Why your internal brand, your DNA, is as important as your external brand
It’s just what we do here ..
The internal brand takes on 3 forms;
A set of values and practices that are prevalent across all individuals in an organisation
An understanding of the benchmarks and behaviours that are expected of the individuals
A statement of the way the business operates which will entice new recruits
In many companies, there is not enough attention given to internal marketing. Senior leadership often recognise the need to keep people informed however few understand the need for convincing the employees about the brand - they take it as a given - or the need for consistency in that messaging. Worse, some companies communicate to their teams about news, but not about the strategic direction of the company, meaning that not everyone fully understands the ‘true north’
By applying some of the principles of consumer advertising to internal communications, leaders can guide employees to a better understanding of, and even a passion for, the brand vision. Applying these principles enables employees to “live” the vision in their day-to-day activities. And when employees live that vision, customers are much more likely to experience the company in a way that’s consistent with what has been promised. This is the connection between the internal and the external brand.
Principle 1 Choose Your Moment
Most people have limited tolerance for change initiatives, and branding and visioning exercises are no exception. But at certain turning points, times when the company is experiencing some fundamental challenge or change, employees are seeking direction and are relatively receptive to these initiatives. Such moments can create either positive or negative energy—enthusiasm for new programs or unproductive rumour-mongering. Turning points are therefore ideal opportunities for an internal branding campaign; managers can direct people’s energy in a positive direction by clearly and vividly articulating what makes the company special. Indeed, internal branding efforts launched without the momentum such a moment can generate nearly always fail. Without a natural turning point, managers seeking to boost the brand internally may need to manufacture this kind of moment, perhaps by launching a new marketing strategy.
Natural moments of change could be when there is a merger or on the arrival of new leadership.
Principle 2 Link Internal and External Marketing
Employees need to hear the same messages that you send out to the marketplace however, internal and external communications are often mismatched. This can be very confusing, and it threatens employees’ perceptions of the company’s integrity, they are told one thing by management but observe that a different message is being sent to the public.
When it comes to execution, the most common and effective way to link internal and external marketing campaigns is to create external advertising that targets both audiences.
But whilst their messages must be aligned, companies must also keep external promises a little ahead of internal realities. Such promises provide incentives for employees and give them something to live up to.
Principle 3 Bring the Brand Alive for Employees
The goal of an internal branding campaign is very similar to that of an external campaign: to create an emotional connection to your company that transcends any one particular experience. In the case of employees, you also want the connection to inform the way they approach their jobs, even if they don’t interact with customers. You want them to have the brand vision in their minds and to consider whether or not they are supporting the brand - and the values - in every decision they make. The messages should be directed at employee touch-points, the day-to-day interactions that influence the way people experience the workplace.
The setting (or revision) of company values is an exercise that should be done by a company periodically. Ensuring that a company can articulate what they stand for and how this manifests on a day to day basis is crucial to the ongoing wellbeing of the company, both from a performance and from an employee engagement perspective.
Companies can use many of the same tools for the internal market that they would use for consumers: focus groups, in-depth interviews, and surveys.
Market research is a given for any consumer marketing campaign, but companies seldom invest in such research when their employees are the audience. They can then map their findings to create a big picture of the culture that shows where different subcultures reside and how information flows through the organization.
To overcome people’s natural cynicism, the campaign and the communications materials must ring true for employees and must draw on the company’s ‘soul’, reflecting and reinforcing what people care about and what makes them come to work in the morning. Materials must be free of jargon and grandstanding and must focus on the essence of the company.
When it comes to delivering the message, companies are often tempted to send out a memo, a video, or a package of colourful materials and consider it done, but there’s no substitute for personal contact from the organisation’s highest levels.
‘Fireside’ chats can become part of an effort to weave the branding into the fabric of the organisation. Since it’s not feasible to conduct a series of major campaigns—it’s costly and employees begin to tune them out—the company should make every effort to incorporate the branding into everyday experiences, so that employees ‘live’ the brand at all times.
Some companies now rigorously assess candidates’ personalities during interviews, rating all potential hires — from at all levels — on a scale for seven traits corresponding to the brand’s core values. While other companies might consider only more traditional values like honesty or responsibility, these companies preserve their unique brand personality by hiring only people who they see as being a perfect fit.
In Summary
Companies typically focuses a lot of their attention on their external brand but less on their internal brand. A company’s culture is their brand
The internal brand is not just what is put out, it is also the way it is kept alive in setting expectations and keeping to them.
In the way that this relates to sales, this is about setting expectations and ensuring that these expectations are maintained, being consistent in messaging and reiterating the intent so that the norm values are established - and maintained.
In this way, the benchmarks and behaviours become .. ‘just what we do here’