Brand and Culture

A brand is responsible for three main jobs:

• Influence culture;
• Create differentiation;
• Tell a story.

Today we’ll be talking about culture.

Former Herman Miller CEO Max DePree once said: “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between the two, the leader must become a servant.”

I love the sentence because it encompasses many concepts I espouse and believe brands can influence significantly.

The brand can help define reality by clarifying the enterprise’s objectives, the rules of engagement, and how each person should behave to achieve said objectives. But how?

Defining the Purpose:

Simon Sinek says that “a purpose statement has two parts: The first part should spell out the core action your Why compels you to take. The second part should state what you’re ultimately striving to achieve: the impact you want to have.”

Without knowing why we wake up every morning and fight for a specific objective, we fall into the trap of having a job. In the first few months, we felt energized by the new challenge. Then, after a while, we show up to conform and get paid. Then, a few years into it, we hate what we do and start looking for a new “challenge,” where we lie to ourselves and others to start the cycle again. No one deserves an existence like that.

A brand can help define a Purpose by clarifying why the work matters and the end goal of our efforts.

Values and Principles:

Values help us define how the organization deals with the world. They determine how each person in the organization will respond to challenges and opportunities.

Take Integrity as an example. For us at Blue Frog, Integrity guides our actions daily. We don’t tell stories, we don’t give excuses, and we don’t find culprits. Instead, what we do, say, and think are always aligned. And, if we fail with our Integrity, it’s easy to pinpoint where we got it wrong.

Principles, on the other hand, help us define how we interact with each other. They help us determine if our behavior with everyone around us, regardless of rank or paycheck, is acceptable.

One of my favorite Principles at Blue Frog is that we are all equal, and all opinions must be seriously considered, no matter who presents them.

Mission and Vision:

Finally, a brand can help us define our Mission and Vision. The Mission helps us find clarity regarding what we do, while the Vision allows us to share a picture of the world 10, 20, or even 50 years later.

There is a fascinating video of Steve Jobs answering questions about the Mission of Apple. His answer is consistent: “we make great computers.” Everyone, from top to bottom in the organization, understands clearly what the company does and each person’s contribution to the Mission.

Imagine the following conversation:

- Dad, what do you do? the child asks

- I make great computers, answers the father.

The power that comes from that type of clarity is hard to quantify.

The Vision, in turn, helps people see their contribution to the world. The Vision for the Alzheimer’s Association is beautiful for its simplicity and powerful intention — ‘A world without Alzheimer’s disease.’

Imagine how much easier it is to attract people with similar Visions of the world to work and motivate current employees to ‘show up’ every day and feel they made a difference.

None of these tools are new; I suggest they come out of drawers and become elements that guide us daily.