“Your brand is what people say about you…..” (1) So goes a quotable quote by Jeff Bezos, the Amazon’s boss. This retells the theme “customer is the king”; in branding too. In the business parlance, the tag customer also includes internal customers or employees. In brand management employees are one of the key touch points. A brand to be impactful, the customers need to reflect its identity and tell the same story (2). This conceptualizes the idea of co-ownership of a brand.
Why co-ownership? A co-owner is someone who shares ownership of something with others (3). In branding, co-ownership means sharing the brand guidelines across all the stakeholders. Customers look at the brand value to make purchase decisions, job seekers and employees make various crucial choices based on the brand’s image. Employees’ take on the brand value has an added angle, as it influences the rest. Hence they should be appraised of the branding policy clearly so that their communication is consistent. (2)
Framing the Right Strategy Improper strategy on brand communication to the employees results in everyone interpreting the brand in their own way, which may not even align with the original guidelines. The following points form the checklist in this context:-
Be Co-creative: Since all the teams influence the brand, their opinions need to be considered in developing the strategy.
Don’t Restrict: Restricting the brand ownership to a select few like C-level executives or marketing personnel lead to siloed interpretations by others.
Address the confusions: A dedicated brand team or individual needs to communicate the strategy clearly and address to the confusions, if any.
Closing Remarks Identity is the crux of the brand. Communicating the identity accurately is vital for its survival. The right attitude determines its altitude.
Learners’ Opportunity Quick and right decisions make a successful of a manager or entrepreneur. This involves a lot of critical thinking. Critical thinking is acquired by repeated training and testing. Online MBA program from IFHE not only provides deep subject knowledge but also allows students to test their achievements through debates and discussions. Various e-Learning and flexible learning methodologies support this. Check out @ https://online.ifheindia.org/
Discussion Question How familiar are you with your firm’s brand strategy? How did you get to know about it?
Source Articles
- Bryan Kramer-2012, Shared Ownership: The New State of Brand Marketing. Business Community Journal-October 24, 2012
- Brand_Ownership_Report_Frontify_2021.pdf
- MARSHALL HARGRAVE-2020. Co-Owner. Business Essentials-March 5, 2020
