Internal Branding –The Immune Booster !

Branding is all about creating a recall in the minds of your customers. Companies heavily spend on marketing, advertising and others tools to create a brand image around  its target audience. The focus has always been external and this has been an age old practice by most companies across the globe.

Unfortunately, most companies do not realize the importance and power of internal branding. The lack of consistency in how a brand projects itself and what goes within the company can result in gradual erosion of its brand values. Your brand can be successful only when employees work passionately towards it. It ultimately revolves around inspiring employees and make them feel proud about the brand they work for! Committed employees provide stronger results and better customer satisfaction and hence every factor is inter-linked.  The impact of employee word-of-mouth marketing is the most credible and they make the brand more human, adding a layer of trust in the brand.

An organization needs to regularly have internal branding exercises wherein the confidence of employees is built through giving more knowledge of company operations, differentiation from competitors and its culture. As these employees are the direct link between the company and the customer, they need to be well versed with the brand. Employees need to hear the same message which is communicated externally. This can be driven by the senior leadership team in an organization. The senior management has to lead by example and showcase the culture of the organization and drive the desired objectives. A robust internal communications plan is required to keep hammering the key messages. These can be achieved through training's, in-house magazine, town halls, rewards and recognition etc. Involving employees via CSR initiatives is a great option as this brings together the employees with no business agenda. Internal branding also helps to reduce attrition within an organization and can play an important role in attracting employees too.

Internal branding helps to strengthen the base of an organization. Taking advantage of every opportunity to portray and reiterate your messages will empower the employees to make decisions and take actions that are in line with your brand, thus allowing your organization to deliver on its brand promise. And, finally delivering on your brand promise is what always keeps consumers happy and coming back.