Need for Internal Branding
When we think of marketing the most likely connection is towards the customers, clients, vendors or shareholders. But yet another ‘market’ just as important as the actual one, is our own organization. They are our employees who make our brand come alive to our customers. Many organizations often ignore this critical reasoning of internal branding for gaining maximum output from the employees which are again translated as positive energy towards our customers.
But why is internal brand selling so important? Why do organizations fail to view this as a critical constituent? Internal marketing is the best way to help employees make a powerful emotional connection to the products and services we sell. Without this connection, employees are likely to undermine the expectations set by our advertising.
They do not understand what we as a company have promised to our clients, as a result there exits a lot ambiguity in their roles and end up working at cross-purposes. In some cases they do not have enough faith in the brand and feel distorted and disengaged.
When the employees have faith in the brand and care about the company they are motivated to work harder and their loyalty and sense of ownership towards the organization increases. They are unified and inspired by a common sense of purpose and identity.
Unfortunately, in most companies, internal marketing is done poorly, if at all. One of the prominent reasons is ineffective communication through out the hierarchy. The top executives invariably recognize the need to keep the employees informed about the strategy and direction. But a major chunk fails to understand the need to educate and embed the brand’s power to the employees. The HR personnel have a critical role to play in transferring the communication about the brand within the organization. But in most of the cases this does not happen because the information is blandly doled out to the employees in the form of memos, circulars or notices. These kinds of communications are not designed to depict the uniqueness and power of the brand to the employees.
There are ways to effectively imbibe the brand into the employees. By applying many of the principles of consumer advertising to internal communications, leaders can guide employees to a better understanding of, and even a passion for, the brand vision. And when employees live that vision, customers are much more likely to experience the company in a way that is consistent with what we have promised.
When the organization is undergoing any sort of a change, be it structurally, functionally, culturally or likewise, the employees most likely are unreceptive to these changes. When they are seeking for direction such moments can create either positive or negative energy—enthusiasm for new programs or unproductive rumor mongering. Turning points are thus ideal opportunities for an internal branding campaign, managers can direct people’s energy in a positive direction by clearly and vividly articulating what makes the company special.
The arrival of new leadership is another opportune moment for internal re-branding. The Staff expects to hear from a new leader right away and is usually open to new ideas at such times. Carly Fiorina exploited this window when she took over Hewlett-Packard. She took a personal interest in the branding strategy and played an active role. Some of the personalities that drive strong internal branding are a brand by themselves. Richard Branson, Michael Dell and Jack Welch have demonstrated the need of internal branding.
Syed Zohaibullah
Business Solutions Thinker