Employees will pass through a series of phases in their pathway
to understanding, committing to, and taking action on your brand. Each step in the
pathway is critical to ensuring that buy-in is achieved.

Employee Pathway to Buy-in

• Denial. The denial stage results from a lack of understanding about
  the business reality and branding as a viable strategy.
• Employees think: “I don’t understand what we’re trying to accomplish.
  This brand strategy is a flavor of the month. Stop wasting my time so that I can get
  my work done today. Or tomorrow. Or whenever I get to it since I define what success
  looks like because you have not.”
• Resistance. This is caused by strong beliefs about obstacles that
  will prohibit successful execution of the brand strategy.
• Employees think: “Our company doesn’t have the right people or
  operational processes in place to really do the brand strategy — we won’t be able
  to keep the promises our leaders want to make.”
• “Since we’re doomed to fail because of the people we have, this
  branding initiative will only increase my workload. Ugh!”
• Exploration. This signals a desire to learn more.
• Employees think: “Okay, the company might be onto something meaningful
  after all. What can I do to bring the brand to reality?”
• Commitment. This is generated from the belief that change is desirable.
  • Employees think: “Leadership seems pretty committed to this. They’re
    still talking about it. Wow! This might not be a flavor of the month after all. The
    leaders seem to be aligned around this cause.”

Leaders must be careful not to try to take employees from denial straight to commitment.
The steps of resistance and exploration are important in helping employees make the
brand personal and create meaning out of the brand-building process.

In helping employees down the pathway of buy-in, it’s important to acknowledge that
“Rah Rah” kickoff events, T-shirts, mouse pads, and posters won’t be nearly enough.
It will take more than a motivational speech or a training class to ensure that employees
understand the power your brand can have in stimulating cultural transformation and
business results.