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What Message Are We Sending?
Posted by Imagination Blogger on July 10, 2008
Andrea Scott, our Director of Talent, and I attended a class recently titled “Living the Brand,” which was held at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern through the Human Capital Institute. As only the best class can do, we left feeling rejuvenated, excited and bursting with ideas on how we can support our brand and our company.
You see, the rebranding of Imagination is not just the look and feel of our website, or the introduction of a flower as a design element in place of our wacky jumping people. Rebranding Imagination also involves the whole company – the people who work here and dedicate their careers to going above and beyond for our clients and continually challenging themselves to come up with innovative ideas that take a project to the next level. While we educate our clients and future clients on our new brand, we are also educating ourselves.
Professor Lisa Fortini-Campbell delivered a presentation that was not only highly engaging, but also spot on. She discussed the companies that struggle with brand image, such as Oldsmobile, HP and United. She talked about the challenges these companies face in getting the whole workforce to cooperate in putting on an “integrated experience.” What does this mean? When United promises a comfortable and rewarding experience through their advertising, but you show up at the airport and your flight is delayed and the employees are rude, you hardly have an integrated customer experience.
But alternatively, there are those companies who ace branding inside and out. Just one example is Disney. My colleague Doug Kelly just returned from a week at Disney with his wife and kids. He came back amazed at the organization, surprised by the friendly employees and captivated by the magic. At Disney, the employees “stay in character.” They don’t take their frustrations out on the parents or the children. Everyone there is committed to the experience and going above and beyond for their customers.
The company I most admire for its focus on “living the brand” is our own client Chick-fil-A. Every interaction with Chick-fil-A is positive and rewarding, whether you are in the restaurant ordering a delicious chicken sandwich (my all-time favorite meal) or you are visiting their headquarters where everyone treats you as a friend and makes you feel as welcome as you would feel visiting your grandmother’s home. Chick-fil-A truly understands that “experience creates perceptions” and they have created one of the best perceived companies I have ever seen.
We are going to be talking more about branding and the message our own brand sends during our internal company meeting on Monday. I’m looking forward to a lively discussion!
Tagged with: branding, chick-fil-a, disney, message
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