Primal branding for creating internal brand communities thinktopia®

MINNEAPOLIS I NEW YORK I BEIJING I EVERYWHERE

CREATING COMMUNITY
INSIDE THE ORGANIZATION: THE SPIRIT GUIDE TO
CREATING CORPORATE CULTURE

THINKTOPIA 2001-2013

ALL OVER THE WORLD, PEOPLE WORK 24/7/365,
SACRIFICING THEIR SOCIAL LIFE, FAMILIES, EVEN THEIR
HEALTH IN ORDER TO CREATE THE NEXT GREAT DESIGN, THE
NEXT GREAT PIECE OF SOFTWARE, THE NEXT GREAT FILM,
ETC. THEY DON’T DO THIS BECAUSE THEY HAVE A JOB, BUT
BECAUSE THEY HAVE A PASSION. THEY ARE COMMITTED TO
DOING MEANINGFUL WORK. COMPANIES ABLE TO CREATE A
HIGHER ORDER MISSION AND REASON FOR BEING ARE ABLE
TO ATTRACT TALENTED MEN AND WOMEN WHO BELIEVE IN
WHAT THEY ARE DOING AND ARE INCREDIBLY COMMITTED TO
THE ORGANIZATION.


MANY COMPANIES, FIRMS, AND CORPORATIONS
FOCUS ON THEIR EXTERNAL CONSUMER. AS THEY
SHOULD. BUT ENTERPRISE NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND
THEY ALSO HAVE AN INTERNAL CUSTOMER: THEIR OWN
CO-WORKERS, ASSOCIATES, AND EMPLOYEES.
BECAUSE IF THESE INDIVIDUALS DON’T BELIEVE IN
WHAT THEY ARE DOING, THEY CERTAINLY WON’T BE
ABLE TO SELL ANYONE ON THE OUTSIDE.


THE FOLLOWING SLIDES SHOW HOW TO DESIGN A
WORK COMMUNITY THAT IS ABLE TO TRANSFORM CULT
TO CULTURE, BY CREATING A BELIEF SYSTEM AND
CORPORATE MISSION WITH VALUES THAT ATTRACT
OTHERS WHO SHARE THOSE BELIEFS.


HOW DO YOU CREATE A COMMUNITY THAT PEOPLE
BELIEVE IN, ARE ATTRACTED TO, AND WANT TO BECOME
A PART OF?


WHY DO PEOPLE DREAM OF WORKING FOR SOME COMPANIES, BUT
NOT FOR OTHERS? Companies like GE, Google, Coca-Cola, Nike
and dozens of other spirited firms are not simply functional
operations. They are surrounded by cultures that provide vision,
trust, empathy and relevance that resonate far outside their
corporate campus. They attract people who share their beliefs by
creating a belief system (and way of thinking) that motivates their
own employees and inspires others.


IT’S NOT ENOUGH THAT CUSTOMERS
ENJOY THE PRODUCTS OR SERVICES
OUR COMPANY DELIVERS. IT’S ALSO
IMPORTANT THAY WE ENJOY MAKING
THE PRODUCTS OUR CUSTOMERS WANT.
What it boils down to is meaning....


“When you ask people what’s important
to them, and really ask it, you find out
that most folks are looking for meaningful
work--and meaning in their life, because
they spend so damn much of their time
at work.” Gary Hirshberg, CEO of Stoneyfield Farms.


COMPANIES THAT PEOPLE BELIEVE IN,
HAVE AN INHERENT BELIEF SYSTEM THAT
HALOS EVERYTHING AROUND IT. These
companies have created resonant,
sought-after cultures where people love to
work. Belief systems have the construct of
the seven elements of the primal code.
Those companies that have these seven
assets become vibrant, resonant cultures.
Those that do not, are not.

THE DESIRE
TO BELONG IS AT
THE CORE OF EVERY
HUMAN BEING.

WE ALL WANT TO
BE A PART OF
SOMETHING BIGGER
THAN OURSELVES.

COMMUNITIES ARE
DRIVEN BY VIBRANT
BELIEF SYSTEMS. Primal Branding is listed
as one of the Top 10 books
in marketing/branding.


BELIEF SYSTEMS HAVE SEVEN ELEMENTS
THAT MAKE THEM “BELIEVABLE”:


In the beginning, there was someone with an idea that ripped
apart the way things used to be. It was better, cheaper, faster,
stronger, cleaner, more powerful. They made it in their garage, in
the basement, they started in a hotel room. Even the largest
companies in the world today, from Microsoft and IBM to Google,
started as small businesses facing enormous odds. The creation
story of these companies become the ur-legend as the company
grows and is filled with hundreds, even thousands, of new
employees who arrive each morning wondering why they are
there.


The question, “What are we doing here?” is one people ask themselves
each morning, at every meeting, at the end of every workday. Whether
the mission is to provide a synchronous global supply chain like UPS,
legendary customer service like Lexus, or an information resource like
Google, the creed sums up the organizational vision, values, and
reason for being. Employees who do not understand their purpose will
never be motivated, efficient, or highly productive.


Company logos and figures are iconic. These colors, sounds, and shapes
are quick concentrations of meaning that instantly identify who the
company is and what it means. They are embraced by your advocates or
despised by those who are not a part of your brand community.


Products are also icons. What you make is a critical design element in the
corporate gestalt. When products from legendary designers like Philippe
Starck, Michael Graves and Karim Rashid can be purchased at Target for
$15, terrific design becomes ubiquitous.


Architecture has become a powerful icon. Whether your company headquarters has been
designed by Rem Koolhaas or Renzo Piano today has tremendous meaning. Look at central
London. New skyscrapers there defy the traditional 18th Century London urbanscape. Why?
“People working in today’s downtown [London] tend to be highly paid specialists,” says
Architectural Record. “An amenable office has become part of what attracts talent.” The
location, size and status of the headquarters building, what the main lobby and reception look
like are also to be considered. If you’re a retail organization, what your stores or restaurants
look and feel like is also critically important.


The company leader—think Richard Branson, Stephen Spielberg, Bill Gates
—is also an important icon.


If icons are the physical manifestations of the organization,
company rituals are the organization in motion. Annual meetings,
staff meetings, project reports, team checkpoints, factory recalls,
trade shows, sales meetings, even interfacing with the receptionist
become repeated interactions that are crucial cultural touchpoints
and sum up who you are as an organization.


A sales call is a ritual. Are you promoting company
stereotypes and reinforcing barriers to entry, or are you
exciting and stimulating prospects?

IBM EXECUTIVE
1980


Another word for ritual is process. “That’s how we do it here” and
“that’s not how we do it here” are telling phrases that can set up the
success or failure of the organization. What processes best deliver
your mission to customers? Which processes prevent you from
fulfilling your mission?


Rituals happen.
Step into Best Buy headquarters at 10:30AM any week day and you will
find the main lobby congested with Best Buy employees. These people
are many leagues from their legitimate workstations. Why? The Caribou
coffee shop located on the first floor is the morning watering hole. Staff
endure a line often 10-deep to enjoy the rite. Cell phones vibrate.
Interviews are held. Meetings--planned and unplanned--take place.
Ritual helps build resonant buzzing communities.


“back rippers”
- HALLIBURTON

Every organization has a lexicon that distinguishes it from
competitors. Some words are ingrained in processes, technology
and words that surround our product or services. Others become
co-worker catchphrases that bond and unite us. Every new
employee spends their first few weeks learning and understanding
your terms of art, anecdotes and processes. They must adapt your
lexicon into their vocabulary, or they never quite “fit in”.

While we try to identify people willing to work with us, there
is great power in also knowing who we do not want to work
with us--who we do not want as part of our community. We
decide which persons are skilled, qualified and best fits for
our culture. There is power in understanding who we do not
want to become. Think Target vs. Kmart. Porsche vs. Fiat.
Singapore Airlines vs. China Eastern.


Understanding who is the leader within your organization is
critical for the people who work there. Not all heads of
corporations are front page leaders like Bill Gates, Richard
Branson, Oprah Winfrey or Steve Jobs. Nevertheless, employees
need to know who is steering the boat. Not having clear-cut
leadership—whether it is top leadership, or a department or
team leader, can lead to confusion and loss of morale. Confused
employees are not motivated employees.


Apple
Creation story: Former HP employees Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak start building
personal computers in a garage

Creed: Think different. No idiots allowed.

Icons: Apple logo, iPod, iPhone, iTunes, Steve Jobs, Apple store, Genius Bar, Steve
Jobs.

Rituals: Apple “S”, iChat, downloading, searching via Safari, buying music on
iTunes, loading pictures in iPhoto, etc. No ‘focus groups’. Intense iterative product
design. Confabs with Steve.

Sacred words: “Apple”, “iPod”, “iPhone”, “iMac”, “iCal”, “iTunes”, “iPhoto”. “No
dummies.”

Nonbelievers: PCs

Leader: Steve Jobs, Tim Cook


Google
Creation story: Founded in a dorm room by Sergey Brin and Larry Page

Creed: organize the world’s information and make it accessible and useful.
“Don’t be evil.”

Icons: Google logo, search page, changing logo, columns
of information

Rituals: replaced the library and the encyclopedia and information sources;
searching, downloading, Googling

Sacred words: “Google it”, “Feeling lucky?”

Nonbelievers: Microsoft, Yahoo!, Baidu

Leader(s): Sergey Brin and Larry Page


UPS
Creation story: Started by a 15-year old boy as a Seattle bike messenger
company in 1907. Their ﬁrst innovation was to deliver department store goods
to customers. Today at $42 billion, UPS is the world’s largest global logistics
company.

Creed: Enabling commerce around the globe. What can brown do for you?

Icons: the color brown, brown trucks, guys in brown shorts, website, UPS stores, UPS
forms

Rituals: each morning UPS employees have a status meeting; driver are trained to
put their keys on their pinkie finger, walk a certain number of steps, etc. filling out the
UPS form, shipping, daily UPS visit

Sacred words: “What can brown do for you?”, “brown”, “UPS it”

Nonbelievers: FedEx, U.S. Postal Service

Leader: CEO Scott Davis


Becoming mission-driven.
The seven pieces of “primal code” give leaders the ability to manage
the intangibles of their organization: the ways people feel, act, think
and motivate themselves to success. Workers, staff, colleagues find
themselves creating meaning around the work they do, which
drives committment and passion to new levels. Their work is no
longer perceived as a meaningless task, but resounds as
something that is relevant, meaningful, and filled with purpose. It
is no longer just a job. It’s a mission.


From “Who cares?” to “I care!”.
Leaders now have a “system”: a working tool that systematically
helps them create a community (call them employees, staff, co-
workers) filled with individuals committed to the ideals, mission
and opportunities of the organization. Nowhere else feels quite so
right for them. Because employees thrive, customers thrive, and
the company thrives. This is what Whole Foods CEO John Mackey
calls the “virtuous cycle”. Happiness begets happiness.


OUTCOMES.
• IMPROVED PERFORMANCE
• WORK BETTER WITH CUSTOMERS AND VENDORS
• EXHIBIT LESS WORK-RELATED STRESS
• MORE EFFICIENT, MISSION-DRIVEN ORGANIZATION
• EMPLOYEES MORE MOTIVATED TO ENGAGE IN ORGANIZATIONAL SUCCESS
• IMPROVED TALENT RECRUITING
• INCREASED EMPLOYEE MORALE
• MORE POSITIVE INTERACTIONS WITH CO-WORKERS
• BETTER RETENTION
• MORE EFFICIENT, MISSION-DRIVEN ORGANIZATION


PATRICK HANLON is recognized as one leading branding practitioners in the world.

$165,000,000.
ceo and founder of THINKTOPIA®, a global strategic brand innovation practice that
s to Fortune 100 clients including American Express, Halliburton, Levis, Johnson &
on, Conoco Phillips, PayPal, Kraft, Google, the United Nations, and others. His book
l Branding: Create Zealots For really work? And Your Future is in
Does this Your Brand,10 books in marketing and branding.
Your Company
al languages and listed as one of the Top
l Branding isBack in 2005, I spoke to a as beliefof entrepreneurs and other
a primer on looking at brands group systems—and in 2006
pated creating social communities around brands, whether products and of
executives. When I told them how the seven pieces
“primal code” could help create culture inside organizations,
es, personality brands, political or civic movements, or actual civic communities.
one leader in the group immediately went back to his office
and started filling in the blanks. Within a month, he had
n has been aoutlinedor guest speaker at IDEO, New York University, American
keynote his creation story, creed, icons, rituals, sacred
eting Association, American Advertising Federation, Syracuse University, Urban
words, nonbelievers and identified himself as leader. At
nstitute, and others. He has been a featured speaker in emerging geographies
the time, he had a $3 million software firm. Within the next
d the world including China, India, South America, as well as Europe. Hanlonbased
three years, he turned it into a $12 million company, has
in large part on the culture he created. Then he sold the
eatured, quoted, or interviewed in Fast Company, Businessweek, Entrepreneur,
company, but kept his stock. Nine months later, the merged
dvertising Age, National Publicto a major corporationoverseas publications. could
enterprise sold Radio, as well as frequent (who claimed they
n has also been on the advisory board had built) for $165,000,000.
not replicate what he of the American Marketing Association, and
Super Council of the Advertising Research Foundation.
Go forth and prosper.

n is also an online contributor for Forbes magazine.
THINKTOPIA, INC. © 20112

THINKTOPIA® HAS BEEN
QUOTED, FEATURED AND
OTHERWISE INCLUDED IN
MEDIA AROUND THE WORLD.


THANKS
FOR READING!


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