An Inside Job

UPS has evolved quite a bit since its 1907 beginning, when it was the American Messenger Company. Founded by teenage entrepreneur Jim Casey with a $100 loan, the company today employs more than 360,000 employees around the world.

After two years of research and planning, and after 41 years with the former UPS brand mark, the company launched a new brand symbol. A massive internal campaign was deployed, not only to communicate the new icon, but to infuse the reasons behind the change.

Larry Bloomemkranz, VP of global brand management and advertising for UPS, credits the internal branding efforts as the silo buster -- it helped the formerly fragmented organization develop a unified voice to tell its brand story.

"We learned that the logo change and its application to uniforms, vehicles, and aircraft has been a powerful catalyst for internal integration," he says. "It provided tangible action to support our mantra: One company, one vision, one brand."

As a peacemaker.
Activate a friendly fusing agent by managing change with added sensitivity and forthright communications.

In life and business, just as brands happen, well, stuff happens. Many times it's not all good or what everyone wants -- mergers, acquisitions, or a shift in market conditions can create a mean environment. The brand inside can ease the pain of change and serve as a positive bonding agent for all.

D. Mark Hornung, senior VP for the Bernard Hodes Group, recently worked on a project for a healthcare supply and service provider. The company had not only merged with another firm but accounting irregularities surfaced shortly thereafter. The company stock fell, causing a domino effect of massive employee stress and fresh brand wounds.

Hornung points to several key factors that led to the success of this project. First, identify the potential ROI from a branding initiative. This will lead to executive level buy in, which is imperative for the program to work. Be sure to recognize the employees contributions along with those of senior leaders. The Bernard Hodes Group took this on with a highly visible "Power of You" campaign.

And finally, understand that you are speaking to a geographically and professionally diverse employee base. Create materials that are easy to access from anywhere, such as intranets and CD-ROM presentations that can be customized to meet the needs of various audiences. The by-product of all of these can increase brand demand and operational productivity for any size or kind of organization.

What's working?

Steven Overman of Jack Morton Worldwide suggests the following:

• Establish a vision day that unites the organization with a series of activities that encourage cross-functional and cross-regional collaboration.
• Create a learning road show that's experiential, immersive, and highly interactive. Get employees out of the conference room or classroom.
• The magic mix looks different. Make the brand experience fun and exciting: part training, part ritual, and part entertainment.

What's not working?

• Rallying cries and posters around the office alone will not make on-brand behavior happen.
• Unidirectional communication that feels top down and faddish, making the effort purely inspirational, but not offering employees any support in terms of what they actually need to do to help the company meet its objectives.
• Treating employees like the audience for an advertising campaign.
• Ignoring that successful branding must be a holistic and integrated effort incorporating input and expertise from marketing, PR, IT, internal communications, strategic planning, HR, operations, and leadership development.
• Looking for a one-size-fits-all solution. There are none. Effective communications must be designed to target specific audiences and meet specific needs.

How do you know it's working?

Conduct qualitative and quantitative analysis before you begin so you have benchmarks to work from.

Julie Anixter from the LAGA/Tom Peters Co. Alliance, who has worked extensively with Ian Schrager's boutique hotel group, says that sometimes you can just feel the success in the air. Schrager's hotel properties receive high volumes of happy customer feedback via email, the housekeeping staff enjoys ample monetary tips, and positive word-of-mouth buzz is abundant.

Without the inside covered, get ready for some chilly days.

Remember the last time you made a purchase based on a brand's promised value proposition and you were disappointed big time? Was there a character involved who looked like a human?

I hate it when that happens. It's counter-brandsmanship deluxe! The good news is that it's a treatable challenge.

Make the brand inside your organization a priority. Dedicate resources and creative people to the effort. Think organizational alignment and make it a way of life, not a short-term campaign.

Brand on! And in.

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