Ben Wise on Branding

Sorry for the long dry spell on this blog, but I have been travelling for the past 4 weeks and am just now returning to my regular routine.

While away, I read ‘Delivering Happiness’ by Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos.com. I would strongly recommend reading this book if you haven’t yet, but would like to elaborate on one key aspect that rings especially true for me.

Hsieh believes that the Zappos employee culture is one of the most important contributors to the company’s success and they go to great lengths to continually build upon and strengthen their culture. The amazing part of their culture is how well it aligns the company internally with their brand externally.

The company’s 10 core values, which dictate how employees should interact at work and in life, shine through vividly in any interaction that a customer or partner has with Zappos.

If you think about it, it is almost shocking that this isn’t the case at more companies. If you subscribe to the philosophy that your brand is your business system, then aligning your company culture to your external brand promise is one of the most important jobs for any organization. Your company’s culture will dictate how you operate on a day-to-day basis through all aspects of your operations. This in turn, will shape how you are viewed by everyone outside your company.

So if you are looking to build a powerful brand that resonates with customers, be sure to build an equally powerful culture to deliver that brand.

What do you think? Is your company’s culture aligned to deliver your brand externally?