With
innovation as a core value for most organizations, it is important to note that
a business cannot really innovate if it pays little or no attention to internal
branding. Innovation can easily be defined as developing simpler ways to create
value, it should also be directly expressed through a brand experience. A lot
of people believe innovation is simply the application of new technology to
achieve a business objective, this is grossly untrue as it is more broadly
about developing new ideas to meet existing or unforeseen needs in a more
efficient and valuable way.
This
article seeks to create a direct relationship between innovation and internal
branding as a practice. Our understanding is that when internal branding is
done right, it creates the appropriate environment for innovation to occur
effortlessly and organically. A company’s employees can either make or mar the
effectiveness of a brand or
business. It is therefore imperative that internal branding plays a vital role
in the implementation of an organisation’s business strategy.
Corroborating
this view, Maclaverty et al emphasizes that an organization’s
powerful channel of delivering on a brand experience, is the intermediation of
its employees. According to them “ internal branding in recent times has seen a
growing number of organizations which now view the marketer’s job inside the
work premises, to be just as important as the external through a set of
strategic processes that align and empower employees to deliver the appropriate
customer experience, in a consistent fashion”. Successful brands like
Starbucks, Zappos and IBM, have long realized that a brand message targeted at
the consumer without taking into consideration, the comprehension of such a
message by the average employee is no longer sustainable, no matter how
emotional this message might be.
A
valid question can be asked” Why is internal branding even important?” It is
important because we as humans live in a continuously evolving world of work,
where more would be required from what is contained in our job description.
Where there is a disconnect between the goals of the organization and that of
the employee, there would always be problems in the organisation. The simple
truth is that people want to work in places where what they do, resonates with
what they believe in. If innovation is at the forefront of an organization’s
positioning strategy, beliefs and culture, then that message should be clearly
communicated to the employees and ingrained in them. If innovation is to be a
culture, it should not be seen as the job function of a particular unit in the
organization or as a buzz word framed among a few others in the reception; it
should be seen as the responsibility and character of every member of staff.
A case in
point, Virgin Atlantic capitalizes on effective internal branding, to encourage
a culture that is innovation driven, thus making them a leader in innovation,
amongst the airlines around the world. They achieve this by encouraging every
member of staff to develop ideas, letting them know that their ideas are
crucial to the business, and employee feedback is also taken into consideration
when making critical decisions in the organization. This practice helps the
employee see the success of the organization as his/her success and not just a
place where he resumes every day to get a pay cheque
When
internal branding is done right, it builds employee loyalty and commitment, it
makes it easy to attract and retain talent and ensures a consistent firm-wide
experience which in turn means that you do not have to spend as much on
advertising. When employees can relate with the passion and story of a firm,
they inadvertently become ambassadors by living the brand wherever they go,
this is a much potent form of communication. The advantages of internal
branding have a direct customer benefit as satisfied employees would also go
the extra mile in making the customers happy.
Sadly,
many Nigerian organizations have not embraced the idea of internal branding, as
their primary concern is building their external brand and portray a certain
image to their investors and stakeholders alike.
A
simple survey done on Nigerian organizations across various sectors recalled
that the employees could hardly remember the values of their organizations.
Upon further questions, most employees confessed that they only took up theirs
employment because of the remuneration and job satisfaction was the least of
their expectations. This isn’t surprising at all, especially as most
organizations only create core values as templates, have no proper appraisal /
hiring strategies which link the personality of the brand to the personalities
of employees and most importantly do not create an environment where the
employees see themselves as co-custodians of the brand and business. What most
organizations forget is that this external “image” can be easily destroyed if
the internal brand is not adequately aligned. There really isn’t any logic in
promoting a perfect image in the media when you know that the internal
experience is terrible. This will only irritate the customer and create a
fraudulent perception for the brand.
Let us
take British Airways for example, the brand leverages on the power of a
holistic employee engagement approach, to achieve high performing standards.
Every employee in British Airways is seen as a brand manager and a core
embodiment of the brand. Also, Southwest Airlines encourages good friendships
in the workplace, so much so that the boundaries between work and life are
broken. By doing so, the employees think of the organization as an extension of
their own families, and like any family, would protect the interests of the organization.
Another
saddening reality among most Nigerian organizations is how employers adopt the
“them and us” approach, where the employees should be seen but not heard.
Employees are usually kept in the dark about the company’s business strategy
and direction and then line managers are relied on to filter this information
to their respective teams as they deem fit. The problem with this approach is
that as these messages are filtered down the ladder, they lose the original
essence and in most cases are altered to mean something entirely different,
this then creates conflicting impressions for the external audience.
We believe that internal branding is an untapped consumer
touch point for many organizations. Significant potentials lie within this
“purple hole” to improve employees’ favourable disposition towards the
organization’s brand, maximize performance in the workplace, and increase
productivity in a sustainable manner. Internal branding which is a whole lot
less expensive than external branding could serve as a major point of
differentiation for Nigerian organizations, it should also be the starting
point or any organization willing to innovate in these curious times.
This article was published on http://brandcom.ng/index.php/2017/01/24/innovation-impossible-without-proper-internal-branding/