Four Cornerstones of a Strong Brand Reputation

Four Cornerstones of a Strong Brand Reputation

by Frank L. Williams

Last month, I wrote that your organization’s brand is much more than a logo: it is the first thing that pops into someone’s head when they hear your name. Your brand is about much more than marketing and messaging: it’s about the relationship others have with your organization and what kind of experience they have when interacting with you.

A wide range of factors can affect how others view your organization. At a strategic level, I believe there are four cornerstones of a strong brand reputation:

• Vision: Your brand begins with your vision, which paints a picture of what your business or organization aspires to become. Your marketing, messaging and branding should illustrate your vision in a way that resonates with key audiences.
• Mission: Your mission, which defines the impact you want to have, is also a core component of your brand reputation. If your vision states what you want to be known as, then your mission articulates what you want to be known for. Your mission should be a purpose statement that articulates the reason you exist.
• Value: Related to your mission is your value proposition, which clearly states the value you bring to clients, members, or the community. I’ve heard it said that you should “sell benefits, not features,” and your value proposition should clearly spell out those benefits. More importantly, you must actually deliver the value you promise.
• Culture: Finally, we come to culture. The best definition I’ve heard of organizational culture is “the way we do things around here.” Your culture isn’t defined by a set of core values posted on the wall or included in a new employee training presentation; it’s defined by how those values are acted upon each day. For better or worse, your organizational culture directly contributes to your brand reputation because it affects how your team does its work and how your team members treat the people they interact with.

Vision, mission, value and culture are four big-picture cornerstones of a strong brand reputation. The best graphics and messaging on earth are useless if these cornerstones are not brought to life through others’ experience with your brand.