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Truth 4

Everyone Needs to Own the Brand

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.”

— 1 CORINTHIANS 12:12

All too often, organizations have a sense that the brand is owned by one person or team — usually the marketing or communications team. Nothing could be further from the truth. Everyone in an organization has responsibility for the brand. Just as many parts make up one body, so all elements of an organization are part of the brand.

The reality that everyone owns the brand can be a very difficult concept. It does not mean that everyone is allowed to direct the brand; that truly needs to exist with marketing or communications. However, all members of an organization need to be committed to understanding the brand and delivering the brand message for their particular department. Organizations are used to having separate departments with a unique focus, such as finance, legal, human resources, operations, etc. However, every single one of these departments plays a role in communicating the company’s brand.

An example of a brand that demonstrates well what happens when everyone owns the brand is Southwest Airlines. If you fly Southwest, you have probably heard a flight attendant sing or tell jokes to you over the plane’s speaker. Most likely, the flight attendant understood the Southwest brand well enough to know that singing that particular ditty was a good thing to do. In other words, no one told the flight attendant to sing on Flight 2369 that morning. Instead, the flight attendant knows how to be a living example of the Southwest brand.

The reverse is true as well. I once worked with a pharmacy organization, and I couldn’t understand why the pharmacists (the company’s customers) were so vitriolic when speaking about the pharmacy corporation. I asked the pharmacists why they had such a strong reaction, and several complained about accounting. “Have you seen the notices they send us?” I looked at the accounting practices and, sure enough, the language was rough, coarse, and even mean. The pharmacy brand was about providing comforting support. These notices were inconsistent with what the brand claimed to stand for, and this was exceptionally irritating to the pharmacists. I worked with accounting to change the language in all the notices they sent to be consistent with the values of the brand. Over time, the pharmacists were no longer offended and became strong proponents of the brand.

A Catholic organization that takes brand seriously is the Fellowship of Catholic University Students. FOCUS trains young men and women just out of college to be missionaries on university campuses. One thing that will strike you when you meet a FOCUS missionary is his or her deep joy. Every single one of them demonstrates joy from faith, from God, and from this gift of life. Joy is hard to teach, as are many values and attitudes. FOCUS missionaries are hired in part for this attitude, as well as for their deep faith.

To hire for an attitude, you have to know what attitude or value you are seeking, which is where understanding your brand comes into play. FOCUS understands a few things about its brand:

1. Joy is central to the expression of the Catholic faith and, therefore, central to the role of their missionaries.

2. Members of FOCUS communicate the FOCUS brand and the call of the Gospel in how they approach and live their lives.

FOCUS recognizes that everyone in the organization plays a role in owning and expressing the brand. Each member of the organization is a part of the same body. At the same time, they recognize that their organization is part of the Body of Christ.

For Reflection

How do you express brand ownership as a member of the Body of Christ?

Do you see yourself as having an integral role in promoting the brand, especially if you work for a faith-based organization? Or do you sit back and let others lead the charge?