Does your company lack strategic direction? Does the path you’ve set change with the wind based on the hidden agendas of your leaders or market and competitive fluctuations? If so, and you’re frustrated enough, it might be time to consider a different approach. A brand strategy might be just what you’re looking for. A brand strategy is the process of aligning what you say (mission, vision, values) with what you do (delivery of behaviors and experiences) in order to positively influence what others (employees, customers, the market) think.

To successfully implement a brand strategy, you must understand the four realities of branding:

First Reality of Branding: The brand is not a part of the business, it is the business
Every employee interaction within your company impacts the brand. Each one makes it either easier or harder for you to keep and recruit great people and good customers. These interactions directly affect costs of payroll and customer sales, which dramatically influence cash flow for operations. The most successful, future-looking companies (whether large household names or privately held neighborhood shops) recognize that the brand is the playing field for the game of business.

Second Reality of Branding: A brand is about experiences, not logos and taglines
Your brand is a people strategy, rather than a marketing strategy. The purpose of a brand strategy is to influence what people think about your company in ways that cause them to take the action your company is looking for and the only way to influence what people think is to manage the consistent execution
of employee behaviors that will drive customer experiences.

Third Reality of Branding: The little things that you do CONSISTENTLY are much more important than the BIG things you say!
No one is really listening when you tell them how your company is the industry leader in “blah, blah, blah.” Or that you are experts in delivering “blah, blah,” and are known for incredibly high-quality “blah.” Even if you think they’re listening to your salespeople or advertising message, do you really think they’re hearing it? Don’t count on it! People judge a company by the experience they have or someone they know has. So why do so many companies still waste outrageous amounts of money on advertising and marketing tactics rather than focusing on the experiences that are most relevant to their target customers? Well-planned and executed experiences provide reasons for customers to believe what companies want them to believe about their products. The reality: You’re better off doing a few things well all of the time than doing a lot of things mediocre some of the time. Consistency is king!

Fourth Reality of Branding: A brand strategy is the single most important differentiator between a good company and a great company
Great companies have people and processes that make them great. For any company in any industry, this fact remains true: your competition cannot easily replicate your people (human capital) or processes (quality assurance, innovation, customer service, etc.). They can (and probably will) copy your marketing message, but they will not be able to consistently deliver the same experiences without your people and processes. Since this is the case, why not focus energy on talent management and process improvement?

Build and sustain a difference in the market by:

1. Determining the experience your customers want.
2. Finding the right people to deliver that experience.
3. Ensuring your people have the right operational processes to efficiently and effectively deliver experiences for your customers.

Companies that define a strategy to drive their culture will win more, lose less, and make more money.

To read more about how to build and define a strategy, pick up a copy of my book Achieve Brand Integrity.