Have you ever paid close attention to branding within the organisation?
That idea you had so zealously guarded and loved dearly is finally a brand. You're mighty proud. Your strategy is perfectly poised to take the market by storm. You know the destiny of your brand. Beyond the secure confines of your organisation, your brand, you're sure, will earn its name and prestige in this crazy, competitive world. But what about the success of your brand within your organisation?
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Internal branding is the final frontier your brand has to cross to make its mark in the world. Here's a three pronged strategy to help you secure positive mind space for your brand within your organisation.
Get rid of the “This is my brain child” attitude
Your idea may have come to life. But be mindful of the fact that it was a collective effort that brought it to life, and for it to continue to live you will need support. Get your people to love and own your idea and your brand as much as you do. Douglas Van Praet, Founder of Unconscious Branding, writes in his book of the same title, “If you want someone else to completely believe in your idea, you must make them believe that it was their idea all along.”
Test marketing campaigns internally
You want to hear the Vox Populi, well, talk to your team first. Most traditional brands take great pains to conduct market research. But the spirit of startups is one that is bold, dynamic and smart. As a startup, you should harness the dynamic energy of your organisation. Involve your teams in creating and testing marketing campaigns. The varied and vibrant energy of your young and dynamic team will certainly help you feel the pulse of the market in a quick and effective way. Involving the team would also result in creating disruptive ideas for the market.
The brand is your business
This is one of the finer and crucial aspects of brand building – one that gets easily overlooked. Your brand and your organisation are one and the same. The physical space where you conduct your business, your core team, your senior management team, your HR, your pay scales, and your policies of administration are all manifestations of your brand. Most startups fail to see their brand and the day-to-day functioning of business as something interrelated. Everything you do has an effect on the brand. Brands like Apple or Google carry a lot of pride. When someone works for Apple, they work for the brand Apple and not another tech company. The brand's values and personality is carefully moulded in each and every step of even the most mundane day-to-day administrative functions. Therefore, you need to be careful of your actions in your organisation because, within your organisation, your actions are the projection of your brand's image.
The health of your brand within the organisation is the benchmark of the health of your brand in the market place. Remember the three-pronged strategy to secure the success of your brand.
