[Cache – #121]
“So, you build websites and stuff? Logos?”
When I tell someone I’m in the branding business, that’s the most common response I get. Granted, more and more people now know that, as a certain book puts it so elegantly, a brand ain’t a logo. But there are still a remark-able number of people out there who perceive an equivalency between a brand – which in fact is what people think of you – and the media used in trying to shape those thoughts.
Brand is also defined as the culture of an organization. So anyone who thinks that brand = logo misses the big opportunity to define their culture in a brand foundation – one that articulates (through a core purpose, vision, mission, etc) what they want people, inside and outside the organization, to think about them now and in the future.
The great promise of the foundation, “lived” by executive leadership and employees in everything they do, is that it will create a brand more powerful than any logo, ad or tagline could ever make it.
Take the quiz
As you’ll see in this new Coin quiz, top-performing organizations have a brand foundation that defines their culture and allows them to achieve some great things. How does your company, non-profit or government institution stack up? Does your brand foundation get you:
Employee attraction, retention and empowerment: (like Southwest Airlines)
Attracting and retaining the best people, and giving them the authority to make on-the-spot decisions that support the brand.
Strategic alignment: (Stephen Covey reported that only 37% of employees “had a clear understanding of what their organization was trying to achieve and why.”)
Employees consistently acting in support of key company objectives.
Marketing efficiency and effectiveness: (like Lululemon and Tim Hortons)
Getting the most from the corporate marketing dollar.
How does your brand do? Complete the quiz and you’ll get a score and immediate feedback. I’ll also send you my personal assessment of the results.
**
BOOK: Brand: It Ain’t the Logo is now available at all TARGET stores in Canada.
NEW: interview on CBC Radio One about unhappiness with Microsoft Windows 8
TV: BNN interview re. Lance Armstrong’s brand (starts at the 3:30 mark, after the ad).
