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By Mike Zambrano,
Communications Specialist, New Mexico
Mutual
The mark of a good branding strategy in an organization is that the brand is born out of, and rooted deeply in, the company’s mission statement, guiding principles, and values. By doing so, the brand comes alive through the employees that are versed in the company’s principles. Employees are then able to convey the company’s philosophy through the brand to the public.
The benefits of this approach are twofold. First, the community becomes increasingly aware of the brand and what it stands for, thus gaining interest about your organization not only from a business standpoint, but also from the established workforce in those communities. Secondly, employees within your organization not only become familiar with and embrace the brand, they also immerse themselves in the concept of what it means to work for your company and will look to stay within the organization.
At New Mexico Mutual, we take an active approach with our branding in the community. We are engaged in community service efforts in every corner of the state. Non-profits, schools, hospitals, and other organizations in need of funding become aware of our message, not just through a donation, but also through steadfast volunteering. Not only does this reflect the core of our commitment to the community as outlined in our values, it provides an opportunity to communicate with the many diverse communities in the state. Ultimately, a positive message is being sent to the community through our branding and subtle groundwork is laid linking the logo/brand to the idea of the company as an employer of choice. Recognition of the logo/brand as it saturates its audience allows potential employees to ‘put a face to a name’. When an individual searches for jobs available with our company on-line, they will find our principles, values, and mission statement, together with the job description.
However, in order to effectively convey a positive message regarding the brand to the outside world, it’s important that your internal employees understand both the branding strategy and the corporate culture. After all, who else can fill an open job position with knowledge of the company and its brand, than someone who already works for the company and is familiar with the strategy? By centering your company’s branding strategy around its core values, employees are more apt to embrace the strategy as familiar, friendly, and necessary.
In New Mexico Mutual’s case, one of our guiding principles states that “employees are our most valuable asset.” As such, employees who embrace the concept of their importance to the company, also embrace the branding that represents the concept. Further, management can use branding to focus on internal training, recognition, and engaging employees. In so doing, a corporate culture arises through the brand that allows us to ‘grow our own’ internally for open positions--the best possible scenario for using branding to further employment opportunities.
Jim Collins, in his book “Good to Great”, states that one characteristic of a great organization, is its ability to ‘get the right people on the bus and the wrong people off’. If one buys into this notion, then consider an effective branding strategy that is tied directly to a company’s beliefs as the steps that lead up to the seats.
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