Brand Culture can be defined as the inherent DNA of the brand and its values that governs every brand experience, brand expression, interaction with the customers, employees, and other stakeholders of the company along with every touch point.
It is the culture formulated and defined by the company in which the employees live the core values of the brand to solve problems of the customers, make strategic and fruitful decisions, and deliver a high quality and branded customer experience externally.
Benefits of Brand Culture :
The company that has a fruitful and well-balanced Brand Culture creates the future leaders for the industry as its employees are emotionally and strategically engaged in each and every business operation of the company as they are constantly motivated and rewarded for their endeavors.
The company that fosters a healthy Brand Culture is able to keep and attain the brand promises in a successful manner on the intrinsic and extrinsic levels. On an intrinsic levels, the employees are motivationally driven with the due rewards and recognition that helps the brand to accomplish the overall business objectives and this results in achieving the extrinsic brand promises to the customers, vendors, investors, sponsors, and other stakeholders by offering the products and services that are high on quality and class the customer service levels that are top-notch and excellent in nature.
The internal operations and workings are highly process led and driven as the working culture and the overall environment is motivating and fruitful that results in the smooth flow of the roles and responsibilities of every staff member and if there is any sort of discrepancy in the operations or amongst the team members or inter-linked departments, the same gets ironed out in a very short span of time as the Brand Culture follows the clear rules and working objectives in a transparent manner that are applicable to one and all right from the top management to the trainees.
The internal staff and employees are highly motivated and inspired to work with the brand and dedicatedly excel in attaining the aims and objectives of the brand that also makes them grow on the professional and personal levels.
A healthy and balanced Brand Culture of the company is visible to the industry and the customers as every brand expression, customer service levels, quality of the products, and customer services offered, stand as a testimony to the same resulting in the brand attracting new customers from the targeted market as well as the untapped ones as the brand is creating its own strong legacy.
In continuation to the above point, a healthy Brand Culture also helps the brand to retain its loyal customers as they are happy and highly satisfied with the offerings of products and services plus they are able to relate their personal values with the core values of the brand. And this result in the loyal set of customers endorsing the brand to their friends and family, earning plenty of referrals to the sales department
One of the primal benefits that a brand earns having a healthy Brand Culture is that the objectives of higher sales and elevated profits are successfully attained with the cash registers ringing for the company.
The brand value and strengths of the company are enhanced and talked about in a positive light by not only the employees and the loyal customer base but also by the industry peers and market veterans.
6 Ways to build a good Brand Culture
1) Define the Brand Culture
The very first step of building and cultivating a good Brand Culture in the organization involves defining the crucial facets of the brands such as core values, strengths, unique selling propositions, vision statement, vision statement, and the business fundamentals; all these facets help the management and promoters of the company to define the Brand Culture that provides the way forward for the entire brand architecture and strategies.
2) Encourage and endorse the culture
The Brand Culture that has been defined needs to be endorsed and encouraged forming as a base for the entire brand management of the company. The process starts with the top management embracing the facets of the set culture and that will have a cascading effect in the entire hierarchy of the firm. The core values and the messaging statements that are the crucial part of the Brand Culture needs to be showcased and highlighted in the positive light in the market and in the minds of the consumers through various marketing and promotional activities.
3) Hire the employees that embody the values and traits of the brand
As the saying goes, like minds think alike; and the same works as the next step to build a good Brand Culture in the organization. It is the duty of management and HR department to hire the employees whose goals and values are aligned with the core values and objectives of the brand as then only the hired candidate will be able to offer his expertise and services in a dedicated manner resulting in the company sustaining the cultivated Brand Culture and accomplish the desired goals and objectives.
4) Reward and Recognize
The thumb rule of marketing and branding states that the internal employees of the company are its very first and crucial brand ambassadors as if they are happy and satisfied with the working environment and the pay packages earned, they will endorse the same within their social circle that will enhance the value of the brand. Hence, it is important to recognize and reward the significant work goals accomplished by the employees to keep them motivated.
5) Work on the brand elements
The next step in building a good Brand Culture involves working on the brand elements right from the logo, tagline, and Pantone shades that are specific to the brand, typeface, language, and tonality. Corporate and brand guidelines need to be formulated and documented guiding the marketing department, branding department, design agencies, and other vendors at every step of marketing and promotional activities.
6) Stick to the brand promise
It is imperative for the brand to stick to the brand promise that will not only help build a good Brand Culture but also helps to retain the loyal set of customers and simultaneously attract the new ones.
