7 Secrets to Nurturing an Effective Internal Brand as Culture

Here are 7 critical things they’re doing right.

1. Give employees something to believe in.

Employees are the all-important bridge between strategy and execution. For the brand to be relevant to the customer, it needs to be relevant to employees. The ultimate achievement is to have employees that consistently deliver on the brand promise in an authentic and sustainable way.

That can only happen if they embrace the brand as part of their own collective identity. When they can say with pride and confidence “this is who we are and what we believe in,” and fully understand what that means to their daily work, then brand culture is alive and well.

It’s important to note the difference between non-profits and businesses when it comes to culture. With non-profits, the internal brand drives the external brand, since there is naturally a strong sense of purpose with staff and volunteers from day one. Formal branding brings things into focus, but the passion and collective intent is already there. Organizations in the for-profit world have it a little tougher. They usually need to brand from the outside in, positioning their brand based on opportunity in the marketplace and then asking their people to embrace it.

2. Ensure that leaders walk the talk.

Company leaders must make a conscious effort to lead on brand behaviours – demonstrating the beliefs and values they want their employees to embrace. You cannot inspire, unless you are inspired yourself.

Employees can easily spot insincerity. Surveys conducted in recent years by the Canadian Marketing Association have asked employees whether they believe management in their company walks the talk with respect to brand values. The number continues to hover around a dismal 22%. Successful companies know that inspiring leaders drive inspiring cultures, and they formalize that principle by integrating brand behaviours into management development programs and leadership behaviour.

3. Put someone in charge of internal branding.

One of the challenges of putting theory into practice within an organization is that internal branding touches several divisions. Tasks are typically shared among management positions in marketing, human resources, operations, front-line management and strategy. There is often no one individual or department responsible for strategic development and implementation of the internal brand – the thing that connects every employee to every strategic initiative!

4. Listen to employees and implement their suggestions.

While top-down communication is important, successful companies recognize that their brand is in the hands of employees who “live it” every day. More than just the people who deploy brand directives, employees are in the best position to identify opportunities to create new expressions of the brand. If employees “own” the brand, they will intuitively know when something – a process, policy or program – doesn’t fit within their culture, and will naturally want to change it. On the flip side, if there is no opportunity for them to do so, they may become frustrated and cynical about the brand.

An open door policy for sharing ideas with management can deepen engagement, especially if it is combined with an established process of review, implementation and reporting back to employees. When consulting with LoyaltyOne, Brand Matters developed an employee focus group methodology for that become the best practice for “employee listening” within the organization.

5. Share success stories and reward brand champions.

Demonstrating what’s working by sharing success stories not only celebrates the efforts of those employees who are getting it right, but is an effective way to translate abstract brand concepts into tangible examples employees can relate to.

In addition to recognizing and rewarding exceptional examples on on-brand behaviour, organizations should look for ways to incorporate brand targets into regular performance appraisals and 360-degree feedback initiatives, both for management and employees. Including self-evaluation in the mix is a good way to ensure that the employee understands how their role in the organization is helping to achieve strategic goals related to brand.

6. Budget for internal branding.

Half of the respondents in the CMA’s Internal Branding Benchmarking Study indicated spending less than 10% of their marketing budget on internal branding initiatives. While there is no definitive way to measure the return on investment in internal branding, the cost of not acting strategically is clear. A study by Aon Hewitt of more than 7,000 organizations found that each disengaged employee costs an organization an average of $10,000 in profit annually, largely from low productivity, high absenteeism and high turnover. As the war for talent heats up in the coming years, employee engagement scores will be an important metric.

7. Recognize that internal branding is a continuous process.

Successful companies have developed programs for employee training and motivation to ensure brand behaviours are clear, relevant and fresh. But keeping the momentum going can be a real challenge. Successful internal branding depends on regularly identifying new ways to bring the brand promise to life for the employee – using staff meetings, newsletters, intranet and video. While the overall brand doesn’t change, the behaviours that employees exhibit to bring it to the customer experience can be fine-tuned through training support and frequent assessment.