Grey Consulting

Our Grey Consultants Tim Nelson Katy Lindemann Richard Giddings Kiron Mair recently spent time with senior thought leaders from brand and people teams of a wide range of organisations. Our roundtable discussion centred around this provocation: For a brand to matter to its customers, it needs to matter to employees. And when it does; organisations see as much as a 4x higher EBITDA & 4.4x revenue. It’s clear that brand-led culture isn’t just a nice-to-have - it’s a commercial imperative. Here are 8 takeaways that emerged from our illuminating session with them. #brandbuilding #peopleenablement #marketingenablement

"Too often, the role of the chief marketing officer is understood as purely outward-facing. In reality, the first market that the CMO needs to conquer is the one closest to home" Great insight from this article featuring @Lauren Maynard, who talks about how CMOs that look inwards can drive greater efficiencies across a business, and benefits such as creative consistency, quality, and 'free advertising' through creating brand ambassadors. This comes back to our 2nd principle of Brand Enablement we shared recently: Create motivation by exciting your people about what your brand stands for. We'd love to hear in the comments what techniques you or your CMO have been using to drive #brandenablement in your organisation. https://lnkd.in/gfwxhweV #internalbrand #culturechange

We love this insight, both from Ed Bastian and Joanne Smith at Delta - who say "an important part of a people-first culture is sharing our successes" And also from Gabriela Pulido below - "if your employees feel valued, respected and appreciated, that sentiment naturally extends to your customers" 👏 #peopleenablement #culturechange

We've already talked about how investing in your culture and internal values can result in up to 4x growth for your organisation. But what about the other side of the coin? What if neglecting your culture and values could not only result in the de-growth of your organisation, but tragedy to befall your customers? Perhaps an over-dramatic suggestion - but this is exactly what Boeing has faced with the many mechanical failures of the 737 Max aircraft model. Paul Holmes tells the story of how the Boeing leadership's shift in priorities away from its original values of quality and safety, to share price, has resulted in many quality control failures that risk the life of passengers. An organisation may have corporate values on the surface, but whether it actually practices those values is another matter. Holmes calls out three questions to survey employees with: - Do you understand our values? - Do you believe the company management lives these values? - Do you feel personally empowered to make decisions based on these values? These questions will help to identify any dissonance between your organisation's values, and the real-world experience of your employees. Are you bringing your organisation's values off the page into real life and ensuring that your internal culture empowers your people? If not - what have been the barriers? We'd love to hear from you in the comments. #peopleenablement #culturechange #brandvalues https://lnkd.in/eaaa5_wu

Creating the conditions for a strong organisational culture is vital for business growth. Mars CEO Poul Weihrauch shares great insights around how you can't just say 'people are our greatest asset' without taking concrete steps to show you mean it. "Providing a culture in which everyone can be themselves and thrive, continuously investing in skills and development and, critically, showing how business can both do well and do good." are some of these steps, says Weihrauch. With the right answers in place, you'll have "a unique opportunity to empower and motivate (your) people to become an engine for responsible growth". What do you think? Where have you invested your energies in developing your culture? https://lnkd.in/eYEJNHqA #peopleenablement #culturechange #upskilling  

A great example here of how #peopleenablement can drive big business effects, like measurable e-commerce gains. Colgate-Palmolive has invested in digitally upskilling all of its 16,000 employees, which as a result has also advanced first-party data collection; digital media buying and advertising; and personalization, search, and social media strategies. “Everyone has a better understanding about the importance of digital upskilling and how it’s an effective tool to help get the right products in the hands of the right people, in the right place, at the right time,” - says Brigitte King, Colgate-Palmolive's Chief Digital Officer. What does your #upskilling programme look like, if you have one? If not, are you considering launching one? https://lnkd.in/gbssHum6

We've been talking recently about our 8 principles of brand enablement - and this article underlines the importance of brand building, particularly in B2B marketing. In B2B there's often a heavy focus on lead generation, particularly leaning on CRM and martech to deliver a high volume and frequency of sales messages. However, research shows that B2B buyers need to see up to 10 pieces of content before they convert to a sale, and 95% of potential buyers aren't in the market at any given time (thanks Claudia Sestini for the link and insight!). So how are you balancing your long term brand building with your short term sales activation? If you've focused on brand building and enablement from the inside out, what impact has your content had on your marketing funnel? We'd love to hear from you in the comments below. #brandbuilding #marketingenablement #b2bmarketing https://lnkd.in/evtTcSBK

"Purpose inspires your people. ‘Doing meaningful work’ and feeling connected to a bigger purpose is the number 1 factor in workplace happiness, with 59% of workers claiming they’d remain at their jobs for over 5 years if they were satisfied with the company’s sense of purpose." - some excellent insight from Brook Calverley at People Made - via https://lnkd.in/eb68wjTU This speaks to our second principle of Brand Enablement from our post last week below. Which of the principles have you found most success implementing within your organisation? #brandbuilding #marketingenablement #peopleenablement

Organisations with a culture that is aligned to their brand purpose and business goals are likely to perform better than average.  It’s clear that culture isn’t just a nice-to-have - it’s a commercial imperative.    Excellent insight from Aon - you can read more about this here: https://lnkd.in/gtbP9YYy So how can organisations equip employees with the necessary attitudes and behaviours to deliver on a brand promise? And how do you rally everyone around a shared brand vision? We’ve developed a set of 8 principles for Brand Enablement, which you can find at our post here: https://lnkd.in/eDCRcjn5 How do these 8 principles align with what you've implemented in your organisation? We're keen to hear your first-hand experience of how you've taken on the challenge in the comments below.   #brandbuilding #peopleenablement #marketingenablement

“If you are simply aiming for a “good” culture at your organization, you’re setting the bar too low.” - Denise Yohn from her excellent article in 2019, linked below. Building the right culture isn’t just a nice-to-have - it’s a commercial imperative; with organisations who do seeing as much as a 4x higher EBITDA & 4.4x revenue. So what can be done to equip employees with the necessary attitudes and behaviours to deliver on a brand promise? And how do you rally your organisation around a shared brand vision? We’ve developed a set of 8 principles for Brand Enablement: 🗣 1. Devise meaning: engage your people Why brand matters: make the case for a brand-led culture accessible to all, to ensure buy-in at every level 💃 2. Create motivation: excite your people What the brand stands for: tell a collective story for everyone, to rally your organisation around a shared purpose and values, in order to galvanise change. ⚒ 3. Provide means: equip your people How to activate the brand: share practical guidance to help individuals and teams across the organisation bring it to life in their day-to-day work. 💪 4. Build momentum: empower your people How to live the brand: instil behavioural norms, structures, rituals and artefacts to develop and sustain an internal brand culture. 🤝 5. Brand behaviours, rather than brand identity Brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room: embodied by employees in everything they say and do, rather than simply logos and colours. 💬 6. Internal conversation, rather than internal communication Create feedback loops and celebrate best practice to ensure your people feel heard, recognised, valued, and a sense of pride in the brand. 👩🏫 7. Guidance and guardrails, rather than command and control Teach, don’t tell: provide tangible directions to enable employees to take ownership of the brand, whilst all marching in the same direction. 👨👨👧👦 8. Bring the outside in, to build the brand from the inside out To deliver your brand promise to customers, create forums for your people to get close to customers, and intimately understand their needs and experiences. Are there any additional principles that you would add to these? Anything we've missed, or anything you'd want to expand upon? Tell us in the comments below! #brandbuilding #peopleenablement #marketingenablement https://lnkd.in/gZ7BWgm