Want better company culture? Focus on your branding.
Hey Friends,
I gave a talk last week for SCORE Chester & Delaware County in Pennsylvania with John Bertino from The Agency Guide and Cheldin Barlatt Rumer from This is it TV.
What an amazing time talking to small businesses about branding, the marketing mix, and content strategy, and thanks again to all my new subscribers from that event. You’re joining one of the most active branding communities on the planet (or at least in my mind it is). 🚀
We closed the conference with a Q&A and one of the questions I got that kept creeping back into my mind all weekend was about branding and company culture.
When I speak about company culture, I’m not talking about beer on Fridays, a ping-pong table, dogs in the office, or any other kind of gimmicky start-up ‘bro’ culture. Sure I like to drink beer and love dogs, but culture to me is so much more.
It’s our modus operandi. It’s the unspoken actions of leadership. It’s the way organizations create an entity larger than an employee count.
When talking about company culture, often the questions that arise are: How does branding impact my company’s culture? How can the work on branding help to invigorate my employees and attract and retain talent?
Why is culture more than beer and dogs? 🐶🍺
Like always, this is a non-exhaustive list, just some thought starters to get you thinking. Ready? Let’s dive in.
A clear brand strategy shapes culture from the inside out
Do you know your organizations’ mission statement? Do your employees? How about new hires? Are they on-boarded in a way that builds culture from day 1 or are they thrown to the wolves in a “best of luck to you” manner?
A strong strategic pyramid (purpose, mission, vision, goals) helps to get everyone in the organization on the same page. It’s the starting point. It’s a must for all companies, no matter the size.
Once work has been done to define your strategic pyramid, it needs to be shared to the whole team. Start with a small group and continue to expand while ensuring everyone understands usage, guidelines, and the WHY behind it.
As the quote says, the journey of a thousand miles starts with one small step.
More so than having these statements be bland and live on a PDF buried in a Google or Teams folder, these statements need to be punchy, bold, and memorable. They need to be embodied, celebrated, and lived every day.
Doing so takes the guesswork out of being an employee and sets the stage for growth.
No Excuses NOT to Stay On-brand
Having a clear understanding of your brand gives everyone in the organization the opportunity to operate on-brand. There’s nothing worse than those who represent the business but in a rogue fashion.
An example I often see is that without proper brand documentation and guardrails, sales staff are left to their own devices in how they talk and showcase the business or product. Think badly designed powerpoints and messaging that is more desperate for a sale than focused on the positioning and intrinsic value.
Being on-brand means there’s a shared language and belief amongst employees and staff. This is the beginning stages of building your tribe (from the inside out)
Attract, Foster, & Retain talent
With the great resignation being as frustrating as the price of gas, companies are fighting to attract and retain talent. The whole dynamic of working has changed and businesses need to focus on not just adapting to this new normal (ugh, I hate that term), but also on how to continue to grow within this new paradigm.
The employee experience is a real thing and its importance is greater than we might think.
By deliberately designing and managing your company’s employee experience—just as you would customer experiences—you’re helping to shape a culture that isn’t just shiny on the surface, but one that has deep reverberations.
A great example is when interviewing remotely, how do you showcase the culture when all you have is Zoom or Teams? How do you let the candidate peek behind the hood to show off what truly makes your organization unique?
There are so many horror stories of virtual interviews gone bad coupled with candidates getting ghosted or using the interview as leverage to demand more money at their current company. Ultimately, this is hurting culture.
It’s a hamster wheel and those with the strongest brand affinity and culture will win.
Having a strong culture helps to create a stronger tribe of customers
A strong internal culture will permeate all facets of the business. Employees will want to stay, recommend their friends to apply, and become your biggest marketing asset. Vendors and partners will revel in the idea of doing business together and want to go above and beyond.
Management is happy. Investors are happy.
Most importantly, customers are happy. They will see the surround sound of your great culture and buy into the organization even further. Whereas in the past, your products might have been seen as your greatest asset, today it’s the brand tribe you amass.
A great example is Apple and how Apple Store employees have become synonymous with the brand. They’re living the culture in every interaction and we as consumers reward them with lines out the door like it’s Black Friday on a random Wednesday.
In 2022, customers don’t buy into brands. They join them.
- Steven
PS. If you’re interested in a workshop to help engage your employees or have additional questions about how branding can help shape your company culture, reply to this email. I’m here to help.
My Current Reading List
Strategy is your Words by Mark Pollard (I’ve been following Mark and his Sweathead Strategy Community for a while and his newest book is so far a great read)
48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene (More of a coffee-table book that should be looked at often as it’s brilliantly written and 100% applicable to today’s culture)