We spend a lot of time talking about branding.

Logos. Colours. Campaigns. Social media. Billboards. Adverts. Brand guidelines.

And rightly so. These things matter.

But sometimes, we forget something very fundamental.

A brand is experienced through people.

Just last week, I had the opportunity to facilitate a workshop for a banking institution on the importance of corporate branding. During the session, I made a point that I believe many organisations need to take more seriously.

I told them that their corporate branding training should not end with management, marketers or communication teams.

The front desk attendants need to be there. The security personnel need to be there. Customer service officers, drivers, receptionists and other frontline employees need to understand the brand too.

Why?

Because customers don’t experience your brand through your PowerPoint presentation. They experience it through your people.

Think about this.

You see an impressive advert from a bank. Everything looks sophisticated. The messaging is convincing. The visuals are beautiful. You decide to visit the branch.

The first person you meet is the security officer.

He is rude.

You walk in and the receptionist barely acknowledges you.

You eventually get to the customer service desk and the person attending to you is impatient and dismissive.

What happens to all the beautiful branding you saw in the advert?

The experience has just rewritten the story.

That is why I strongly believe that employees are among an organisation’s most powerful brand ambassadors.

Not just the marketing team. Everybody.

The security officer can influence your perception of the organisation.

The receptionist can influence your perception.

The person answering the telephone can influence your perception.

The customer service officer can influence your perception.

Even the person who responds to a complaint on social media can influence your perception.

Every interaction is a brand moment.

Your brand promise must be lived, not just communicated

If your organisation says, “We care about our customers,” people should feel that care.

If you position yourself as premium, the experience should feel premium.

If you say you are friendly and welcoming, customers should experience warmth.

If you promise efficiency, your processes and people should reflect efficiency.

There must be alignment between what the brand says and what the customer experiences.

That is where internal brand culture becomes extremely important.

You cannot simply give employees a handbook and expect them to magically become brand ambassadors.

They need to understand what the brand represents. They need to understand the values. They need to understand the customer promise. And, most importantly, they need to understand their own role in delivering that promise.

This is why brand training must go beyond the marketing department

One of the things I emphasised during my recent workshop was that branding is not the exclusive responsibility of the marketing or communications department.

Marketing may create the promise. But the entire organisation has to deliver it.

That means the security officer should understand that how he welcomes a customer matters.

The front desk attendant should understand that the first greeting can shape the customer’s perception.

The customer service officer should understand that handling a difficult customer is also a branding exercise.

The cleaner should understand that the environment communicates something about the organisation.

These may seem like small things. They aren’t.

A customer’s perception is often built from small moments.

Your employees are part of your brand identity

We often invest heavily in external visibility while paying less attention to internal brand behaviour.

We want people to recognise the logo. But do we want them to recognise the values?

We want customers to remember the campaign. But do we want them to remember the experience?

We want people to say good things about the organisation online. But are we giving them enough reasons to do so offline?

A powerful brand is not simply one that looks good. It is one that feels consistent wherever the customer encounters it.

So yes, invest in the logo. Invest in advertising. Invest in social media. Invest in beautiful campaigns.

But invest equally in your people.

Train them. Explain the brand to them. Let them understand the promise. Show them how their individual roles contribute to the customer experience.

Because your next great brand ambassador may not be an influencer with a million followers.

It may be the security officer who welcomes a customer with respect.

It may be the receptionist who makes someone feel important.

It may be the customer service officer who chooses patience instead of frustration.

And sometimes, that single human interaction can do more for your brand than the most expensive advertisement.

Your brand is not only what you say about yourself.

It is what people experience when they meet you.

Philip Nai

Media Executive – Chartered Brand Professional