Your brand is not what you say—it’s what you do
The foundation of a sustainable, winning brand is your company’s culture, these two seasoned founders say, and not just a clever marketing plan.
BY DAVID M. M. TAFFET AND JORDAN GOLDENBERG
Here’s a little secret most branding agencies won’t tell you. You can’t define your brand—your customer does. It’s why the standard in brand measurement–net promoter score asks the fundamental question: How likely is it that you would recommend us to a friend or colleague?
Your brand is much more than just a logo or an advertising slogan; your brand is your reputation. And while brands are earned from the outside-in, the most aspirational brand-driven companies are built from the inside-out. They start with, are driven by, and are delivered though, people. Despite this, most companies see branding as simply a marketing function instead of an authentic reflection of the people who form it.
For over two decades, we’ve been building brands together based on the philosophy that culture is the foundation of a sustainable, winning enterprise. Though we each approach our work from different disciplinary vantage points (venture building and turnarounds versus purpose, position, and execution), we are aligned in the conviction that everything in business and life happens with and through people. As such, we believe in packaging products around an authentic brand versus packaging a brand to sell products. In fact, a brand is defined not only by what they sell, but, just as importantly, what they don’t sell.
Understanding your brand helps guide what you sell, which inspires the people, who in turn, guide the company. It’s a virtuous cycle that, done right, ignites passion and fuels motivation. The alternative comes down to an old adage: If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there. Needless to say, wandering aimlessly won’t create the gravitational pull needed to activate the flywheel of alignment and shared purpose (i.e. positive, sustainable culture).
WHAT YOU DO DEFINES YOUR BRAND
The best way to test the authenticity of a brand is to watch how it behaves during a crisis. This is when a brand proves its mettle or reveals its hypocrisy. For example, when PurduePharma was confronted with the deadly effects of OxyContin, they lied to federal regulators and continued to pledge that the drug was safe. In 2017, when Dr. David Dao was dragged off of a United Airlines flight for refusing to give up his seat, the airline’s CEO released a misbegotten statement that seemed to blame Dao for the incident. These are extreme examples, but the impulse of businesses to disown responsibility is more common than not.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, companies that have a bad relationship with their customers usually have a bad relationship with their employees. This is why when one of us gets called in to do a rebrand or a turnaround, we begin by assessing what truly matters: culture.
As Harvard professor emeritus John P. Kotter writes in Leading Change, “transformation is a process, not an event.” It’s a lot harder than just slapping on a Band-Aid, but working from the inside out is the only way to create sustainable change. Here are some key branding principles that are critical to long-term success.
KEY PRINCIPLES FOR SUSTAINING A STRONG BRAND
First things first: every company has a brand. The question is whether you will let it define you, or if you can be more intentional about steering it. Your Brand is a reflection of your culture—in fact, it’s where the rubber meets the road. It must be cultivated by meaningful moments. Your brand is not about what you say, it’s about what you do.
Only the most effective companies understand that brand and culture sustain one another like a feedback loop that generates employee engagement and morale, customer loyalty, trust, and financial sustainability. In this regard, brand and culture are synonymous. This is why the best brands are built from the inside out, starting with people.
Do you remember the last time your laptop was on the fritz? If you’ve got a Mac, you probably visited an Apple store to get it fixed, and you were probably upset about the inconvenience. But, if your experience was anything like ours, when you arrived, you were greeted by employees who weren’t just in it for the paycheck. Apple employees are, almost without exception, enthusiasts who believe in their products and want you to, too. An experience like this that meets or exceeds customer expectations creates loyalists; a deflating experience, however small, can have the opposite effect.
In the case of Apple, an encounter with their employees reinforces and inspires brand loyalty. However codependent we’ve become with our things, the experience of interacting with the people attached to a brand brings it to life in a way that products alone cannot. Sure, it’s possible to create a strong business that has a lousy culture, but the key term here is business—not company. It’s an important distinction.
If your goal is simply to make a lot of money, then you may not need to worry about building a company; it may suffice just to build a business. But consider this: a business can fail in a heartbeat, a company can endure seemingly insurmountable odds. That’s because company is something you keep—by choice. It’s the people on your team who make you proud to work there, the lasting relationships formed by building something meaningful that contributes to the public good. Those things have staying power.
In contrast, some of the most profitable businesses have the worst brands. Think oil & gas, agribusiness, and defense. There are likely some outliers, but overall, these industries don’t exactly give you the warm fuzzies, and there’s a reason for that. You’re no doubt familiar with the motto of all movie mob bosses, “business is business,” (i.e. “actions are justified by the pursuit of profit”). We’re not saying businesses that lack heart aren’t profitable; on the contrary, we’re just saying they lack resilience and have a lousy culture.
No one refuses to go to Exxon because they just love the experience at Shell. Oil is a commodity, and if one gas station is cheaper, everyone lines up for it. By contrast, people will pay more for a MacBook over a PC, even if the cost is greater by an order of magnitude. Apple doesn’t compete through pricing competition. Instead, it relies on radical differentiation, built on its brand, which allows it to charge a premium.
A STRONG BRAND IS A STRONG COMMUNITY
Whether it’s good or bad, the truth is that brands are a new form of community. In our decentralized world, they’re a way for people to form bonds. We articulate our values through the products and services we buy (and those we don’t). And, though we often have less choice in the matter, we’re also defined by the entities that employ us. These communities can be healthy and resilient or easily dismantled. It all depends on the strength of the foundation.
What’s more, though it may seem like you’re just a cog in the wheel, the truth is that all of us have the power to define the entities we work for/with. Complacency underwrites bad brands and poisons good ones. Even if you’re not a top level executive, it’s possible to change the culture of your company from within by working with and through your colleagues to create a positive microculture that other units want to emulate. The rest of the company may be a disaster, but your vertical can still thrive.
A strong brand—like a strong community—is built on a foundation of good will, trust, reciprocity, and open communication. Thinking about brands as civic structures increases the urgency and importance of brand building. It deepens the responsibility of companies to ensure a healthy organizational culture, one that ripples out to every customer touch point.
You have a brand—whether you realize it or not—so, why not shape it into something that people love? The good thing is that you don’t need to hire a branding expert to start developing your brand. Begin by identifying your purpose and mapping the myriad ways it gets communicated. Each touch point should feel authentic and leave a positive impression. Avoid the pitfall of prioritizing money over mission. When you see opportunities to make a buck by betraying your brand, remember that business is business. It’s the Company you keep.
David M. M. Taffet is a parallel entrepreneur, turnaround specialist, and the cofounder and venture builder at JukeStrat, a purpose-driven venture studio and consulting group. An executive whisperer, fractional C-level advisor, and coach, he draws on his 30-plus years of experience building companies, orchestrating turnarounds, leading successful teams, raising capital, and developing cross-sector partnerships for commercial and public gain.
Jordan Goldenberg is cofounder and creative director of Popstar, a new men’s sexual health and wellness company. He’s a former agency founder and executive creative director with over 25 years experience building brands, spanning retail, fashion, sporting goods and technology. He has also served stints as the CMO of Sharktank darling, Scholly, and as the head of brand & creative at Petco.
