We should know our purpose but many organisations struggle to define it. They know that they need to market themselves and are aware they should do this authentically - so isn’t ok to market authenticity?
When it comes to branding it is important to be who you are. But what does that mean exactly? Quite simply it is about being authentic, true to your values. This is the reality of the day to day acts and conversations by you and your company. These social talks could be customer conversations or internal meetings, lunches and interactions people have.
The key is that how they talk about the company is in tune with what the company is about; its purpose. If all is well, these conversations and acts reinforce and strengthen a company, they become part of the cultural glue that socially knits people together.
A company’s identity should be easy to articulate and define; the niche role of the company, the reason for its existence (not just making profit for shareholders). Congruent fluency –
http://bit.ly/cognitive-fluency is a great way of defining the benefits of easy to understand brands and how people perceive them – quite simply it is about simple messaging, to the point and in a way that fits to the values of the brand (easily understood). In todays world brands need to connect to people and perhaps a model of the 4C’s
http://bit.ly/9odvtD is a way to understand that connections are not just literal but emotional as well; they need to resonate with people’s values. But it is the need for purpose, a cause that connects with people at a deeper emotional level – if we can harness this then great things can happen.
Yes all roads
http://bit.ly/allroads do lead to the need to make profit so companies exist, but the purpose and identity are why people buy in the first place; get the purpose right + some good business planning the rest becomes a lot easier.
I recently came across the Silk Road project
http://bit.ly/thesilkroad and loved the way the design, meaning and purpose had been integrated into the doing. Learning and branding can and do go together
http://bit.ly/bTVIR7 and we will increasingly see brands positively contribute to communities, share information rather than horde it.
When people are passionate about what they do they become brand champions and perhaps that is why successful companies have these as customers as well as employees. But marketing a brand as being authentic doesn’t work unless you are really true to your purpose and values.
Word and mouth through social networks is a powerful and pervasive force and will become more important over the coming years. We are witnesses to an amazing and transformative time in branding, corporate culture and social change. Learning is part of that process for all of us.
