For those of you as behind in your movie watching as I am, here’s the synopsis: Nelson Mandela, during South Africa’s tough transition to democracy, leverages the nation’s love of rugby to cross racial lines and bring people together (a bit more). He does this by supporting, even promoting, the Springbok team and its name even though it’s associated with white rule. In exchange for his support, the team engages in outreach efforts all over the country, bringing rugby matches and lessons to poor black children. By supporting rather than alienating the team and its white followers he builds trust. And by modeling forgiveness he captures the hearts of blacks. By inspiring the team to their victory at the Rugby World Cup in 1995, he demonstrates to his fellow countrymen that they do have something in common after all.

What does this have to do with brand leadership? Any company working to define and strengthen its brand is embarking on a substantial change process. You’re asking people to change the way they work, what they say, who they work with, maybe even what they do. This is the kind of change that requires people to either get on board, or not.

I have seen many companies try to embark on this process by reasoning with employees, by explaining why this is important to the company’s future and to their jobs. In some cases that works, and in others it does not. When it doesn’t, the brand initiative lies dead in the water—an expensive experiment in what the company could be.

The problem is that people’s loyalty to a brand isn’t 100% logical. It might not even be 50% logical. So why should your internal effort to align people around the brand be any different? Effective brand leadership taps into people’s emotions. It inspires. It’s fun. It’s a little audacious. That’s often what gets people motivated to change.

This movie was a nice reminder that inspiration can often outweigh perspiration.

What will you do to inspire staff in your effort to build your brand?

–Briana Marrah

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An epiphany is a sudden insight into reality—something you might have known all along, but simply didn’t see. It’s the big “aha!” moment clients have as a result of our work. One of our recent clients described it as, “Wow. It’s the first time I’m hearing it, but it’s like I’ve lived this all my life.”

How does the branding process uncover epiphanies?

Companies get entrenched in their thinking. They lose outsider perspective as cultural norms and groupthink take hold.

Branding, when you start with external research, brings in a new perspective about your organization’s value. There are all sorts of barriers keeping your brand from being its best: an organization’s bureaucracy, negative cultural norms, lack of focus. There’s something very elegant in how we help organizations make simple shifts to set them free.

That’s my favorite part about this job. Lifting the veil and delivering the epiphany to help organizations say, “Wow! That makes sense. A lot of sense.”

- Bianca Abate

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Check out Briana Marrah and Joe LePla’s presentation from their recent workshop at the ALI’s Internal Branding Conference in Chicago.

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Branding experts Briana Marrah and Joe LePla will be leading a workshop at the Advanced Learning Institute’s Internal Branding Conference. They will be speaking on how to leverage social media tools to engage your employees and create effective brand champions.

Save 50% on your registration fees when you mention email code “SPK”!

Description:
Social media tools have added more visibility to your brand, providing a channel for anyone’s opinions and experiences to be distributed to the world almost instantaneously. If this isn’t enough to make you a little nervous, what about the fact that conversations in social media aren’t limited just to your customers? Your employees are online sharing their opinions about you, too. Your employees’ lives and jobs intersect online where the lines between public and private are blurred at best.

Don’t be deterred by this reality! Your employees, if given the right incentives and tools, can become the biggest champions of your brand. They are the most important audience in any brand effort because they both deliver the brand experience and influence public opinion. If you re-examine your internal social media policy through this lens, your employees look less like a ticking time-bomb and more like message mercenaries.

In this approach, we find a more authentic way to communicate with all audiences, an opportunity to personalize your brand and connect on a deeper level—a level synonymous with trust, honesty and transparency. And that’s what builds a brand. You must be deliberate, strategic and careful in this effort, however, to improve the likelihood that your employees’ powers are being used for good and not for evil.

Attend this workshop and learn ways to utilize social media tools to help, not hinder, your brand. Specifically, you’ll learn:
-Examples of how social media has enhanced and destroyed brand value
-How social media can be used to drive deeper engagement
-Ways to overcome hurdles to implementation and gain organizational buy-in
-How guidelines can ensure that social media touch points stay true to your brand
-Tactics and strategies to successfully leverage and measure social media effectiveness

For more informatiion: call 888-362-7400. Get discount by registering by June 19th or by bringing or Marketing, HR or Communications Team. www.aliconferences.com.

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********************
INTERNAL BRANDING:
How To Use Branding And Communications To Drive Employee
Engagement And Improve Your Organization’s Bottom Line
*********************

May 11-14, 2009 – Washington, DC
Details: http://www.aliconferences.com/conf/internal_branding0509/index.htm

• Early Bird Rates have been extended until May 1st!

• ALSO – mention “LYNN PARKER” and receive 50% off the current registration fees!

Benchmark best practices, learn how to create brand champions, and drive bottom-line results from:

1. NASA
2. ServiceMaster
3. Kaiser Permanente
4. Dean Foods Company
5. George Brown College

And many more…

To register or for more conference details:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
CALL: (773) 695-9400, x1 -or- Toll-Free within the U.S. (888) 362-7400, x1
ONLINE: http://www.aliconferences.com/conf/internal_branding0509/register.htm

— Mention “LYNN PARKER” and receive 50% off the registration fees!

http://www.aliconferences.com/

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