Where Culture and Branding Meet: How to Build a Brand Culture
When we talk about culture, we immediately think of pride. It is a system that was established and meant something, that over time rooted itself in others and spread based on how strong it was. Culture is based on values and beliefs. When it comes to branding, this starts with the brand and transcends to the audience based on how strong it is. This implementation has a general practice in order to bring it to fruition but can only stand true when it genuinely exists.
In certain situations, a brand culture can come into existence based on the consumers who accept it and endorse it on their own; in other cases, the brand culture begins with the brand itself and matriculates to its consumers based on the representation that the brand makes.
Setting the Standard
The consumer has become less superficial when it comes to the brands they choose. It is because of this new perspective when speaking about brand culture, it is no longer about ideals, but an actual representation of the company. What a company believes in, the causes they stand for, how they manufacture their products, and even the words they use and the way they speak outwardly as a brand.
True brand culture starts by looking inward at its values and goals. Having employees who know the core values and goals of where a brand is coming from and where they are planning on going establishes a connection between the people who represent the company and the work they are creating to project the brand into the future they are trying to build.
The Team
Creating a team involves more than just filling positions. The word team alone evokes the thought that everyone who has a place on the team plays an integral part in making it a success. Having established the need for employees who know the values and goals of the brand in order to create and mould the future of the brand, it is important to know how to get them.
Let your hiring managers and HR know what you are looking for will help towards cultivating the proper workplace representation of the brand. Having employees who already represent the values of the brand aids growth in a natural way, but it is not the entirety when it comes to growing your brand. The employees in the brand culture need to be diverse so that the perspectives are not redundant.
How Far Does Culture Go?
Creating the culture within the brand is one aspect of building the brand. Getting employees on board in partaking in the culture can sometimes be easier with some than with others. A look at a large company like Target is a good example of a brand culture that exists in the workplace. They are known for their employees wearing red and khaki, which shows they are unified in the sense of a required colour scheme, but relaxed in the sense that the employees are stuck to the type of clothing they wear, as long as it represents the required colours. Another example of how Target shows brand culture is they have team meetings that are held in the open for customers to see, letting the customer know that the employees are not only unified but involved in knowing where the store stands and what issues need to be addressed.
Another form of brand culture is shown when every hour they tell all of the employees to step away from their work to greet a guest to see if they need any assistance. The reward program at Target is shown by specifically pointing out individual employees for their noted effort and providing different forms of gratitude via gift cards, and contests, amongst other perks.
Can Branding Change a Culture?
Target is also another form of brand culture when it comes to the people who shop their stores. Many references have been derived based on the people who shop there. Anywhere from calling the store “Targét” to poke fun at it being a higher-class form of department store shopping. Another viral joke about people who shop at Target points out how they go in for one item and leave with a filled cart of items they didn’t know they needed. Other shoppers like that they can get products that are made with the “green initiative.”
Brand Elements
When discussing branding, it is necessary to talk about branding agencies. A branding agency exists to help aid in the representation of a brand and make all of the elements cohesively fit together. A branding agency does not only make everything work, they deliver the best representation of a brand and the values and goals they stand for. They take the identity of the brand and influence its elements of it from the logo down to the colours used and even the language when speaking for a brand. Branding agencies can not only help develop but reinvent. Always keep in mind with branding that consistency is key.