Branding

1. Branding More than just lipstick

2. Change: From reds to naturals • Bottom and top 20% • Generally only 20% of people accept change completely • Likewise, another 20% fight change • 60% haven’t decided one way or another if change is good

3. Know you customer: CPAs • Detail, analytical, process, linear…. • Emotional vs. Logical • Logical people • Very detailed • Price sensitive • Change resistant • Often isolated from the consequences of delay or undervalue what brand positioning can do • Emotional people • Look at the big picture • Feel the pain of consequences • Want to be heard and understood • If you can make a connection – easy to close • Usually trumps the logical buyer in the decision

4. Appeal to their better nature with data • Ask the right questions to better understand the historical brand of Boulay • 2 founding partners alive and kicking • Logo was created in the late 60’s early 70’s (before any current partners/employees had joined Boulay) • They had revitalized the color scheme, but the logo was constant. Almost a sacred cow. • Website was redesigned 5 – 7 years before I started at Boulay

5. The Emotional Pivot • Agency proposals were line itemed to include/separate brand strategy positioning • Easy to add or delete as part of the branding project • Logo emotion • Making a connection • Internal • External • Not about Boulay. It’s about the customer. • Easier to share differentiators

6. Brand Champions • Hand selected partners to be a sounding board • Provide feedback • Generate ideas • Move branding process along • 100% agreement on the brand positioning and supergraphic • Advocate

7. Untapped Opportunity The people who deliver on the brand promise are employees. As a result, making sure they understand and can deliver the brand to customers is vital-especially for companies within the service industry, where the relationship between employees and customers essentially is the product the company sells. – Van Aucken, Author, Brand Aid

8. The Boulay Eight = Brand Success! • Defines what it means to work and be successful with each other and clients Be: Personable Easy to get along and work together Proactive Preparing for possible future opportunities and problems Inquisitive Desiring to know or learn more Immersed Being fully involved in all that you do Innovative Introducing or using new ideas or methods Precise Accurate and exact Ethical Doing the right thing Respectful Treat others as you want to be treated

9. Brand SWOT Analysis • Strengths • Brand platform and strategy brief • Energy, excitement and anticipation of brand launch/celebration • Weaknesses • Generation and gender gaps / employee relation challenges • Current vision statement is not known or owned • No defined commitment to internal clients • Opportunities • Build on initial momentum of brand launch to consistently and continuously reinforce brand • Develop and implement a brand alignment experience strategic plan • Define expectations • Identify launching point and measure going forward

10. Brand SWOT Analysis (cont.) • Opportunities (cont.) • Brand experience alignment • Education • Recruiting • Training and development • Performance management • Rewards and recognition • Vision, Mission and values • External and internal client service pledge • Threats • Brand personality is nebulous • Based on behavior • Dictated by culture • Leadership alignment with expectations - critical • Job market improvement and more companies searching for the best employees • No strategic plan – no measurable results

11. Brand Alignment Experience Strategy • Strategy • Align brand with human resource functions: • Objectives: • Develop programs aligned with the brand that improve employee engagement • Build on initial brand launch momentum • Gather feedback and critically measure how aligned the workforce is to our brand • Annual survey “The ultimate goal is sustainability. The real point of launching internally is that customer-facing employees deliver the brand experience to customers every day. You don’t want to take any risks with that. All employees have potential to be ambassadors for the brand. That is the most powerful marketing tool any company can hope to have.” - Christine Donahue, Pitney Bowes

12. Return on Investment • Brand Experience Alignment results in: • Measurable statistics: • Attract best talent • Improve employee retention • Increased sales • Client retention • Improved employee engagement (Brand Experience Alignment) scores • Create criteria filter to determine new initiatives • Client satisfaction surveys Branding works best with great collaboration between HR and Marketing... This is a really big issue for the head of Marketing and the head of HR to be joined at the hip on this topic because it’s a question of culture. What you’re really doing is affecting the [corporate] culture when you’ve created an employer brand. - How to Measure The Impact of Employer Branding, JWT Inside

13. Key Takeaways: Taking Branding Beyond Lipstick • Focus on the 60% undecided • Understand the sacred cows • Appeal to their decision making process • Emotional and Logical • The data and how it fits into the big picture • Build a team of champions • Identify and utilize your advocates