Have you ever had this happen?
You call the customer service for your credit card, bank, phone, utility company. At the end of the call, the rep says, “Have I provided you with exceptional service today?”
“Oh, jeez,” you think, “How lame-o!” (And they are thinking the same thing, no doubt.) This is a classic case of a company misunderstanding the use of brand attributes.
Here’s what happens: a company, lets call them Minot Ltd., does some branding or a brand audit (for which they use an outside vendor with a world-class reputation and pay a correspondingly world-class price tag). The branding company asks questions, conducts surveys and focus groups, and comes up with, among other things, a list of attributes that represent the brand.
In the case of Minot, Ltd., they might be: Focused, Humorous, Responsive. These are the attributes that distinguish the brand, both internally, among the members of the company, and externally, to the customers and other “stakeholders” or people who interact with the brand (shareholders, members of public interest groups, government officials, etc., etc.).
“Great!” say’s Minot’s head of marketing: “We’ve got our next campaign all written for us! “Focused, Humorous, Responsive!” Let’s go sell!
Here’s why that’s wrong. If you take your brand attributes, which should be enduring qualities, and use them like a campaign, you effectively use them up like Kleenex. In 6-12 months, you’ll need new attributes. (How about: “Appealing, Intelligent, Athletic!”) If you repeat them like slogans, over and over to customers without backing them up, customers will tune them out or (worse) react negatively.
Here’s the right way to do it: Encourage everyone in your organization to live your brand attributes. Discourage them from talking, (”I’m so focused, look how focused I am! Did you find me focused?”) and encourage them to act.
Brand attributes are intended to be mile-high overviews of your day-to-day activities and interactions. Minot’s employees need to know exactly what it means to be “focused” in their own jobs: HR rep, designer, project manager. Minot, Ltd.’s customers should directly experience the attribute “focused” with regard to how it benefits their specific need.
- “My rep listened well to what I had to say, and dealt with my problem, rather than trying to sell me something else.”
- “The writer kept to her deadlines and always gave me a clear, intelligible response.”
- “The meeting was short and sweet and we accomplished a lot!”
These are examples of how the attribute “focused” is experienced by customers, and is being “lived” by the organization’s employees.
Company literature, whether it’s the Web site, press releases, brochures or training materials, should also exemplify the attributes, rather than finding ways to use them in a sentence. For example, all Minot Ltd.’s writing should be focused and have a touch of humor. Rather than talking about their responsive nature, the company should give examples of their responsiveness in certain situations.
If you approach your brand attributes this way you will get your money’s worth out of your branding or brand audit. And if your attributes were well-defined, your customers will reap the benefits as well.
Tags: brand attributes, brand audit, branding, campaign, customer service, live the brand, stakeholders
