BUILDING BRAND ADVOCATES

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BUILDING BRAND ADVOCATES

• ISHMPR SPRING CONFERENCE
• APRIL 11, 2008
• Presented by
• Cheri Woodsmall
• Group Account Director
• McCormick Company

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THE BRAND STORY

• MAKE IT A TALE WORTH TELLING

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DONT IGNORE IT - EMBRACE IT
Right now, your patients are writing about your
services on blogs and recutting your commercials
on YouTube. Theyre defining you on Wikipedia and
ganging up on you in social networking sites like
Facebook. These are all elements of a social
phenomenon the groundswell that has created a
permanent, long-lasting shift in the way the
world works. Charlene Li Josh Bernoff
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PERCEPTION IS REALITY

• When you meet someone for the first time, or
  walk into a house you are thinking of buying, or
  read the first few sentences of a book, your mind
  takes about two seconds to jump to a series of
  conclusions.
• Malcolm Gladwell
• Author of Blink

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BENEFITS OF A STRONG BRAND

• Has high awareness in community
• Receives a lot of free publicity
• Increases patient loyalty and referrals
• Increases market share for target market
• Provides a platform for growth
• Attracts and retains employees
• Easier to support the brand promise
• Provides clarity for budget
• Share the wealth

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ATTRIBUTES OF EFFECTIVE BRANDING

• Brand continuously delivers benefits that meet
  and exceed customer expectations
• Brand is relevant to defined audiences
• Brands services are in alignment with market
  need
• Brand is differentiated and credible
• Brand is constant yet flexible
• Brand architecture is clean, clear and intuitive

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WHAT IS INTERNAL BRANDING?
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WHY DO WE NEED IT?

• IT STARTS FROM THE INSIDE OUT AND IT STARTS WITH
  A PROMISE

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HOW DO WE DO IT?

• Educate
• Communicate
• Motivate
• Activate
• And do it the next day all over again

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EDUCATE
INTRODUCE THE INTANGABLE
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COMMUNICATE
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COMMUNICATE

• Weekly huddles
• Lunch Learns
• Town hall meetings
• Daily e-newsletters and emails
• Bulletin boards
• Suggestion boxes

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MOTIVATE
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MOTIVATE

• Create Buzz
• Reward and Recognize
• Brand the program
• And do it all with a

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ACTIVATE
THE CHAMPIONS
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ACTIVATE

• Empower key staff
• Implement
• Brand Boot Camp
• Monthly workshops
• Brand checkups
• Nurture it

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SHUT DOWN STARBUCKS??!!
Howard Schultz recently shut down all US stores
for 3 hours. Why? To retrain staff to properly
execute Starbucks unique position.
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CONSUMERS ARE IN THE DRIVERS SEAT
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THE MARRIOTT EXPERIENCE
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THE COMFORTING EXPERIENCE
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THE EXCEPTIONAL EXPERIENCE
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CASE STUDY 1
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STEPS TO SUCCESS
Step 1 Pre-launch Call a meeting with the
Board, executive team and HR. This is critical.
Make sure they understand how important it is
for them to be positive and excited about the
process. After all, if they arent excited, how
do they expect their employees to be excited.
This needs to come from top down. Choose your
Brand Champions. Step 2 Conduct an internal
survey to establish benchmark. Show results to
management prior to launch and 6 months after
launch date. Step 3 Plan a party to kick-off
the launch. Send invitations to internal
audiences Give goodie bags that include things
such as Posters, table tents, give them
background information, discuss talking points,
creative and strategic rationales (why we are
doing this) and a preview of the campaign
materials.
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STEPS TO SUCCESS
Step 4 Present the Brand Standards Guide. This
will be important to keep everyone on the same
page and keep garbage to a minimum. Have each
employee sign the Brand Promise. Step 5
Introduce your Brand Champions DO THIS AT THE
PARTY Step 6 Schedule Brand Champion
workshops and Lunch Learns Step 7 Schedule
HR orientation training Step 8 Ongoing audits.
Dont let the fire burn out. Step 9 Keep
everyone motivated!!
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A GREAT MAN ONCE SAID.

• The business enterprise has two and only two
  basic functions, marketing and innovation.
  Marketing and innovation produce resultsall the
  rest are costs.

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HE GETS IT

• I believe that as the CEO, I truly am
  responsible and accountable for nurturing,
  growing and protecting the brand of this company.
  I don't own the brand, I don't define the brand,
  but I am responsible for nurturing, growing and
  protecting it.
• Todd Linden, CEO
• Grinnell Regional Medical Center

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YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES AS LEAD BRAND CHAMPION

• Ensure your CEO and board share the primary role
  with you
• Ensuring that the brand acts with consistency and
  integrity
• Ensure the brand has a crafted mission, vision
  and promise
• Maximize relevant brand differentiation
• ALWAYS ALIGN ORGANIZATION STRATEGY WITH BRAND
  STRATEGY
• Creating and sustaining organization-wide passion
  for the brand
• Maximize the target audiences awareness with the
  brand
• Infuse the brand with relevant innovation Keep
  it fresh!

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GOOD READ
Employment branding is on the frontier of
strategic HR thinking because no other people
strategy has a greater long-term impact on
recruiting and retention. This book provides a
compelling case as well as the required steps for
utilizing internal employment branding to
emotionally tie workers to their employer. It is
simply the best book on internal employee
branding, period! --Dr. John Sullivan,
professor of management, San Francisco State
University and author
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GOOD READ
Set clear expectations, give employees the right
materials, focus on the employee, and recognize
your best performers. Curt
Coffman Co-Author
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GOOD READ
Offers an integrative view of corporate brand
management as a process that drives business
forward in a global economy. With practical
analytical models and tools designed to improve
the effectiveness of your corporate brand,
reading this book will change how you think about
your branding efforts. Jorgen Vig Knudstorp,
CEO LEGO Group
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• JUST DO IT

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THE WOODSMALL BRANDS