Socrates on Branding
“The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavour to be what you desire to appear.” Socrates’ insight is as true for organizations and their brands as it was for the virtuous individual he sought to instruct more than 2000 years ago. This simple idea, also summed up in the iconic: decide who you are and be that thing, is a powerful reminder of how to order your priorities. The common trap, of course, is not getting beyond appearances. So often, too much focus is put on building media attention, advertising impressions and unaided awareness; and on proclaiming through logos, taglines and marketing messaging, that you are who you say you are.
Socrates would disapprove. In my experience (and clearly in his too) the best reputations are built around the moments of truth that demonstrate who you really are. This applies to individuals and corporations. So, a great place to start in building your brand is not with what you say to the world, but what you do in the world, at the times that are most important; and the more grassroots, the better. The power of this was brought home to me recently during a hotel stay in Chicago. This hotel, which prides itself on superior, friendly service, and proclaims so in all its marketing and PR, had clearly developed strict friendliness protocols, trained for service and friendliness and was measuring degrees of friendliness. The “customer-facing” employees had clearly been “engaged and aligned with the brand”. We had been so unctuously over-greeted upon check-in that we actually thanked the plumber heading upstairs in the elevator for not telling us he hoped our stay was a pleasure. Not surprisingly, when we did have real complaints (no AC in the room, mirror missing, bad meal etc.) the response was dismissive. They are not really trying to be what they desire to appear; they’re just desiring to appear that way, if you know what I mean. The answer isn’t to train staff to smile and make small talk, it’s to hire people who listen, train them to act, and give them the resources to respond.
The lesson for all of us is to focus on what the brand means internally before proclaiming it externally. Examine your operations to find those moments of truth; those places where the brand is forged for real, wherever that may be: in the product development labs, on the shop floor, in housekeeping, in your outsourcing partnerships.
I promise not to write a book called “Socrates’ Seven Steps to Brand Bliss”, but I do urge you to come back to this simple idea when you think about the management of your corporate brand.
