When it comes to getting everyone aligned behind the
company brand, the CEO may be more of a problem than the average employee,
according to a survey of marketers done by Lindsay, Stone & Briggs,
a brand development and marketing firm.
Only 10% of the respondents said employees posed the
biggest hurdle to brand alignment; 17% said top management was the biggest
problem. Marsha Lindsay, president and CEO of LSB, states, “We hear
a lot about how important it is to train employees to live the brand in
everything from customer service to sales, and that’s true. But
our survey of marketers revealed that top management needs to do a much
better job of being the chief brand champions.”
LSB’s survey named channel partners and retailers
(41%) as the most difficult group to align, followed by public opinion
(20%), top management (17%) and the sales force (12.8%).
In other findings, over 88% of the respondents said
“brand alignment is very important or critical to their companies”
and almost 92% said “alignment is a bigger issue today than five
years ago.” The biggest reason given was increased competition.
The majority said they monitor alignment of messages
in ads, publicity, the company Website and direct consumer communications,
but not in employee training, new product development or channel partner
communications.
Lindsay concludes that the CEO must be the chief brand
steward, stating, “Brand-savvy managers align everything behind
the brand. It’s how they keep everyone focused on the corporate
mission and vision. It’s how they motivate, reward and incent people
and allocate resources.”
The results were based on 70 responses to a mail survey.
Some results add up to more than 100% due to multiple answers.
Lindsay, Stone & Briggs is an integrated,
multi-disciplinary branding firm. For more information, contact Howard
Cosgrove or Marsha Lindsay at 608-251-7070.
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