The Intersection of Brand and Culture:
Leveraging Engaged Employees as
Brand Ambassadors
Presented by: Cindy Mielke, CPIM
IMA Recognition Council President
Strong Brands
• Command a premium price
• Pave the way for product expansion
• Thrive during a down economy
• Withstand turbulence better
• Demand more leverage with partnerships
• Fuel stock price/shareholder value
• Attract the best talent
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Zappos
Impressive credentials
• Achieved $1 billion in revenue in 10 years
• Strong rate of repeat customers and word-of-mouth marketing
• Consistently on Fortune’s “100 Best Places to Work” list
• High customer service ranking
Zappos’ strategic plan
• Customer service is not their #1 priority,
culture is.
J.D. Power
Airline Satisfaction Survey
#1 in 2014 = JetBlue
All careers at JetBlue start with “Cultural
Immersion” training
• Cultural storytelling by executives
• Honest and transparent reveal of strategy
• “Jettitude”
Employee Engagement
Less than ONE THIRD of workers were engaged in 2014
51% of workers were “not engaged”
17.5% were “actively disengaged”
Market Leader | Characteristics
Marsh & McLennan Companies: ViewPoint—Delivering the Brand Promise through Employees
Foresight & Innovation
Brand Investment
Image Management
Measuring & Monitoring
Design
Marketplace Vitality
Organizational Stature
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Customer Experience
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Reviews Gain Power
Traffic to top 10 review sites up 158%
92% have more confidence in online info
70% consult reviews before purchasing
51% of consumers use internet before making a purchase
46% feel they can be brutally honest online
34% use social media to air their feelings
26% to express dissatisfaction
23% to share likes
17
82.5% Use Trip Advisor for Every
Trip
83% Read and Post Reviews
77.6% Reviews Reduce Regret
76.5% Adds Fun to Travel
Planning
Feedback Impacts Brand
“(Insurance) agents in the top
quartile for engagement… achieve
over four times the account growth
of agents not in the top quartile.”
- The Forum: Business Results Through
People
20
“Organizations that deliver truly outstanding
customer support will be the winners in the
new economy. Customers expect an
experience that reflects a product or service
marketing promise.”
- Incentive Research Foundation
Recognition Drives Engagement
Aon Hewitt: Recognition is one of the important drivers of
employee engagement
Bernsin & Associates: Organizations that design and deploy
strategic recognition programs realize a 14% higher
employee engagement index score than those without
systematic recognition
And, a 15% improvement in employee engagement can
yield a 2% gain in operating margins.
“Top Need: Alignment Leaders”
“Today, brands extend past the
characteristics of the product into its
deeper DNA. Further, they are
strengthened by consistency. The
strong brand is one that is aligned,
inside and out.”
Steps Toward Improved Culture and
Engagement
Communicate
Collaborate
Join the Conversation
Celebrate
Appreciate/Recognize
Cultivating Brand Ambassadors
Communicate
• Imagine and advance a vision
• Articulate your vision in as few words as possible
• Give employees latitude to deliver brand promise
• Let employees “preview” marketing
• INSPIRE vs. tell
Collaborate
Establish an employee marketing council
Encourage employees to experiment with products
Allow employees to represent you in the community
Capture innovative ideas in a formal program
Promote job shadowing and mentoring
Lift the ban on social marketing
Cultivating Brand Ambassadors
Social Media | Brand
You can’t control the conversation, so join it.
• Nearly everyone is “social” these days
• Not feasible to hand-pick or restrict social representation
• Cultivate a culture worth broadcasting
• Focus more on empowering a positive culture vs. social media
policy
Celebrate
• Leverage progress as a means to perpetuate your brand
• Package momentum in external marketing
• Match real faces with the brand—use employees in marketing
• Establish celebration rituals that are tied to small wins
• Acknowledge failure as a means to make improvements
Cultivating Brand Ambassadors
Cultivating Brand Ambassadors
Appreciate/Recognize
• Capture and reinforce your core values in action
• Establish tangible metrics to gauge success
• Assess employee understanding of your brand promise and reinforce
competence
• Recognize and highlight employees who successfully live the brand
A Final Review
Brand is NOT a logo or a tagline
Brand is exemplified by ENGAGED EMPLOYEES
A robust and vibrant CULTURE is a byproduct of employee engagement
CULTURE fuels brand
Social media feedback impacts brand; join the conversation!
Recognition is an important engagement driver
Communicate/Collaborate/Celebrate/Appreciate
Thank You!
Cindy Mielke, CPIM
IMA Recognition Council President
Phone: 402-960-4026
Twitter: @Cindy_Mielke
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/cmielke
Bibliography
Recognition Council Whitepaper, “The Intersection of Brand and Culture: Leveraging Engaged Employees as Brand Ambassadors”, 2014
Recognition Council Whitepaper, “It’s Personal: The Brand, the Consumer, and Employee Recognition”, 2013
Gallup Survey: http://www.gallup.com/poll/181289/majority-employees-not-engaged-despite-gains-2014.aspx
Gallup Great Workplace Award: http://www.gallup.com/events/178865/gallup-great-workplace-award-current-previous-winners.aspx?utm_source=GALLUP_GREAT_WORKPLACE_AWARD&utm_medium=topic&utm_campaign=tiles
“Top Need: Alignment Leaders” blog by Tim McMahon, Clinical Associate Professor at Creighton University