Living the brand : how to transform every member of your organization into a brand champion

208 Pages·2007·0.88 MB·English

by  Nicholas Ind

LIVINGTHE
BRAND
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LIVINGTHE
BRAND
how to transform every member of
your organization into a brand champion
3rd edition
Nicholas Ind
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
London and Philadelphia
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Publisher’s note
Every possible effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this
book is accurate at the time of going to press, and the publishers and author cannot
accept responsibility for any errors or omissions, however caused. No responsibility for
loss or damage occasioned to any person acting, or refraining from action, as a result of
the material in this publication can be accepted by the editor, the publisher or the author.
First published in Great Britain and the United States in 2001 by Kogan Page Limited
Second Edition 2004
Third Edition 2007
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or
review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publica-
tion may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with
the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic repro-
duction in accordance with the terms and licences issued by the CLA. Enquiries con-
cerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the
undermentioned addresses:
120 Pentonville Road 525 South 4th Street, #241
London N1 9JN Philadelphia PA 19147
United Kingdom USA
www.kogan-page.co.uk
© Nicholas Ind, 2001, 2004, 2007
The right of Nicholas Ind to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted
by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
ISBN 978 0 7494 5083 0
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ind, Nicholas.
Living the brand : how to transform every member of your organization into a brand
champion / Nicholas Ind. -- 3rd ed.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-7494-5083-0
1. Brand name products. 2. Business names. 3. Management--Employee participation.
4. Corporate image. I. Title.
HD69.B7I533 2007
658.8927--dc22
2007036040
Typeset by Saxon Graphics Ltd, Derby
Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall
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Contents
Introduction 1
1 I’m genuinely feeling groovy 3
2 Living brands 15
3 Why people need vision and values 27
4 Why organizations need purpose and values 41
5 Defining the brand 71
6 Bringing the brand to life 105
7 Sustaining the brand: stories and myths 137
8 Measuring success 155
9 Managing the brand 171
10 Conclusion 181
Index 187
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A CarbonNeutral® publication
To soak up the carbon dioxide emissions generated in the production of
this book and to help protect our climate, native trees have been planted
with Future Forests.
Future Forests is a UK-based company with a global vision: to protect the
earth’s climate.
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Introduction
Living the Brand is about how organizations empower and enthuse their
employees. The core argument is that this is best achieved by articulating a
sense of the organization that is credible and motivating both internally
and externally. However, simply stating the organization’s purpose and
values by themselves is not enough. Organizations need to build meaning
into the ideas so that employees can genuinely live the brand in their day-
to-day lives. This is increasingly important if businesses and government
and voluntary organizations want to make best use of the intellectual
resources of all of their employees; to capture the most innovative ideas; to
build strong and lasting relationships with customers; to use the enthu-
siasm and imagination of people.
The book is aimed at communication and marketing professionals and
human resources personnel who are interested in the potential benefits of
engaging the employees of an organization in the imaginative pursuit of a
common cause. It demonstrates why this is important to individuals and
organizations and how it can best be delivered. The idea of engaging
employees may seem a simple one but it is hard to achieve in practice
because it cannot be ordered and controlled. Rather it requires practi-
tioners to work within the cultural framework of the organization; it
involves the creation of a rational and emotional idea that enthuses
employees and helps deliver organizational goals.
One of the keys to a book of this sort is to find good and interesting
examples. Overall, I have tried to avoid the frequently cited organizations
that appear in most business texts. Instead I have sought out organizations
that I believe give some real insight into the problems of articulating and
then delivering brands through people. To provide a flavour of the power
of a company that seems to do this well, the book starts with a story about a
2 Living the Brand
very distinctive organization – Patagonia – which believes that business
should be used to further environmental causes. However, this alternative
stance is not the rationale for its inclusion. Rather the example shows how
values emerge out of a founder’s beliefs and an organization’s memory.
When values are deep rooted – as they seem to be at Patagonia – they have
the power of authenticity. They guide decision making from the funda-
mental (the policy on quality) to the incidental (organic food in the
canteen) not because there is some command and control structure that
dictates it but because people believe in the ideas behind the values.
Having used a specific example to illustrate the general concept, the
book will look at the nature of branding and why people have become such
important definers of the brand. Underlying this discussion is the sense
that both individuals and organizations need values. It is essential to their
wellbeing and their sense of worth.
The final part of the book looks at the best methods for articulating
brand ideas and for embedding them into the organization. This section, in
particular, will cite examples of best practice from around the world and
provide readers with ideas and templates that they can adapt to their own
organizations.
In this third edition of Living the Brand I have updated facts and figures
and introduced some new examples that exemplify the core principles.
Overall I have not changed the substance of the arguments since the first
edition although some of my ideas and views have evolved. I have also
retained the story of Patagonia as the first chapter in the book. This is
essentially unchanged. I could have re-written it, but the story of my per-
sonal interaction with the company when I first encountered the people
there retains its original power for me.