Posted by: Jeneane Becker, Sales and Marketing Coordinator
The American Flag... Lady Liberty… Mickey Mouse… The Twin Towers… The Olympic Rings… These are all iconic images that represent something much greater than the image itself.
Five Olympic Rings are not just the symbol for a bunch of athletic events… They stand for strength, endurance, determination, perseverance, and pride—in self and of country.
Michael Phelps—a native Marylander—just made Olympic history by winning more Olympic gold than any athlete in history. That’s amazing… And when we Marylanders see the Olympic Rings, we feel pride that our fellow citizen achieved that glory in our country’s name. Now that’s branding!
Businesses want a similar response to their company “Brand” from consumers. They want current customers to have and prospective customers to anticipate a positive and memorable experience.
A company logo, the pictures in a magazine ad, uniforms and company vehicles—these are all avenues for a business’s “Branding”… But branding is so much more…
The CEO, people who answer the phones, people who load and un-load trucks: they are not only instrumental to a company’s public image, they are the public image—or brand.
As I was driving to work this morning, I drove behind a van that was “branded” with the company name and phone numbers. I have seen this company’s vans on the road many times before on my drive to and from the office.
On this particular morning, however, something came flying out of the passenger window of the van and rolled across the side of the road. It was a small red cardboard box—maybe a Chicken McNuggets® box (there’s that branding again). A minute later, a can took flight from the same window—judging by the spray of energy drink on my windshield, it was not an empty can. Two more times this happened…
The two people in the van were not just individuals behaving irresponsibly, they were ambassadors of their company—and so the company was behaving irresponsibly.
A company’s employees are their ambassadors to the community. Their actions and conduct have a tremendous impact on the company’s branding. Sometimes this effect is positive. Sometimes – like this morning – it seriously tarnishes the brand.
What do you do to be a good ambassador for your company?