The brand defines the core strategy/mission internally, helping the organization
to be more effective. My last blog entry gave an example of how the employee
working in the trenches can be a Brand Believer, a living-and-breathing
expression of the brand. For retailers like Starbucks, the customer touchpoint is
a critical erogenous zone for the brand to work its magic. Whatever happens in
that touchpoint is magnified a thousand times, because all that customer cares
about is how she felt when she experienced the brand. She doesn’t care about the
company’s strategic plan.

That being said, the employee does care about what internal policies and
strategies affect his living the brand. Employees may not realize it, but they
experience the “trickle down” theory—not Reaganomics, but Brandonomics. Whatever
strategy is put into place by company leadership is experienced manifold by the
employees, and they are expected to carry the brand torch. If they live the brand
well, they interact with the customer in a way that serves the company well also.

There is probably more than six degrees of separation between the customer and
company leadership. But when brand strategy trickles down the hierarchy, the
customer feels it eventually. It’s like the CEO sneezing and the customer
catching a cold. It’s like an earthquake rocking San Francisco, affecting
San Mateo. It’s like Kevin Bacon not making a movie, and you wind up watching
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Get the picture?

Article Tags: brand | Mission | Starbucks | Strategy
Filed under: Branding, Strategy