Are You Speaking Your Brand?

Enhance your Brand’s Experience with a Unique Language!

Have you ever thought about the vocabulary you use in your every day interactions with customers, even with your employees? If you think about it a unique vocabulary can create an advantage in a very meaningful way to show up distinctive in how you interact internally (with employees) and externally (with customers).

Here are some additional advantages to a distinctive brand speak:

• Provides an expressive means of communication that people can share with a common comprehension—sort of a bonding through speak.
• Contributes to a unique culture for the sole purpose of being understood as a brand and organization.
• Demonstrates a strong point of view through the words you use to represent your brand.
• Evokes the desired emotions within people (employees and customers) to create connection, passion and inspiration for the brand.
• Reinforces the essence of your brand?its uniqueness?in a language that is consistent, relevant, and distinctive.
• Makes it interesting and easier for customers to remember and associate your brand.

For a moment, pretend you are an entertainment company and you have the following brand mantra—Entertain, Engage, Excel. Your brand style is hip, confident, and creative. Your core values are passion, excellence, innovation, and community. See below how you could weave words into your interactions with customers at two key touch points that reflect the essence of what you stand for:

1.  Greeting a customer.

Ex: “Hi, welcome to _________, your partner committed to quality and the delivery of imaginative and innovative entertainment 24/7. This is Shelly, how can I help?

2.  Responding to a customer request, complaint, or issue.

Ex: “As your partner, we are passionate about your success! Let me assure you that I will do everything I can to resolve your issue …”

Notice how the bold words above relate to some of the terms in the mantra, values and style attributes and how they bring the meaning of the brand to life through key words.

Another example—if your brand is all about being amazing, you can incorporate those words and similar terms like remarkable, fabulous, wonderful, or superb in your everyday speak at key touch points.  Think about how creative you can get with the use of words to express the essence of what you stand for.

Here’s an exercise to get you started on developing your unique vocabulary.

1. Bring a group of your employees together and ask them to identify key internal (employee) and external (customer) touch points such as phone greeting, face-to-face greeting, responding to an employee request, customer issue or complaint, conducting a transaction with a customer, presenting a proposal or sales pitch to a customer, etc.
2. Share with them the examples illustrated above.
3. List your values and style (or personality) attributes as a brand on a flip chart or whiteboard.
4. Do you have a brand mantra or promise? List these too.  A brand mantra is an internal cheer that reflects the essence of your brand. A promise is what you commit to deliver at every internal and external touch point and leaves a positive lingering feeling in the minds of your customers.
5. Brainstorm and agree on brand-relevant words that reflect each of your brand values, personality, mantra and promise. List as many words as you can think of.
6. Then zero in on the most creative and interesting words that reflect what you stand for as a brand and brainstorm ways to integrate them into your speak at key touch points.
7. Think outside the box and have fun!

Take some time with your team to really think through a distinctive list of words that reflect what you stand for. Start infusing your new vocabulary at every opportunity within your business. Observe how it changes the manner in which you deliver on your brand and reflects the essence of who you are. Watch how your employees and customers respond and talk about your uniqueness as a brand. You’ll be amazed at the results.

Feel free to visit us at www.brandascension.com for more information and resources on building your distinctive brand.