We all want to be welcomed within the circles we identify with. Belonging is a basic human need. There’s even strange comfort in knowing others are alongside us in the circles we never asked to join but find ourselves in none the less.
Join the club
That’s why at its core, effective branding is about creating circles people want to be a part of. Evidenced by the communities we join and the consumer choices we make, nearly every detail of our lives makes a statement about who we are and what we value. It’s the same for organizations. Every interaction with customers and employees announces something about what an organization values. Savvy business leaders realize that how their organization “communicates” extends far beyond what the marketing team posts on Facebook. They empower everyone within their organization to deliberately create special experiences for the audiences they most want to connect with. That can’t happen if the team isn’t crystal clear about what they’re aiming for.
Know thy audience
No wonder that we in strategic planning and branding bow fervently to the cardinal principle, Know Thy Audience. If we want people inside and outside our organizations to deem what we offer worthy, we have to speak AND act in ways that create true affinity.
This is where so many organizations, for profit and nonprofit alike, miss the mark. They don’t back up what they say with operational action. Why? Mostly because they don’t invest the resources to learn what stakeholders deeply care about. Sometimes leaders think they already know what customers need and want. Sometimes, blinders fully intact, it never occurs to ask. And very often, nice as it sounds, no one believes they have time to stop to find out. Nothing could be further from the truth. No matter which sector or industry we’re talking about, recognizing what stakeholders want and need (whether they can articulate it well or not) and how it correlates to what our organization offers, is what success is built on. It’s possibly even more pertinent for those in the business of serving, because “serving” without understanding can look like disregard, regardless of intention.
It requires a high degree of self-awareness to proactively look at the world with lenses other than those we’ve become habituated to, and to consider solutions that might not even be intuitive or logical to us at first. It also takes courage to recognize we don’t have all the answers we think we “should” as business leaders, or as parents or partners for that matter, yet identifying opportunities for connecting our hearts with the hearts of others is the sweet reward. Not by forcing connection through persuasion or coercion, but by authentically learning how to help others recognize that we all belong to each other.
If you need help understanding your organization’s audiences, Roche Brand Advisors can help. Please send me an email or use the button below to schedule a call.