Brand Management as an Economic Recovery Strategy

How important is brand management to your company's success as the economy rebounds? Very important, according to Brands — Meeting the Challenges of Changing Times, a new report from The Conference Board Council on corporate brand management. The report details how companies need to adjust their brand strategies to fit the current business environment created by the recession.

While it's crucial to communicate a powerful brand to external customers, it's easy to forget that building the brand inside of organizations — with a focus on employees — can also have a strong effect on a company's overall success. The report explains how the brand can effectively motivate employees, who are ambassadors during their communications with external customers. "Building a strong internal brand culture is a cost-effective way of positioning a company for growth during a turnaround," according to the report, which suggests implementing a strategy that can re-engage employees to the brand.

The report outlines the following steps organizations should take to promote that re-engagement:

Make building a strong internal brand, which boosts employee engagement, an internal business imperative.

- Find and support brand ambassadors internally (and externally).

- Engage employees to live the brand.

- Build trust through simple and concise communication.

- Align the brand across functions and business units.

- Preach that managing the brand is a personal responsibility — and the responsibility belongs to everyone.

Article by Robyn Greenspan of Excecutive Net