One of the best professional compliments I’ve ever received came recently from my client Shana Montrose at Tepeyac Community Health Center. After completing a large scope of work to position Tepeyac for growth in their gorgeous, new facility, I asked what the leadership team most valued about the process.
With months of audience research, strategic collaboration, and team workshops complete, what Shana narrowed in on surprised me. “You didn’t try to change us. You helped reshape how we communicate to be MORE of who we really are.” Well, I can’t lie. It felt really good to know our team got it right for Tepeyac because what they do is so dang important. And I could not have articulated what I hope to accomplish on any assignment better if I tried.
Amplify your identity - don’t change it
What I know to be true from decades of communications experience though, is that all too often, agencies and consultants DO try to “change clients”. I’m sure I’ve done it over the years myself. We offer up polished headlines, sound bites and graphics, believing we’re delivering a valuable service. Often we are, but only if the work is an authentic reflection of that organization’s true heart, and why it matters to their stakeholders. And that, my friends, takes time.
Time listening. Time thinking. Time collaborating. Time bringing others along. And time for ideas to germinate. Sometimes clients are pressured to rush things along, and other times agencies, excited by a particular direction or concept stop asking strategic questions too early.
Regardless of the culprit, any output not deeply rooted in the truth of that organizations’ core essence, their heart, no matter how elegant, funny, disruptive or cool, is trying to change them into something they’re not. And it won’t stick. Want to know why?
Because branding isn’t marketing
Branding is not something you do this week or next quarter to spike sales or drive traffic. And it’s not something that only the communications team should be prioritizing. If done well brand development will improve all kinds of metrics, but the real reason you invest in it is to ensure your organization is operating with focus and integrity. To make sure you matter, and will, well into the future.
The work we did for Tepeyac was not to announce a new, larger facility. That was just the catalyst. Its real purpose is to remind everyone of what Tepeyac stands for, in the face of enormous change, so they can grow together, with confidence and integrity.
A strong brand begins with crystal clarity on why your organization exists at all and then aligns everyone around that steady heartbeat, so they know how to live up to it organization-wide.
If you’re up for sharing, what's YOUR brand's promise?
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