused on environmental sustainability and reducing emissions. The campaign featured commercials with the slogan “Think Blue. Drive Blue.” and encouraged consumers to choose Volkswagen for its environmentally friendly vehicles. But in 2015 it was discovered that the company had installed software in its diesel cars that allowed them to cheat on emissions tests. The incident had a significant impact on Volkswagen’s sales and brand image, and the company has had to work hard to rebuild trust with customers through various initiatives and campaigns.
When Chick-fil-a team members say “My pleasure!” the are reflecting the company’s core values and customer service philosophy, which is to create a friendly and welcoming atmosphere that goes above and beyond the typical fast food experience. By using “My pleasure!” instead of the more generic “You’re welcome,” Chick-fil-A’s employees are communicating to customers that they are genuinely happy to serve them and that their needs are a top priority. Years later, I’ve eaten at Chick-fil-a countless times, but in my life outside of including fried chicken tenders, I’ve even found myself instinctively responding “My pleasure!” when someone thanks me for a job well done.
And guess what I think of when I catch myself saying “My pleasure” to others? Chick-fil-a. And suddenly I’ve got their red and white chicken logo in my head and I’ve subconsciously started making lunch plans. What an incredibly branding strategy, implemented consistently by the company’s front line team members, that goes far beyond a logo!
The Power of Storytelling in Building the Brand
Storytelling is a powerful tool in brand building, and every team member is in a position to bring the brand’s story to life in their daily interactions with customers, prospects, and colleagues.
A strong brand story connects with customers emotionally and creates a sense of loyalty and trust. Outdoor apparel and gear company Patagonia has this nailed.
Their brand story is centered around their commitment to environmental sustainability and the belief that businesses have a responsibility to protect the environment and make a positive impact on society. Patagonia has consistently put this belief into practice through a variety of initiatives, including donating 1% of its sales to environmental causes, and consistently doubling down on their tagline, “We’re in business to save our home planet.”
This was remarkably evident in 2013 when Patagonia launched the “Worn Wear” initiative where they encouraged customers to repair, reuse, and recycle their old Patagonia gear. The campaign aims to reduce the environmental impact of the fashion industry by promoting the idea of owning fewer, high-quality garments that are built to last.
Think about that – a clothing company that encourages customers not to buy more clothing!
In addition to providing repair guides and locations of facilities where customers can fix Patagonia gear, the company also created a short film featuring interviews with people who have owned and loved their Patagonia clothing for years. The film encourages viewers to repair their own clothing and shows the beauty in well-worn garments.
It’s a beautiful storytelling effort that falls in line perfectly with Patagonia’s entire brand vision. By creating high quality, highly durable, useful garments that enable customers to enjoy the great outdoors, they are also helping accomplish their mission of “saving our planet” by reducing the amount of gear that is mindlessly consumed and tossed away.
Finally, Patagonia employees are empowered at all levels to communicate these stories, and lean into the vision of the brand as they engage with customers. Whether purchasing a new article of clothing, or discovering a second, third, or fourth life for a used piece of gear, customers engage with team members who are positioned to help spread the goal of saving the planet every time they interact with Patagonia.
Conclusion
From the receptionist to the CEO, every interaction with a customer shapes a brand’s image. Maintaining consistency in branding and storytelling is key to building a strong brand, and all employees have a role to play in this.
By aligning every employee around the values, goals, and mission of your brand, you can create a culture of brand advocacy that can boost customer loyalty, increase revenue, and improve your reputation. It’s in your hands to empower every employee to become a brand builder, so they can help create a powerful, positive brand image that your customers love and trust.