September/October
2002
Ambassadors
extraordinaire
MAKE
EMPLOYEES YOUR STRONGEST BRAND REPRESENTATIVES
WE LOVE
TO SEE YOU SMILE,” goes the jingle of a worldwide fast-food
chain, which embarked some time ago upon a marketing strategy
of emphasizing customer service – long a source of consumer
discontent at many of its locations. Unfortunately, as one
commentator wryly observed, it was unclear whether anyone
informed the employees.
Recently,
a once-proud retailer now under bankruptcy protection announced
with great fanfare that it had cleaned up its aging stores
– even scraping chewing gum from aisle floors.
Perhaps
store executives recalled the Tom Peters tape in which he
talked of boarding an airplane and pulling down the seatback
tray to do some work. The tray was encrusted with food.
“If
they don’t clean the trays,” Peters thundered,
“HOW DO YOU KNOW THEY REMEMBERED TO CHANGE THE OIL?”
In similar
vein, a preeminent producer of computer software for many
months asked its customers via advertising, “Where do
you want to go today?” – implying that company
software would take them there. But, to paraphrase Wall Street
Journal columnist Walter Mossberg, if automobiles broke down
as often as computer programs crashed, they would be the target
of legislative hearings.
Contrast
such negative examples with the friendly smile and on-time
dependability of FedEx and UPS delivery people, who are the
embodiment of their company brands to package-sender and recipient
alike. Decades ago, FedEx monopolized the brand-identification
sweepstakes. But “Big Brown” (as UPS now likes
to call itself) worked hard to catch up and has become one
of Fortune magazine’s most admired companies and, according
to BestJobs USA.com, America’s 12th best employer.
The marketing
imagination sees the Brand (with a capital B, of course) as
the living, breathing essence of an otherwise inert product
or service. The Brand, thus, has a unique personality that
should be evident in every encounter – and a promise
that should be fulfilled with every experience. The brand
promise, for example, of Sanford Rose Associates is “finding
people who make a difference” in organizational performance.
That promise, which communicates a high level of professional
competence, is validated each time an SRA search consultant
delivers superior performance and would be undermined should
the opposite occur.
The
employee as brand ambassador
Employees
interact with all sorts of corporate constituencies –
including customers, shareholders, government regulators,
local communities where the company has a presence, the press,
labor unions, fellow employees and – last but not least
– prospective employees. Those interactions can build
the employer’s brand (or brands), or they can do just
the opposite.
A number
of years ago, a major consumer products company introduced
a product that turned out to be a safety hazard. Bombarded
by press queries for which he had inadequate responses, the
company spokesman at last answered, “I don’t know
what’s going on; I just work in Public Relations.”
Oops.
That
off-the-cuff response, born out of personal frustration, was
quoted the next morning with some prominence in a major daily
newspaper. It had the misfortune of sounding flippant in the
midst of a consumer safety threat, which in turn drove away
customers while attracting the attention of regulators and
personal-injury attorneys. And it hampered recruiting for
the spokesman’s successor.
De-functionalizing
brand responsibilities
Most
companies tend to be run by function. Sales people sell, finance
and accounting people crunch the numbers, manufacturing people
make products, R&D people develop them, HR people manage
people programs and marketing people build the brand(s).
The consequence
of this is that Joe and Mary over in Marketing may be creating
a brand image that has little bearing on anything going on
in Manufacturing or R&D. (When, if ever, was the last
time that Marketing showed the company’s current advertising
campaign to workers in the plants?)
If Quality
is supposed to be Job One, that concept must be communicated
everywhere – and subscribed to by everyone from the
CEO to the newest employee on the factory floor. If Service
is supposed to be Our Middle Name, don’t hire snarly
customer service reps for the company call center.
No corporate
function touches more employees than Human Resources, so the
HR professional can play a vital role in ensuring company-wide
understanding of the organization’s brand objectives.
An effective employee communications program can help everyone
understand how they have a role to play.
Continental
Airlines, in good times and bad, has done an especially noteworthy
job of motivating employees to be ambassadors of its brand.
Pilots fly its planes safely, mechanics help get them out
of gates on time, flight attendants and ticket agents treat
passengers with respect, while baggage handlers get bags on
and off the right aircraft in record time. Projecting a consistent
image of a customer-friendly airline has earned Continental
numerous awards for passenger satisfaction.
Because
consistency is key to brand identity, the senior HR executive
can, in addition, help guard against the unintended effects
of rapid changes in corporate direction or mission.
About
a year ago, a company noted for the quality of its products
hired a new division head, who came from a larger organization
noted for its tight controls. Division employees waited for
guidance from their new leader. At last, she uttered the secret
to life. “Price,” she said. “Everything
is price.” So as fast as contracts allowed, employees
canceled relationships with existing vendors and service providers,
replacing each with the low-cost bidder. Quality flew out
the window, and the division lost its hard-won marketplace
reputation.
Actions
speak louder than words
Beware
the advertising agency or public relations firm that wants
to throw your stodgy image out the window and create a new
brand-identity program. While it’s great to have the
sizzle, there had better be some steak.
Great
businesses and institutions – such as General Electric,
3M, Procter & Gamble, the Cleveland Clinic and IBM –
have worked hard to develop clearly defined standards of excellence
and to communicate them effectively to employees and the consuming
public alike, not to mention other stakeholders. Whether it
is product innovation or saving the lives of critically ill
heart patients, those organizations stand for something in
the minds of their constituent publics.
As some
spectacular corporate failures have shown over the past year,
it’s easier said than done. In fact, it’s downright
tough to develop and manufacture great products, treat employees
and customers with respect, and make money the old-fashioned
way (that is to say, without cooking the books.) But from
such actions great brands are built.
Innovation
… excellence … consistency … dependability
… integrity. Words like this can be part and parcel
of the brand promise. And when the brand delivers, at least
three things happen:
- Customers
want to come back for more.
- Employees
feel proud to be a part of the organization. And,
- Prospective
employees want to come on board.
Isn’t
that what business is all about?
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