“People-centricity”: Aligning Your People With Your Brand

When looking to build their brands, most marketers often approach their awareness strategy in a fragmented manner, effectively allocating each awareness option a separate “label” or role.

"TV" advertising, “In-Store” awareness; Press Ads; Event Marketing; Radio advertising; Direct Marketing ; Brand Activation; On-Line activities – are all usually perceived as separate fragments, each tasked with different brandbuilding responsibility. Even the industry terms "Above" and "Below" the "line" connote a distinctively fragmented and separate outlook towards different kinds of awareness platforms.

Some marketers also view some awareness channels as “better” than others – i.e. a TV campaign usually receives more focus and generates far more excitement than a corprate brochure or radio campaign.

Although marketers may look to create an integrated awareness approach, realistically, they still view their collective brand building efforts separately.

Branding: Looking Out Vs Looking In

However, many marketers often lose sight of a critical factor. Customers (or consumers) don’t separate brands into fragments, but view a brand as a single relationship entity, irrespective of which ‘fragment” they have been exposed to, or how they have interracted with it.

Customers or consumers don’t perceive a brand differently when being exposed to a TV ad, a Poster or an actual transaction with the branded organisation – instead, customers/consumers recall the full brand value-set.

Examples:

If a SAB truck drives past carrying cases of beer, and reflecting large SAB logo. We have recall of all the SAB brand values - not just a fragment.

When we visit a Pick n Pay store, we interract with the whole brand, not just the "in-store" component.

Branding: Inner Directed Vs Outer Directed

When asked to outline their brandbuilding strategies, marketers instinctively refer to their awareness campaign elements - TV, Press, Radio, PR ; Instore awareness…their “external” awareness elements…that which is creating awareness using creative or similar communications vehicles.

Seldom, if ever, do marketers consider the role of their organisation's "people" when thinking of brandbuilding. The "brand" and  how it is externally manifested and promoted is usually the primary focus. Internally-directed branding is often overlooked, or given a relatively cursory status.

“People-Centricity” – The Real Brandbuilding

An organisation is in many cases defined by its people. Every  day, every organisation's people interract with its customers/consumers.

Be it a cashier at a retail store; a bankteller in a bank; a customer sales representative; a help desk representative; a telesales representative; a receptionist/switchboard operator; a hotel doorman; a restaurant waiter; a senior client service executive; a managing director; a shelf packer; an air hostess; a security guard, an organisation’s people, irrespective of their rank or status, are potentially powerful brand vehicles, capable of either positively or negatively impacting on the perception of an organisation’s brand.

If a consumer/customer has a negative experience with a representative of an organisation, that negative experience “rubs off” on that organisations brand. What takes marketers months and years to achieve for their brand through significant brandbuilding effort and expense, can almost literally be undone in an instant if that organisation’s people are not suitably reflective of that brand’s value-set.

”People-Centricity”: Bringing Branding & Recruitment Together

In the same way as an organisation uses (or should use) it’s brand positioning to evaluate or direct its exetrnally directed marketing efforts, the brand positioning should similarly be used to direct the recruiting process.

The recruitment process should ideally transcend the traditional recruitment brief parameters (i.e. relevant experience & remuneration). The organisation’s brand must become a significant evaluation and assessment tool to help ensure that not only the “best applicant” is found for a particlaur position…but the best applicant that best suits the brand profile of that organisation.

Naturally every organisation is unique, with a unique culture and brand. Therefore a flexible model is vital to ensuring that a tailored “people-centric” and brand-focused recruitment approach is developed.

In part this also requires a closer working relationship with the Marketing & HR departments – and for both departments to also develop a unque methodology for translating  their organisations’ unique brand values into a successful recruitment strategy.