Acom Healthcare

How do you pronounce your brand? Not how do you say it. But how do you declare it? How does your brand get communicated? Often the first inclination is to push the brand into the market and attempt to engage your audience. Your customer matters. No doubt about it. But prior to making the leap externally, it’s critical to take action internally.

Take stock of who needs to bring your brand to life. Sales representatives? Sure. But it’s so much more than that. It’s anyone and everyone who comes into contact with the brand within your company. From the people who answer the phone to the engineering department, to human resources, to medical information to, well, you name it. All of these people have a stake in the brand. Moreover, they have the ability to make the brand the very best it can be. That’s why it’s so important to communicate the brand regularly internally, as well as externally. And not only prior to a launch.

People within your company need to understand the brand in order to embrace it and support it. It seems like common sense, but is frequently overlooked.

Here are a few things to keep in mind.

When you have a strong corporate brand, put it to work. It should be the way you package much of the internal communication you’re going to do anyway. Why would you develop communication inconsistent with your brand?

Build employee recognition programs around your brand. Make sure people realize that outstanding brand support is being recognized.

Practice what you preach. Make sure that the people closest to brand management are models for harnessing the brand in meaningful ways.

When you have a product, service or technology brand, make sure people understand what makes it special and why that matters.

Personalize the brand. Make it relevant to people. Bring a patient into the company who’s benefited from your therapy and let employees see how their work really matters.

Keep everyone up to date. Share good news and be direct in challenging times. Build confidence through good brand management.

You want your brand to succeed in a pronounced way. Remember, the best path forward externally, is to build a solid brand foundation internally. Educate people consistently. Empower them and they will bring the brand to life.E33