Brand Champions

Brand is About People and Organization

As we know all too often those who are responsible for brand development think in terms of advertising and marketing. They are trained to focus on creating an external campaign that targets an audience or two. They are caught in systems that prevent them from connecting with internal stakeholders and are expected to generate a quick return on investment.

Despite the planet's economic hardships, the days of thinking and acting like that are over. Brand is about people and organization. Those are terms and concepts that should be synonymous with brand. Branding is the process of aligning our internal culture with our external reputation. Our employees who are charged with delivering on our brand promise must be valued first, our customers second.

If we do not develop a culture to support our brand and provide systems by which our internal and external stakeholders (reminder, these are your brand champions) can connect and demonstrate passion for our brand, then we might as well go back to the days of Don Draper and the other Mad Men of the 20th century. By the way, I wish that show would get back on the air soon. I am in need of more advertising fodder!

Rex Whisman

BrandED Consultants Group

Al Davis Was the Epitome of a Brand Champion

Growing up in Denver and being a life-long Broncos fan, one of my least favorite people on Planet Earth was Al Davis. Why? Because his Raiders always seemed to beat up on our poor little ponies. Seeing him prance around on the field during pre-game warm ups dressed in those black and white jump suits made me want to scream. It was if some criminal had broken out of jail and was given safe haven on our stadium floor. The gaul!

Deep down inside I was jealous of Al Davis. If the truth be known I wanted to be Al Davis. He seemed to have it all. An owner of one of the most successful teams in American sport, a one time coach, owner and even commissioner in the most popular sport in the United States. As a youngster I could not understand why the Raiders had such a passionate leader, players and fans. I now know it was because the Raiders had one of the most effective brands.

This week the Bay Area lost two of its icons. Earlier in the week Apple lost Steve Jobs. Today the Raiders lost Al Davis. In both people the world lost two of its greatest brand champoins. What wonderful case studies for anyone or any organization wanting to understand what it means to be a brand champion.We will miss them.

Rex Whisman

BrandED Consultants Group

Brand Jobs

Steve's job was to think differently. Your job is to have confidence in your way of thinking. We all do it, but sometimes we have a challenge of understanding how the way we think fits into the thinking of the organization that we work for. Of course the process is much easier when your organization has a brand platform to help guide the direction of the organization. This allows you to determine if your brand aligns with your company's.

Steve Jobs understood the value of thinking differently. It was not a case of him sitting down and trying to figure out how to think another way. It was him having the confidence in his way of thinking to guide him and his organization. As a result his way of thinking allowed a legion of people who shared similar ways of thinking to become champions of his brand and brand champions for Apple.

As he said in his commencement address at Stanford University in 2005, "Do not lead someone else's life." Understand your purpose in life and what your guiding principles are. This allows you to have confidence that your way of thinking is right. It is our Brand Jobs.

Rex Whisman

BrandED Consultants Group

Branding in Not an Education Reform Movement

As we know education is often slower to embrace business concepts than other sectors of society. There exists a sharper degree of skepticism and expectations to deliver are heightened. Educators demand a process that achieves measurable results. They want a forum to offer an opinion. I guess it makes sense that the education community as a whole is still deciding how branding fits.

These are all justifiable requests. If we think of branding as the process of aligning a system's internal culture with its external reputation, then branding seems like a logical fit for educators. Unfortunately some initiatives leave out the very important internal pieces. Often marketers who lead these initiatives are not trained to think internal and do not understand the value of employee engagement.

When done right, branding honors the history and traditions of a system, and places it in a 21st century context. This approach is sustainable. Reform movements seem to want to turn the education system upside-down or on its ear. These movements often seem politically motivated. In my view, branding is not a reform movement. Branding is about engagement, recruitment and retention of your brand champions. The people who love you.

If a system embraces a reform movement, it should be guided and fall under an overarching brand strategy.

Rex Whisman

BrandED Consultants Group 

Brand + Social Media = Strategy

Today I head west to the Bay Area where I will be delivering a presentation tomorrow at the 2011 Strategic Internal Communications Conference. The theme is How to Use Social Media & Traditional Communications to Engage Employees, Drive Performance & Add Value. That concept is right in my wheel house. No wonder I was invited to present.

The title of my session is Friending, Sharing, Tweeting and Building Community: A Social Media Approach to Internal Communications and Employee Engagement. Along with other presenters, I will be delivering a case study from one of my client projects. I will be demonstrating how to effectively engage employees in the brand development process through Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and blogs.

I look forward to learning from others and hopefully providing a few nuggets that attendees will be able to use in their respective organizations. Not a bad way to spend a few days. Talking about my favorite subject on one of my favorite areas of the globe.I hope to connect with many new brand champions. #intcomms

Rex Whisman

BrandED Consultants Group

Brand Champion of the Year 2011-Joseph A. Michelli

I started blogging here in October 2007. My goal was to provide opportunities to share experiences, tid-bits and recommendations for effective brand development, so that those who are new to the process can understand the value of recruiting and retaining brand champions. On Mondays and Fridays I have featured people and organization best practices who clearly demonstrate what it means to be a brand champion. I call this feature Brand Champion of the Day.

On or about the anniversary of the blog I give a nod to one Brand Champion of the Day who received the most hits while being featured, the person or organization who has generated the greatest conversation off line and someone who I have some personal connection. In 2008 I featured Brandon Coco Curtis and Red Bull. In 2009 it was Paula Berg from Southwest Airlines, and last year Kit Yarrow from Golden Gate University. This year I am pleased to announce that the 2011 Brand Champion of the Year is author, consultant, keynote speaker and brand champion, Joseph A. Michelli.

Just a couple of weeks ago I featured Joseph and his new book, The Zappos Experience. Many of you have read his previous insiders view of organizations including the Pike Place Fish Market, Starbucks and UCLA Medical Center. In each case Joseph provides the reader with a behind the scenes look at how the organization brings its mission and core values to life by engaging internal and external stakeholders. That is music to my ears. Follow Joseph's insights and analysis and your brand will have a greater chance for sustainability. Follow Joseph A. Michelli and you will be a better person.

Please join me in recognizing Joseph A. Michelli as the 2011 Brand Champion of the Year.Then go out or go online and get a copy of The Zappos Experience. I think you might be able to order online now and October 15 at your local bookstore. You will better understand how to recruit and retain brand champions via your core values.

Rex Whisman

BrandED Consultants Group

 

Branding in Not a Campaign

More and more organizations are coming to the realization that branding is not a word or concept to replace terms like advertising, marketing and public relations. Advertisers, marketers and public relations professionals are also embracing the notion that branding is not just a campaign. Sure advertising, marketing and public relations should be a part of the brand development process.

But, the execution and the channels by which you reach out to connect with brand champions should be based on your brand strategy. For those of you who know me, you know that I define branding as the process of aligning your internal culture with your external reputation. The best outcomes result by engaging those stakeholders in that process.

Everyone today expects that an organization stand for something. They also want the organization that they work for or buy from to be transparent and bring to life their mission and core values. By so doing, you will be able to effectively recruit and retain your brand champions. Although politicians and their advisers might beg to differ, branding is not a campaign. And despite the fact that we elect our officials every few years, and your organization has its sales cycles, branding is not a campaign.

A brand is sustainable when you think in terms of a forever linear process, not a circle.

Rex Whisman

BrandED Consultants Group

Engaging Stakeholders Helps Ensure Brand Sustainability

I think more and more organizations are understanding the need, and actually now do engage their stakeholders in the brand development process. It seems almost a given these days to do so. In fact our stakeholders expect it. Unfortunately most organizations have not done so in the past. As a result they need to build systems and processes to do so.

My organization helps others develop sustainable brand strategies based on mission, core values and stakeholder engagement. Right from the get-go our clients understand the value of their stakeholders providing information about their perceptions of the brand. In all cases aha moments happen in terms of how closely aligned the organization's internal culture is with its external reputation. In many cases the challenge to overcome is internal.

Let us face it, organizations have not been as effective as they could have because they have not done a very good job of orienting their employees about the brand that they are going to work for. If you do nothing else, ask your employees what they think about your brand. Then establish a thorough employee orientation system. Your chances for sustainability will be much greater. You might just be able to recruit and retain your brand champions.

Rex Whisman

BrandED Consultants Group

 

Brand Champion of the Day-Susan G. Komen for the Cure

This coming Sunday is the day our city plays host to the annual Race for the Cure. For the past few weeks and the days leading up to the event, everything is pink in Denver. As it should be. Why would you not like the pink brand Susan G. Komen for the Cure?

Susan G. Komen for the Cure is arguably one of the most socially responsible brands on the planet. Education, advocacy, research, fund-raising for beating breast cancer are all reasons to believe in the brand. I anticipate there are as many brand champions for Susan G. Komen for the Cure as any brand we know.

This week, let us all sport some pink and recognize the importance of recruiting and retaining brand champions for Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Rex Whisman

BrandED Consultants Group

 

Joseph Michelli Understands Brand Experience

Last week I received an advanced copy of The Zappos Experience. I look forward to cracking open the book today and reading about one of my favorite brands, Zappos, written by one of my favorite authors, fellow brand strategist and mentor, Joseph A. Michelli, Ph. D. The book will be available soon for you and without yet reading it myself, I feel confident in recommending it to you.

I was first introduced to Dr. Michelli reading one of his earlier works, The Starbucks Experience. I recall distinctly digesting as much as I could, at a Starbucks in San Antonio. I was in Texas working with a client on a P-12 education brand project and could not wait to share with my client how I thought the Starbucks brand development process could be applied to a school system. I had felt strongly about this application before, but now Michelli was confirming it for me. Later the book became required reading for the client's senior leadership team.

Since then I have had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Michelli and appreciate his time and mentor-ship. I have enjoyed reading his later works, The New Gold Standard, which provides an insider's view of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, and Prescription for Excellence, the story of the UCLA Health System brand and the amazing on-brand experiences employees and patients soak up every day.

Now comes The Zappos Experience. Those of you who follow this blog, have read my take on Zappos and the model for customer service provided by the Zappos brand. You have also read my previous accolades about the Joseph Michelli brand. This read should be quite a ride for us brand fanatics. If you are not already, I anticipate the read will turn you into a brand champion. Enjoy the trip!

Rex Whisman

BrandED Consultants Group