This week’s post is from Keith Bayley, Director at Ironleaf.
Men of a certain age will know there are 2 certainties in life: England will always lose a major tournament penalty shoot – out, and a family printer will always fail the evening before vital GCSE homework needs handing in. A couple of years ago both of these events had happened in quick succession, leaving me standing grumpily in the showroom of a major computer retailer in discussion with a staff member; he was scruffy, disengaged, bored, tired. I was rather impatient and uncharitable.
Me: “This is the third printer you’ve sold me that’s broken down in 18 months. I have to say… it’s rubbish.”
Him: “Sir – a lot of what we sell is rubbish.”
This is a funny story to tell in the pub; but like all the best comedy, it’s close to tragedy. Why? Because it reveals how a lack of attention to building and nurturing a business’s brand identity leads to a culture that’s destructive and substandard; and ultimately, as we’ll see, leads to the dismantling of the whole brand. Some brief investigation into market reports online revealed that my one-man research study was correct: “…young and incompetent staff selling products they don’t understand… putting commission before customer care… aggressive selling of unnecessary warranties…“ The list went on.
Compare and contrast this to the experience I had in the Apple store a few days later. The place was full of interested and passionate staff who wanted to engage you in conversations about the latest revolutionary free third-‐party apps and tech developments, rather than selling you what’s on the shelves; asking questions about your own workflow, with genuine interest in the answers; and putting exchanges of ideas above commission and sales. They understand their customer; they know I’ll return with a shopping list and a credit card; but they also know the way to build a brand is by creating trust. A very well-respected businessman Ironleaf met with recently described Apple stores as “Cathedrals to the Brand”, which I believe is a very good description: celebration of and respect for the products, the brand the customer.
Why is this important? Because both these stories display how brand identity drives Culture: that is, the attitude, behaviour and performance of the people who’s purpose it is to grow the brand. In these days of all-‐powerful customers who can reject you with a click, defining and sustaining a brand identity which maintains customer trust is all-‐important.
We find in Ironleaf meetings that mentioning Apple is like talking about Manchester United: the response is a complex mix of grudging respect, rolling eyes and genuine admiration. But these two global brands do have things in common: 20+ years with a brave and passionate leader at the heart; a commitment to a strongly defined Identity and Culture which is always greater than any individual; and above all, results in terms of global awareness and metrics that all businesses envy.
Think about those two retail outlets: there’s no reason why they should be so different. They are both just buildings full of stuff, staffed with people talking to customers. But they are very different, and that is entirely down to brand identity driven by leadership which in turn drives
Culture. My “rubbish” conversation would simply not be heard in an Apple store, no more than Sir Alex would have been apathetic about the next match against Liverpool. Apple’s identity is founded on “Thinking Different” – a commitment to the purity of life-changing design which (to quote Dan Pink) ‘puts a ding in the universe.’ Describing the products in store as ‘rubbish’ would be sacrilegious and so far away from brand identity that the only possible outcome would be a P45…
In simple terms; define brand identity, and your people – management and staff ‐ know what to do and how to behave. Identity drives culture. Is that potential new candidate right for your business? If your brand identity is based on energy and competition and he’s always 15 minutes late, then probably not. Or if you’re a business made up of strategic problem-solvers and your latest hiring executes first before thinking then maybe he’s not the perfect fit either. Remember there’s no fixed route: for every BBC there’s a Talksport, for every Hollister there’s a JD Sports.
These are all clearly defined brand identities driving very different cultures; but all successful in their own way.
There’s a happy(ish) ending to my printer story. Somewhere in the towers of the computer retailer the message got through to management, the old brand was steadily dismantled and merged into a parent group brand – a clear indication that the previous brand identity was beyond saving – and new campaigns appeared to address all those issues that were so visible in store and online. There are new hybrid stores opening regularly and recent trading figures show improved performance and grounds for optimism.
I can’t say the same for England’s penalty shootout chances though…
You can contact Keith at [email protected]
