Conduct a Brand ‘Health Check’

Conduct a Brand ‘Health Check’Make 2007 ‘The year of getting fit’. Not you – your company brand! Have you ever wondered why people identify so strongly with brands in everyday life (their Nikes?) – but don’t feel the same way about their workplace? This is one sign of a workplace that is not engaged. As an employer, if you’re not worried about that then you should be! The growing skills shortage and generational change means you will find it harder and harder to attract and retain the best people in your workplace. So what can you do to improve your chances? A good start is a Company Brand Health Check, inside and out.

1. Your health ‘on the inside’

Do your people really know what your brand stands for? I don’t mean so they all have a copy of the mission statement on their coffee cups. Rather, do they know what it means to work at your organisation? What differentiates you from your competitors? Whether you employ accountants, clerks or sales reps, what is different about coming to do that function at your place rather than somewhere else? Same job, same functionality… different emotional experience.How often do you ask your people how they feel about their workplace brand? They can probably tell you why they love their favourite brand of jeans – could they tell you what they love about their brand of workplace? The key to effective retention is engagement – how well connected your employees are to your brand. How fit is yours?

2. Your health ‘on the outside’

The brand image you convey to your external customers has traditionally been the focus of marketing attention. And it remains a critical part of your marketing and brand fitness. Most people have a good grasp of how they want their brand to be conveyed to maximize the engagement with your customers. Ask yourself these three questions;

1. Do your customers know what you stand for? Not just what you do, but what you stand for, what makes you distinctive?

2. Do you know what your customer expectations are and how you rate on delivery against that expectation?

3. Would your customers rate you as ‘healthy’ or ‘unhealthy’ and what factors are contributing to that impression?

Penny Burke, Director, Essence Communications – 0419 620 755penny@essencecomms.com.au – www.essencecomms.com.au 1

Conduct a Brand ‘Health Check’

These three questions are about the emotional fitness of your brand, not just the functional aspect of your business. And this is critical, because lots of companies potentially compete with what you do – what makes you different to customers is how you do it. So it’s worth getting a good handle on it!

January is a great time to conduct a brand health check on your business, so give yourself a thorough check up and start the year off in top shape. Good luck!

Penny Burke is a marketing consultant who makes marketing simple. She can show you how to translate complexity into simplicity, confusion into clarity, distraction into focus so you have a usable, actionable marketing strategy that will really work. Penny has just completed her first book on Forced Focus thinking that helps companies navigate the stormy waters of employee engagement and employer branding. To learn more about how the book can help you shape your workplace brand, visit www.essencecomms.com .au

Penny Burke, Director, Essence Communications – 0419 620 755penny@essencecomms.com.au – www.essencecomms.com.au 2

For more information on this author/speaker contact: LESLEY REES AT ESSENCE COMMUNICATIONS

lesley@essencecomms.com.au or call (03) 9572 4125

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Copyright © 2010 Penny Burke