Does Your Company Have a Brand, or Is It a Brand?
Many executives believe their company has a brand, usually understanding this to mean the logo and name for a product or service.
Communication or brand managers are often responsible for these brands. Their task is to make the brand known and to inspire customers and stakeholders. The overarching motto is: To increase brand awareness and market share through targeted communication.
However: Truly strong companies are a brand.
Executives who understand this take personal responsibility for strategic brand management and for developing and nurturing the identity of the entire company (not just the logo). They know: A brand does not live by communication alone, but by the people who shape and live it daily.
These executives develop a clear picture of what their company stands for and have precise answers to questions such as:
The goal is to be a brand that is lived by all employees and convincingly embodied externally. Employees are not just informed, but are turned into true brand ambassadors. The more convincingly this succeeds, the stronger and more attractive the brand becomes.
At IMARK, we guide companies on exactly this path to being a brand, using the Strategizing approach.
By linking strategic content, people, and data, brand content is created and made tangible for customers, employees, and stakeholders at internal and external touchpoints. Executives play a key role in this, as they are role models and simultaneously the face of the brand to stakeholders. Through ongoing monitoring of brand activities and behavior, it becomes visible how strongly the company already acts as an attractive brand and where there is potential for improvement. Executives discuss these results with their employees to continuously learn how each person can improve their personal contribution to the company’s brand identity. In this way, everyone works purposefully to continue strengthening the brand.
