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Elevating Conscious Branding in Business

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11 Reasons to Consciously, Strategically, & Deliberately Brand from the Inside Out

April 11, 2019 By Suzanne

This will be a short article that is pointed to get you thinking about the impact of internal brand development and management for your business.

You already have a brand (the collective perceptions both your employees and customers have about you — and lots of times even those two are vastly different), your real concern should be around whether or not you are actually in control of it. Or in other words, are you walking your talk, always?

So, stop marketing, for now, start Branding… at the internal level.

Taking the time to do the internal ‘due diligence’ is eye-opening and transformational when it comes to creating consistencies, distinction, and highly engaging customer experiences that are authentically ‘on-brand.’ Internal brand development puts you back in the driver’s seat of how your brand is perceived. And it will change the way you grow.

Brand-D-N-A-Model-2014

Internal Branding Bonuses

So when you commit to your business brand development in a highly conscious, strategic, and deliberate way, you will realize an increase in the following:

  1. Employee enlistment + engagement in living the brand promise.  Currently, about 40% of your marketing dollars are wasted due to ill-informed, dis-engaged staff undermining your promotional promise.  This happens because many businesses haven’t defined the critical details of its own brand’s DNA or documented them anywhere, don’t train their employees on it, and thus have not created tangible actions and behaviors that uphold the brand’s promise in every facet of the business. But, on the flip side, when your employees are fully inculcated into a specific brand blueprint, they are able to assimilate it and express it within their roles and responsibilities. Your business brand becomes a collective expression of every employee rather than just the leadership. True distinction is born and lived within the culture of the brand…not just in the marketing message. It is truly a GESTALT-like impact.
  2. Complete clarity in your marketing message. Fleshing out what makes up your brand position is an incredible exercise to develop powerful, compelling brand distinction in not only your selection of relevant marketing channels, but in developing the appropriate visuals that fully express who you are to your markets consistently and relevantly. This clarity rises up through distinctive brand vocabulary that positions your business with personality, character, and a specific style.
  3. Capitalizing on the power of your Brand Promise. When a business crafts a highly focused and clear promise, regularly educates their employees on what it means and how they can contribute to the success of delivering on it, your loyal customers turn into raving advocates. The promise helps to instill a value proposition that employees can attach themselves to that is much bigger than their individual selves. The promise is the stake you and your employees put into the ground in which backs up every action, decision, and pivot the brand takes as it grows.
  4. Leveraging your authentic differentiators for competitive advantage. This piece takes some time to truly take the deep dive initiative that uncovers the subtle but amazingly distinctive nuances that make you different from your competition. I am constantly amazed at the depth of characteristics businesses have about them but have not yet surfaced and leveraged through the employees, their marketing efforts, and customer encounters. This is an obvious place where rich, robust distinctions are exposed, learned about and touted through your employees – it makes them proud to be a part of such a cool establishment!
  5. Supplement your strategic growth plan from the inside out. Ensuring your growth plan maps to your brand objectives is key to staying consistent and on track with your brand’s sustainability in any market. Well built brand plans supplement your progress by helping to keep the necessary congruencies of the brand attributes alive and flourishing through each phase of the business growth process; keeping you consistently ‘on-brand,’ and on track – avoiding the temptation to ‘follow others,’ but rather become the leader.
  6. Market according to your unique Brand Style. Your Brand DNA should include elements that describe your specific business personality. These traits should be noticeable through all of your marketing efforts to help maintain a level of distinction and consistency that your customers recognize and create lasting affinity with. Realizing your brand style through your physical environment, systems + processes, and in the enrichment of your culture is one of the most fun parts of living your brand’s DNA – watch it come alive!
  7. Utilize your unique Brand Vocabulary. Your brand should communicate consistently to your stakeholders in a way that positions the business relevant to the promise and speaks within the realms of the Brand Style. Your diligent work on the brand attributes, core values, and style will expose a plethora of terms that are unique to you and your brand’s ‘why.’ These terms and phrases help to create a brand narrative that is unique to you, and builds a collective community with your employees and customers through creative dialogue.
  8. Behaviors of the company fully support the messaging = better customer experience. When the brand is fully defined it can then be expressed through tangible actions and behaviors that create distinction in your overall employee and customer experience. So many businesses have brands that have not been defined by they themselves, but rather by the customer, which can, in a whim, become out of control, because we cannot control our customers. Take a stand, take control of your business brand, map it out, articulate it, live it throughout the internal and customer experience through and through.
  9. Increased ROI on marketing investments. Marketing and branding are different functions. We market a brand. So what defines the brand we are marketing? Clearly defined brands are more articulate [ authentic + congruent] in their marketing messaging, and know they can and will deliver on a specific brand promise, consistently. When this is realized by the customer, trust is organically built, more purchases are made, advocacy ensues, and your marketing dollars just worked smarter!
  10. Move customer loyalty into advocacy. If you are not providing a platform for your customers to advocate, you could be missing out on a ‘no-cost’ sales force.When you are conscious, strategic, and deliberate in crafting and sustaining the brand promise, customer expectations are met and often times surpassed.And, due tothe across the board consistency and sustainability in providing the expected brand experience over and over again, your customers can’t help themselves, when given the opportunity, to shout out your praises, refer others, and bond to your brand.
  11. Receive more referrals. When your praises are heard by your ‘no-cost sales force’ [aka, your customers], you get more attention from prospects, and ultimately more referrals that want to check you out! Now is the time to establish an ‘on-brand’ referral program that rewards your referrers in only the way your brand can.

If any of these benefits are compelling to you, I invite you to connect with me for a complimentary 45 min. brand assessment conversation. We’ll discuss some low-hanging fruit areas that will get you back into the driver’s seat of managing your business brand from the inside out.

Learn more about Suzanne Tulien, Brand Elevation Enthusiast.

Filed Under: brand building, Brand Culture, Brand Strategy, Branded Customer Experience, Business Performance, Uncategorized

Testimonials

“Wow, I wasn’t expecting such a breakthrough!” That is what you will tell yourself when you complete one of Suzanne’s Personal Brand Mastermind courses. If you are not aligned with your authenticity, everything in your life will suffer as a result. I highly recommend anyone who wants to get to the next level in business or their personal life to enroll in this series. This is an exclusive training program for high-caliber, high-potential clients so be ready to roll up your sleeves do… Read more
Cory Arcarese, CEO, CArc Media
“Suzanne is personable, precise in her communications, and extremely professional. Her concept and methodology of brand development is simple and powerful, and it’s already reaping great results! Her vast experience and impeccable integrity make her a powerful member of my business team. I highly recommend Suzanne to any business owner seeking greater impact and a bigger bottom line! Great Results, Expert, High Integrity!”
Chevy Chevallard, CEO, Conduct Your Life!
VW-Round-BW“I’m more clear and consistent in my actions and communication across the board. I’m more mindful about what I do – and even more importantly, how I think – and have more clear direction of what actions to take next and why. Identifying, defining, and stepping into my authentic self was exactly what I was looking for and needing to kick-start my next level of success! Because I am “Uniquely Wise, Deliciously Inspired!” Thank you Suzanne!”
Veronica WirthOwner + Creative DirectorDesign BistroVermont
SuzanneKladder-BW-Round“Suzanne and her Personal Brand program are amazing. She really gets you to take an honest, in-depth look at who you really are at your core and get past what you or others think you are. She helped me abandoned the idea that I needed to be perfect and to realize that perfection is me being me. The work I did with Suzanne continues to help me behave in a consistent, authentic way and it has had a positive impact on my business.”
Suzanne Kladder, Sales Whisperer
“Suzanne is a subject matter expert and superb facilitator for building a dynamic culture and brand. I have been in two organizations that immersed themselves in her engaging and powerful Brand DNA process. Her process fully enrolls everyone from customer facing staff to senior executives so that all conclusions are readily embraced and instantly internalized by all stakeholders. If your enterprise wants to experience immediate and lasting transformation, engage Suzanne.”
Robert Todd, Operations & Finance Expert
  JanePeck“Suzanne has facilitated training in our organization to bring the branding basics to our team.  She is dynamic, entertaining and engages all the senses in her training methods.  If you are looking to elevate your brand and engage your team in the process, I highly recommend her.”
Jane Peck, MBAAdministratorEndodontic Specialists of ColoradoColorado Springs
“For years, I have been the gerbil on the wheel, trying with all of my energy, to be all things to all people.  It is so liberating to focus on the strengths I bring to the table and not worry about who that will line up with.  I love what you said about how when you let go of those who don’t line up, it only opens the door for more of those who do.  I am totally seeing that happen in my life and especially in my business!  I shared this with my business coach and he said that you were rig… Read more
Lisa Gross, Sr. Mortgage Lender, Peoples National Bank

SarahRyals-Pic“Suzanne creates a wonderful experience to build an understanding of brand, especially for those who are new to brand basics. Her teaching modules are clear, well organized, thoughtfully explained, and she does a great job coaching teams through the work. The final outcome is an actionable foundation for delivering a consistent, meaningful brand experience for all the brand’s stakeholders.”

Sarah Ryals, Women's Resource Agency Board Member
“Suzanne is a fantastic brand expert who makes an immediate impact to the bottom line. Her efforts helped me successfully launch a small business venture (fitness gym: dynamic-gyms.com) into a very competitive market achieving break even revenue goals within three weeks of opening! Simply unheard of in this market segment. This would not have been possible without her direct efforts to help us succeed.”
Larry Solecki, CEO, Dynamic Training & Fitness Gyms
Tonya-round-BW-web“Building on a lot of prior soul-searching and “inside work,” the Personal Brand Presence DNA process has helped me to step into an image that is consistent with who I know myself to be. It helped me to articulate what it really means to walk my talk in a way that’s visible and tangible, not just to me but also to others, and I will forever be grateful for that.”
Tonya Henderson, Ph.D, Gly Solutions

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