A Strong Internal Brand = Engaged Employees = Happy Customers

On Thursday, March 8, I'll be hosting a live webinar, The Power of Internal Branding. I'll be sharing solutions—and answering your questions.

Rare—and not long for this world—is the company that doesn't think about its external brand. But what about a company's internal brand?  What exactly is an internal brand?  And what does it have to do with a company's overall well-being?

Why Internal Branding Matters 

Think of it this way:  Just as companies need to sell themselves on the outside to current and prospective customers, they need to do the same on the inside.  It's just as important for your employees—from senior level managers down to the most junior employee—to feel excited about and connected to the company they work for.  Do employees understand what your company values are (and experience a culture in which strategies and actions that are aligned with those values)?  Do they feel motivated and inspired because they understand where the company is going and its plan for growth?  Do they understand the promise of the brand to customers—and how they play a role in delivering that promise?

Every company has a senior leadership team that has a strategic plan for growing, evolving, and improving, but if that knowledge stops at the threshold of the executive boardroom, so too will all of that strategy and vision.  Internal branding is about communicating the brand strategy and promise to employees so they can play an integral role in helping any company deliver on its goals.

A Growing Company; An Evolving Internal Brand

For many well-established companies, an internal brand is the air employees breathe and the water in which they swim.  Companies have a defined culture and clear business goals that are communicated in everything that happens.  But throw change into the mix, whether in the form of a merger or acquisition, a new product, or a new market share, and even the most established internal brand can get a little shaky.   

Consider recent changes at some of the nation’s leading companies:

• Walgreens recently required a chain of specialty drug stores that serve a particular market.
• Verizon and Red Box are partnering to take on Netflix.
• U.S. Cellular is launching 4G service for customers in 6 states, or 25% of its customers base.

In each case, high-level decisions designed to spur growth and innovation are guaranteed to introduce elements that necessarily change how some—if not all—employees will understand their own company and brand, how they provide for customers, and more.  

What's the value of a strong internal brand, and what does it take for leaders and communicators to establish and reinforce brand identity with employees—in times of stability and of change?  On March 8, I'll be hosting a webinar "The Power of Internal Branding:  The Communicator's Secret Weapon".  Sign up today!

- David Grossman

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