Justin Breen’s Post

🚀 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 🚀 In today's interconnected world, the lines between organizations and individuals blur more than ever before. "𝙊𝙧𝙜𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙯𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨" - this phrase encapsulates the vital connection between organizational success and the personal branding of its employees. Think about it: every organization is essentially a sum of its people. It's the collective efforts, values, and behaviors of individuals that shape the identity and reputation of the organization, ultimately defining its brand. But here's the kicker - individuals, too, carry their own personal brands. Your employees aren't just 𝙘𝙤𝙜𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚; they're ambassadors of your brand, both inside and outside the workplace. Their actions, interactions, and online presence all contribute to the perception of your organization. That's why investing in personal branding isn't just a nice-to-have; it's a strategic imperative. By empowering your employees to develop and amplify their personal brands, you're not only investing in their professional growth but also strengthening the overall brand equity of your organization. When your employees embody the values and vision of your brand authentically, it creates a ripple effect of credibility and trust. Moreover, aligning personal and organizational branding fosters a sense of belonging and purpose among your team. When they feel proud to represent your brand, they become more engaged, motivated, and invested in the success of the organization. In today's digital age, where every employee is a potential brand advocate or detractor, the importance of personal branding cannot be overstated. It's not just about building individual reputations; it's about collectively shaping a brand narrative that resonates with stakeholders and audiences. So, let's bridge the gap between corporate and personal branding. Let's empower our employees to become brand ambassadors, driving authenticity, credibility, and success for our organizations. After all, organizations are people, and people are brands. It's time to harness the power of both. #PersonalBranding #CorporateBranding #EmployeeEngagement #BrandAmbassadors #personalbranding #ABCsofBranding #branding #selfawareness #corporategovernance #worksomewhereyoulove #personalbrand #personalbrandingexpert

🌟 Building Your Brand Image from Within: The Power of Employees 🌟 In today's competitive market, a strong brand image is crucial. But where does that image truly start? It's not with your customers—it's with your employees. I experienced this myself, and I’m sure many of you did… When you genuinely believe in your company’s values and culture, you become its first ambassador, and you will promote it even during a family dinner. The opposite is true, when you don’t share the same values or just don’t believe in it anymore due to constant disappointment or a lack of trust, you can’t outperform, and you can’t convince other people to trust or buy from this company. At the core of every successful brand lies a team of dedicated and motivated individuals who truly believe in the company's vision and values. Here's why your brand image should start inside the company: 1️⃣ Authentic Advocacy: Employees who genuinely believe in the brand become your most authentic advocates. Their enthusiasm and commitment are contagious, resonating with customers in a way that traditional marketing can't achieve. 2️⃣ Consistent Messaging: A unified internal brand culture ensures consistent messaging. Employees who understand and embody the brand values will communicate them effectively, creating a cohesive and recognizable brand identity. 3️⃣ Enhanced Customer Experience: Happy and engaged employees provide better customer service. Their positive attitude and deep understanding of the brand translate into exceptional customer experiences, fostering loyalty and trust. 4️⃣ Innovation and Growth: A strong internal brand culture encourages innovation. When employees feel valued and aligned with the company's mission, they're more likely to contribute creative ideas and solutions, driving the brand forward. 5️⃣ Attracting Top Talent: A reputable brand image attracts top talent. Potential employees are drawn to companies with a positive internal culture, knowing they'll be part of a supportive and inspiring team. Remember, your employees are the heartbeat of your brand. Invest in them, nurture their talents, and align them with your brand vision. The result? A powerful and authentic brand image that resonates from the inside out. Does your company empower employees to be brand ambassadors? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments! 💬👇 #BrandImage #EmployeeEngagement #CompanyCulture #Leadership

"Why don't my employees get how they should represent my brand?! Is it so hard?!" Yes... Yes, it is 😊 Here's why. Navigating the complex relationship between how you see your brand and how your employees see it is a challenging journey. One key lesson I’ve learned is that if you expect marketers to market your brand exactly the way you envision, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. Your vision of your brand is deeply personal and inherently subjective—it’s your perception. While it’s crucial to maintain the essence and overall theme of your brand, it’s equally important to acknowledge that your brand will be perceived in 100,000 different ways. Every individual, from employees to customers, brings a unique perspective and experience, which shapes their understanding and interpretation of your brand. Here are three ways to make this process easier: 💪 Create a Strong Brand Framework: Establish clear brand guidelines that define your brand’s core values, mission, and vision. This framework provides a solid foundation for your team to work from, ensuring that while they bring their perspectives, the essence of the brand remains consistent. 💬 Encourage Open Communication: Foster an environment where employees feel comfortable sharing their ideas and interpretations of the brand. Regularly discuss and align brand values and marketing strategies. This collaborative approach ensures everyone is on the same page and contributes to a cohesive brand image. 🧡 Empower Your Team: Trust your employees to be ambassadors of your brand. Provide them with the tools, resources, and autonomy to represent the brand in ways that resonate with them. This empowerment not only boosts morale but also results in more authentic and impactful brand representation. Embrace this diversity of thought. It doesn’t dilute your brand; it enriches it. By recognizing and valuing these varied perspectives, you open the door to more authentic and relatable marketing that resonates on a broader scale. Trust your team, empower them with your brand’s core values, and watch as they breathe life into your brand in ways you might never have imagined. #Branding #Marketing #Leadership #CompanyCulture

What's a brand, really? It's more than just logos or slogans; it's the soul of a company. It's the promise we make, the story we tell, and the feelings we evoke. We get to shape this identity, making sure it speaks to folks and shows our dedication to doing things right. Branding isn't just about looking good; it's about making people feel good, building trust, and making connections. Every color, word, and chat is chosen carefully to spread good vibes and forge bonds. But branding isn't just about the outside; it's about building a cozy home inside too, including employer branding. By creating a place where talent shines and creativity blooms, we make our team true ambassadors of our brand, living our values every day. In today's fast world, where everyone's busy and distracted, having a strong brand is like having a trusted guide. It leads us, shows who we are, and promises quality. #BrandBuilding #CorporateBranding

✨"Branding is what people say about you when you are not in the room."✨ As I dive deeper into brand strategy, I'm discovering that branding is the sum of perceptions, experiences, and interactions that shape how others view your organization. When Jeff Bezos coined this famous phrase, he highlighted a critical truth for businesses and individuals: your brand exists in the minds of others. Why does this matter? 1. Authenticity: People connect with authenticity. Ensure your brand's voice, values, and actions align consistently across all touchpoints. This builds trust and fosters genuine relationships, making your brand memorable even when you're not present. 2. Consumer Experience: Every interaction counts. From the first website visit to after-sales service, every touchpoint influences how customers perceive your brand. Prioritize exceptional experiences to leave a lasting positive impression. Journey mapping helps a lot with this! 3. Employee Advocacy: Your employees are your brand ambassadors. How they talk about your company outside of work can significantly impact your brand’s reputation. Cultivate a positive work environment and empower your team to share their authentic experiences. A consistent story and key messaging will be vital here. 4. Community Engagement: Engaging with your community, both online and offline, reinforces your brand’s presence and values. Actively participating in conversations and contributing value positions your brand as a thought leader and a trusted entity. 5. Consistency is Key: Consistency in messaging and behavior ensures that what people say about your brand aligns with your intended identity. This coherence strengthens your brand’s reliability and recognizability. This is also how brands build consumer loyalty and favorability over competitors. Branding is about creating a cohesive narrative that resonates, inspires, and endures beyond the room. Always strive to leave a lasting impression that speaks volumes in your absence. #BrandStrategy #ThoughtLeadership #Branding #CustomerExperience #Authenticity

As a Brand Manager I am often asked, how do I face resistance from employees on rebranding? I have addressed this resistance usually by promoting openness and inclusion. Explain that the rebranding is not just a new look but a strategic move. A move that amplifies our global footprint and aligns with our aspirational vision. Weaving a narrative that celebrates collective identity and future possibilities. This will turn their concerns into enthusiasm. And would make sure every employee feels like a key part of this change. Use clear communication, data, and highlighting the benefits for both clients and your people. I bet, that would help support your new brand direction. LinkedIn Guide to Creating Brand Management #branding

In the world of business, companies and leaders face the challenge of creating a brand that people can trust and relate to. Traditionally, businesses have focused on building a corporate brand rather than relying on individual personalities. However, this approach may not always be the best strategy as it can limit growth and innovation by failing to differentiate itself from other similar businesses. There are two common misconceptions that come with corporate branding. The first is that a company's value is more enduring without tying it to individual reputation. The second is that building both a corporate and a leader's brand is often seen as conflicting, which can dilute both brands rather than strengthening them. The key to branding success lies in creating value that showcases a meaningful advantage over competitors. This is where authority branding comes into play. Instead of relying solely on corporate branding, authority branding focuses on building a personal brand that establishes credibility and trust with customers. Benefits from the shift from corporate branding to authority branding: It allows for a quicker connection with customers as people naturally relate to personalities. Establishing an authority advantage enables individuals to punch above their weight in influence and visibility. Shift from corporate branding to authority branding to stand out in your industry and build trust faster. Read Authority Advantage by Rusty Shelton to discover the power of discoverability, authority by association, and message clarity. Find the book here: https://lnkd.in/gp6QMMN8 #AuthorityBranding #BusinessInnovation #ThoughtLeadership

“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

If you are simply aiming for a “good” culture at your organization, you’re setting the bar too low.” We’ve developed a set of 8 principles for Brand Enablement to raise the bar of what “good” means and help our clients get to “great”. Anything we've missed? #brandbuilding #peopleenablement #marketingenablement

There is no doubt we want to be the best at what we do, and to achieve this we have to attract the best people. But, how do you attract the brightest talent and retain them? We believe it starts with investing in your Employer Brand and articulating a clear, compelling and authentic employee value proposition. In this article our Strategy & Creative Director, Harry, offers his powerful insights and breaks down the parts of an employee value proposition (EVP) and how brands can go about developing their EVP in his recent article written for our Beautifully Effective™ series. Link in the comments. #BrandingStrategy #Branding #BeautifullyEffective ______________________________________________________ We help purposeful, people-positive organisations change the way they think about the future. Together, we reveal, elevate and revitalise brands, design brand identities, and build digital products.