There is a lot of chatter these days about accountability and performance. Recently Chevy has been making hay about its Volt getting 230 miles per gallon. The health care and financial services industries are chasing their tails trying to figure out to effectively position themselves for the new economy, while at the same time facing ever increasing scrutiny from governments and people around the world.
Other organizations are moving forward and seem to not be missing much of a beat. Authentic brands like Southwest Airlines appear to gain momentum even in trying times. How do they do it? In my view because they have a clear understanding about who they are and what they stand for. The also realize that a brand's performance is measured in both tangible and intangible ways. Hard and fast ROI is not the only way to assess a brand's value.
Tangible brand outcomes can range from increasing the number of qualified inquiries to reducing the amount of money spent on advertising, and improving employee retention. Intangible outcomes can include creating an internal culture to support your mission, establishing a rallying cry for your brand across all stakeholder groups and cultivating more engaged interactions between your internal and external brand champions.
It is often the intangible aspects of brand that drive success and deliver tangible results. Sustainable brands understand this way of thinking and it is not counter-intuitive to them. How do you measure brand performance?
Rex Whisman
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