THE SAVORY OBSERVATIONS AND USEFUL ANECDOTES OF AN
Artful Realist
My name is LAURENCE VINCENT. I'm a brand strategist, author, speaker, photographer and lovable nerd based in Los Angeles, California. When I'm not writing here about brands and things that inspire me, I look after The Brand Studio at United Talent Agency. I believe brands must stand for real value; and that people value brands that fulfill a promise through artful experiences.
Posts on alignment
Leading a Brand
Here’s the most important reality check to consider when really leading a brand from the inside out: it needs to be a transformational leadership process, rather than a transactional leadership process. One of the most interesting and comprehensive studies to quantify this fact was published in 2009 in the Journal of Marketing. Based on a thorough review of the data, the study team concluded:
Managers would do much better by opening their minds to a Transformational Leadership approach, which would entail behaviors such as articulating a unifying brand vision, acting as an appropriate role model by living the brand values, giving followers freedom to individually interpret their roles as brand representatives, and providing individualized support by acting as a coach and mentor. This would allow followers to experience the feelings of relatedness, autonomy, and competence in their roles as brand representatives, which would ultimately spill over into the commitment, authenticity, and proactivity that characterize a real brand champion.
The study differentiated this model of transformational leadership from a transactional leadership model that primarily focuses on contingent rewards (clarifying expectations and offering rewards when expectations are met) and management-by-exception (monitoring and reprimanding deviances from prescribed performance standards). The study didn’t dismiss the value of transactional leadership. In fact, the data suggested that successful transformational brand alignment initiatives incorporate some layer of transactional elements. But the data stunningly demonstrated that organizational behavior changed with greater significance when a transformational leadership approach was emphasized.
Wage a Campaign Inside
It’s time for a new mode of thinking in brand alignment. When we introduce a new brand to customers, we launch a splashy campaign. But when we introduce that same brand to employees, we delegate brand cops who will crack down, compel, and control. I tell my clients they need to think of an internal brand launch as though it were a political campaign. Political campaigns change how people think and create a groundswell of public interest. An internal brand campaign should do the same. There’s much that political science can teach us about transforming a branded organization, including how to frame the mandate and the narrative.
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Copyright 2012 by Laurence Vincent
