Читать книгу Ditch. Dare. Do! - William Arruda - Страница 18

Snap 3

Promote the Corporate Brand:

Attract Opportunity

You don’t have to be the CMO or the VP of marketing to impact the corporate brand.

Brands build trust, trust builds loyalty, and loyalty yields competitive advantage. And isn’t that what you and your company want? Your company’s brand is important to its success, and companies value people who help them succeed.

When you walk into an Apple store, the employees you meet seem to have a much bigger role than their jobs. Whether they are “geniuses,” sales associates, or one-on-one training experts, their knowledge of and passion for the brand goes far beyond the role they are assigned. You just know they have their finger on all things Apple. They exude knowledge and pride. They are Apple-bred brand ambassadors.

Early in his career, William worked in branding at Lotus in Cambridge, MA (his best corporate job ever, he says). Part of his job was to ensure brand consistency—and for Lotus, one of the most important and differentiating attributes was “irreverent.” One day, an HR colleague stopped by his office and told him, “We’re building a new website where employees can go to get information about their 401(k). We want everything we do for employees to reflect the brand, so let’s brainstorm some irreverent ideas for the name of the website.” After a few short minutes, she shouted, “dontblowyourretirement.com!” and the name for the website was born. You can’t get more irreverent than that!

Like William’s HR colleague, move outside the regular hierarchy and appoint yourself as a self-made brand ambassador—for your team, your colleagues, your business partners, your external stakeholders. Know your company’s top five brand attributes, brand positioning statement, and brand differentiation. Then think about how you can bolster the brand. Partner with your marketing colleagues to infuse the corporate brand into everything you do in your organization.

In a Gallup survey, employees were asked to assess their agreement with this statement: “I know what my company stands for and what makes our brand different from our competitors’.” Only 41% of employees strongly agreed.

Don’t be one of the 59%! Distinguish yourself as a brand ambassador. Brand ambassadors elevate themselves to a new level. Their role extends into every sector of the company or organization. Being a steward for the brand gives you another opportunity to connect with others throughout the company; it enables you to increase your visibility, demonstrate your commitment, and attract opportunities.

Brand ambassadors inspire and stand out. YOU want to stand out, don’t you?

DITCH

Stop thinking branding belongs exclusively to the marketing department. YOU are the marketing department. Decide how you can impact the corporate brand. Stand out!

My Sparks

Record your ideas, sparked from Chapter 1.