Global Branding and Teamwork: Brand as a Bridge

As the founder of a Canadian branding company, Brand Matters, I am participating as a branding expert in a global branding project with the International Standards Organization (ISO). This standards project pertains to the challenging process of evaluating an intangible asset such as brand. The work involves bi-annual meetings and on-going committee work. A central mainframe system hosts our work in Germany through ISO with a secretariat based in Beijing coordinating our committee timelines and group efforts.

At the start of this project, two years ago, I expected the content of our work to be the most interesting aspect of this endeavour. However, by far the most fascinating aspect of our work, to date, is in fact how we work together as a multi-cultural team of branding and financial experts. In fact, our 16 person team represents nine distinct global cultures ranging from Austria to China to the U.S.A. This ISO initiative is being sponsored by the China Council for Brand Development (CCBD) and therefore benefits from strong Chinese representation.

Patience is a Virtue

Patience is more than a virtue it is a requirement as we work at a pace that ensures consistent, cross-cultural understanding with progress against our objectives often requiring a majority vote if not full consensus. Moreover, leadership of this initiative demands strong listening skills and a conciliatory style rather than a tough or commanding approach to communication and group decision making.

Global Branding as a Bridge

It is encouraging that brand can serve as the bridge that brings together diverse global business perspectives. The commonalities of best branding and measurement practices include customer focus, the importance of understanding competition, and the need for on-going measurement. The results of our work will soon be published and used as a set of guiding principles by global business organizations and professional marketing associations. In effect, this small team of international brand and finance experts will serve as a bridge to more consistent brand evaluation practices globally.

I look forward to our next meeting in Milan, Italy June 2018.