Sunday, July 01, 2007
The inward-facing brand
Branding discussions usually focus on brands as they're perceived by consumers, but the truth is that the inward-facing dimension of a brand can be just as important.First, let me define "brand." The best definitions I've come across are from Zag, by Marty Neumeier.
When a brand faces outward, it's...
A person’s gut feeling about a product, service or company.
When a brand faces inward, it's...
A strategic filter for questions like “What should we do? What should we make? Who should we make it for? Who should we hire? How should we behave?”
Companies that spend a lot of time, energy, and money on that second dimension of their brand are the ones that ultimately build the strongest brands. Consider two examples:
Apple
John Moore over at Brand Autopsy reports that Apple is giving an iPhone to all their full-time employees. He applauds the move as a brilliant piece example of "marketing to employees":
I am a huge proponent of companies spending marketing money on employees. It's simple. Astonish employees and they will, in turn, astonish customers.Kinko's
While I'd argue that Kinko's brand isn't nearly as strong as it once was, I saw a lot of really effective internal branding efforts when I worked there about 10 years ago. One campaign in particular really stuck with me- in fact, it's my mantra for client relations to this day. The campaign said that the answer to any question from a Kinko's customer is always, "Yes- here's how." It's so simple, but so effective.
Going to a quick printer like Kinko's is oftentimes a frustrating experience. Sometimes it seems like getting the simplest things done there takes forever and means dealing with some jerk behind the counter that fights you every step of the way (recall the Chapelle Show sketch).
Printing is a pretty technical field with a lot of considerations, and customers often ask for things that aren't practical, but nobody likes to hear "no." That's why "Yes- here's how" was such a great piece of internal branding. Need business cards tomorrow? We can do that, here's how. Want 1000 color copies in two hours? I can make that happen, here's how. The "here's how" part usually means making some kind of compromise (like rush fees or using a pre-defined business card template rather than designing something from scratch), but that's fine- the ball is in the customer's court. If the customer decides against it, they're the one saying "no." You're an enabler, rather than the jerk in the Chapelle Show sketch.
Branding is a leadership challenge
Making a new identity, slogan, website, or other piece of consumer-facing branding isn't that hard. I'm not saying it's easy, but we know how to do it. The really hard part is getting everybody inside the organization to believe in it, to internalize it, and in turn evangelize it to the consumer.
Labels: branding, design management
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