First, A Story
I lived and worked in Newfoundland, Canada for a short period, at a time when the province had recently elected a new premier. He was just a few months into his term, but a local radio talk show was already asking listeners to grade his performance.
One woman called, gave the premier an F and proceeded to rail on him for not following through on a promise for greater public consultation.
“Nobody’s consulted us,” she roared with a heavy Newfoundland accent. “Me an’ Paul are down at the house all day and nobody stops by.”
Hey, you can’t please everyone. Of course, few would blame the premier for not visiting each and every homestead across the province so each and every voice could be heard!
Second, My Question
So, look, I know you can only go so far and so wide when consulting on issues and matters of interest to a larger community. But the question is: how far and wide should you go?
And, closer to the reason for sharing these thoughts here, how far and wide should you go in consulting and engaging people inside an organization on brand initiatives?
This big question has, in a sense, haunted me after observing a few different brand exercises unfold before my eyes while serving as part of the marketing team of a division inside a larger corporation.
I found myself completely on the periphery of those exercises, until the team was ready to begin building buy-in. At that point, of course, the direction is essentially a fait accompli and everyone is more or less expected to fall into line.
Third, Not Just a Few, But Many
Look, I know brand building isn’t necessarily a democratic exercise. But I do feel strategic brand talk isn’t for the few inside an organization; it’s for the many. In fact, I’d say it’s for the “as many as possible.”
In most organizations, it goes like this: a small internal team is in charge of the branding reins. The team is extended to include outside consultants, with the latter playing perhaps the largest role of all in shaping brand plans. A cloak of secrecy surrounds the work until it’s time to go after the buy-in required to execute.
The people whose job it is to activate the brand day in and day out, the same people who are asked and expected to live the brand and serve as ambassadors, are largely left out.
Oh sure, their input may be sought via surveys or focus groups, but we all know that’s not quite the same. Usually, their input is accounted for at the front end of the process, not in the middle or end. Few, other than the higher echelon of leaders, are given the opportunity to comment on ideas and concepts in the development stage. No, most people inside organizations are not part of the conversation.
Fourth, Thoughts from Others
I asked some online groups to give me their views on this question and here’s a sample of what I heard:
“Full participation isn’t possible and that’s okay. You simply need to sell it, share the process used and the outcomes and you’ll be okay as you go out and generate buy-in. Think of it as an enrollment exercise.”
“Involvement below the top leadership levels depends on the size of the organization. One with 20,000 employees can’t realistically expect to involve everyone in brand development. However, a good cross-section of functional leaders should be involved. Beyond that, good change management practices should be employed to communicate the strategy and get people on board.”
“Top-down branding almost never works as well as having everyone involved in some way so they can feel ownership and investment. Not everyone wants to be involved so deeply, but just providing some opportunities all the way through the process goes a long way toward building support and alignment.”
“I’m firmly of the belief that if you want people to execute a brand strategy, then give them a voice in its creation. I often employ a visioning session in which employees at all levels work through exercises geared toward the building blocks of the core brand idea. Employees love the involvement and they consistently generate terrific ideas.”
“While it’s important to engage, the goal is not to gain consensus. While internal input is important, it must always be balanced with other variables and factors, especially voice of the customer data, external trends, competitive benchmarking, etc. You need to set this expectation when inviting input internally.”
In all of the comments I came across, I saw a divergence of views on just how far you should go in engaging employees in the various phases of brand development.
Finally, More Involvement for A Stronger Brand
I come down on the side of those who question the traditional top-down approach. My view: involve people inside the organization as much as you can, and not just in the front end, but in all phases.
Our world has changed. Today, people inside and outside organizations are more connected and interconnected than ever before. Employees are. Consumers and buyers are. In a world such as this, brands have never been more vulnerable. To be authentic and to be seen and experienced as authentic, it’s critical to build an organization of brand champions.
The very best way is not to tell and sell, but to engage people in a far more intimate way in the exercise itself, to have them involved in shaping the brand at a deeper level.
In a social media enthused marketing world, we’re talking a lot about involvement. That’s as it should be, I believe.
But we should also be talking about involvement in our internal marketing world. We need more organizational listening, not less. We need more open, honest talking inside organizations, not more of the usual.
Involving more people? All of this is hard, hard work. But we have more tools available to us today to share and communicate ideas than we’ve ever had. We have much more at stake as well considering how much more integrated everything is.
People inside your organization are a fundamental part of the brand. Tap into their minds and hearts. Tap into them as fully as you can, and you’ll strengthen your brand exponentially.
I’d love some robust discussion on this topic. Please share your ideas and thoughts!
