Sometimes in business, you have the ideas, but for whatever reason, you just can’t get the message out in a way that you’re happy with. Last week, this was my big hurdle.
While I build brands and messaging for my clients on a regular basis, I was stumped when it came to working on my own business – maybe it was a case of the cobbler’s children having no shoes. Granted, I had a lot on my plate, and some days writers block is just inevitable, but the frustration of not being able to tick off my framework started to get to me.
I needed to adjust my approach, so after giving myself a day off to reset, I came back with a fresh mindset. I thought back to brand projects that I had worked on in the past – trying to go back to what I had learnt and (thankfully) inspiration struck!
A challenging project
A few years back, I was working for a financial services client who had served under the same brand for over 30 years – nothing had evolved since the brand’s inception and with an influx of competitors coming into market, it was time to finally start rethinking the way the brand was presented.
Just like the brand, there were employees in that business that had been around for 30 years, so you can only imagine the kind of push back we had on the proposal to make a change. It was clear to the marketing team that we needed to evolve the message, but without the support of the wider business, there was no way we could get it right.
So how did we make it happen?
While sales and marketing teams generally understand the importance of brand, most other departments just don’t. We needed to make sure that everyone in that business knew why a re-brand was important – not just for us or our customers, but for the staff also. We needed to make them feel included, so instead of looking outwards, we had to start with the employees themselves.
Our solution? An employee handbook. Not just one that was created by people teams and marketing, but one that was created by every single person in the business. We held workshops and interviews, we established a brand project team with representatives from all departments.
We gave people a voice.
The resistance we felt initially completely dissolved. Indifference turned in to excitement and ‘brand’ became the new buzz word throughout the office. People didn’t just feel heard, but they felt part of something bigger – it created a new identity for the business and the people who worked there, and in turn, led to an external brand identity that was truly authentic. It was powerful.
As marketers, we’re always so focused on the customer first, but is it the right approach every time?
After looking back at that re-brand, I decided to switch my approach in the hopes that I’d find a way to overcome my writers block. I stopped looking at the customer and started looking at my employee value proposition (EVP).
There are some key areas that you can look at when developing an EVP – these can include:
- Purpose (Why you exist)
- Commitment (Your brand promise)
- Foundations / Principles (Your attitude to approaching the day-to-day)
- Priorities (How we measure success)
- Values (Your standards of behaviour)
Whichever terminology you use, the output you get is the same – you start to build a picture of who you are, what you believe in and what you have to offer. By being honest with yourself, you create an authentic representation of yourself, and let’s face it – customers respect real.
I’m not saying to forget the customer completely (that would be pretty stupid). What I am saying, is that by looking inward first, it will go a hell of a long way when you start to get in to the mind of the customer, and the results will speak for themselves.