Retail success and the internal brand
A current Fast Company article examines how different approaches to employee training can lead to very different retail brand experiences at the customer level. Apple comes out a winner; Gap and Starbucks less so.
Companies treat their employees like they treat their customers
These results are not surprising. Most companies treat their employees the same way that they treat their customers. Companies with strong, proactive brands (that lead by example) will usually foster employees with like qualities. Employees that can’t pass muster will be culled. Such companies will also tend to create strong, proactive customers with whom they can partner to advance the brand. This is all part of the brand chain that extends from the classic value chain forward.
Cursory employee development leads to cursory brands
Conversely, retail firms that treat their employees as “costs” are usually the same brand-challenged companies that treat customers as passive “targets” to be sold to. Their approach to employee development is cursory, and not surprisingly, so is their brand. In many cases, their “brand” is part of the sales pitch, and effectively terminates at the register. Such firms stand to reap little or no brand benefit from their employees—who should be one of their primary brand-building engines.
Building the Internal Brand
In our New Brand Glossary, here’s how we define Internal Brand Building:
Successful brands are built from the inside out, as an organic expression of company leadership, culture and capabilities. Employees are conditioned to “live the brand” when company leaders exemplify brand values through their actions. Internally and externally, brands are built by example.
Brands are culture first, then commerce.
Creating a brand means creating a culture
The key point to remember is that when you’re creating a brand you’re also creating a culture. This is a texture of personal interactions far richer than “messaging,” symbols and attempts to drill brand doctrine into anyone within earshot. In many respects, a company’s culture is its core brand platform. From strong cultures come strong brands.
Photo: openeye — Flickr
