A brand is the outward representation of a company and the strength of every brand’s image is indicative of its ability to acquire customers and drive revenue. When we think of branding, often the term “advertising” comes to mind. However, brand is much more multi-faceted than that. Strong performing brands take the time to isolate their brand identity or archetype — this is critical to figuring out what kind of culture is cultivated within an organization.
This is a great reference list published by Harvard Business Review to inform brand culture:
As you can see, successful brands do best when their brand archetype has a striking personality that evokes a specific type of emotion. In many of the examples above, remaining consistent with this personality-type has created a lasting impression with their target audiences.
The Disney brand, for instance, sparks one’s imagination and makes people instantly think of unforgettable experiences at one of the brand’s iconic theme parks.
Now that we are all on the same page in brand archetypes, let’s dive into cultivating brand culture.
How associates/employees engage with your brand ultimately informs the overall performance of the company. In a recent study referenced in this Harvard Business Review article, researchers found that 40% of managers identified emotional intelligence and self-awareness as the most important factors influencing whether an employee takes responsibility for their own engagement. If we can combine what we know about engagement with what we know about personality, then we can help each person more effectively navigate their organizational reality — leading to better, more effective organizations for all.
Given our ongoing pandemic situation due to COVID-19, companies are taking precautionary methods to have employees work from home. If you’re lucky enough to work at a brand that actually cares about the well-being of its employees, then you’re “quarantined” in your home or apartment. And for those of you with children, good luck keeping those kiddos entertained while stuck at home.
So, how do you maintain the culture of your employees when you can’t interact with them?
Here are five proactive ways to keep your teams engaged while quarantined:
1. 2x/WEEK VIDEO CONFERENCE CALLS FOR ‘STAND UP’ HOT LIST: This gives an opportunity to see each other and ensure people are still delivering and working diligently
2. PICK UP THE PHONE: While people are ‘forced’ to work-from-home, hearing each other’s voice is going to positively impact their mental state and boost overall morale so don’t just write an email when it can be a 2-minute conversation
3. BI-WEEKLY IDEA BOX: Give employees within 2 weeks to submit ideas into a virtual box, team involved votes on best idea to drive new business ideas and discuss on a video conference call
4. LEAN INTO SOCIAL MEDIA: Whilst many companies have policies around how their employees engage on social media platforms, there are ways to build closed communities or feature pages and invite your employees to engage — especially for top-down communications and keeping them abreast of information
5. SHARE FAVORITE RECIPES TO COOK OR FUN ACTIVITIES TO EXPLORE EVERY MONDAY: We all know we have raided grocery stores and since not everyone is Rachael Ray, quick and easy recipes would be helpful to your employees