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February 19, 2017 Brand+Culture and Staying True Employees and consumers are looking for the truth - make sure your brand stands out for the right reasons. With recent events in both the UK (Brexit) and the U.S. (the new administra:on), I have become an avid reader of news. Never has being informed felt so vital and the need to stay true to what I believe so important – not necessarily just with regards to poli:cs, but also how I go about my work and personal life, how I treat others, and behave myself. The U.S. feels at odds, with leading brands needing to be very clear and careful about what they “stand for” with employees and customers alike, ready to “stand up” for their beliefs in a moment if they are, in any way, contrary. This is a country where consumers may end up choosing brands because of their poli:cal stance over personal taste – at least in the next four years. Recently, Starbucks took heat when CEO Howard Schultz vowed to hire 10,000 refugees globally over the next five years. “We will neither stand by, nor stand silent, as the uncertainty around the new administra:on's ac:ons grows with each passing day,” Schultz said in a message to employees posted on the company's website. Tweets of #boycoUstarbucks emerged on social media, within minutes, with many angry people sugges:ng that Starbucks should only hire Americans or American veterans instead. In fact, in 2013 Starbucks commiUed to hiring at least 10,000 veterans and military spouses by 2018. To date, 8,800 veterans and military spouses have been hired. But the last :me some Americans boycoUed Starbucks, in November 2016, was because the company’s holiday cups weren’t “Christmas-y” enough. So there is every chance a boycoU will happen again. Brands need to have a plan for dealing with boycoUs, as Uber’s CEO, Travis Kalanick, found out a few days later – making a swi] decision to quit President Trump’s economic advisory council, as a result of the outcry from not only his employees, who felt very strongly that being part of the council was not in line with the brand values, but his customers who also voiced their opinion with #boycoUuber tweets. But what happens when the values are such that the brand is compromised? TwiUer recently announced that it is limi:ng accounts that act abusively, with CEO Jack Dorsey sugges:ng that “current TwiUer trends are similar to those during the Arab Spring,” where social media aided the revolu:onary uprisings that led to the overthrow of mul:ple governments and civil wars across the Middle East. However, by limi:ng accounts, TwiUer is breaking a brand promise of free speech. BRANDS AND STAYING TRUE 1 WWW.CHROMIUM.GROUP A Chromium ThinkPiece by Fiona Berry Gray

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Page 1: Brand + Culture and Staying True

February 19, 2017

Brand+Culture and Staying True Employees and consumers are looking for the truth - make sure your brand stands out for the right reasons.

WithrecenteventsinboththeUK(Brexit)andtheU.S.(thenewadministra:on),Ihavebecomeanavidreaderofnews.NeverhasbeinginformedfeltsovitalandtheneedtostaytruetowhatIbelievesoimportant–notnecessarilyjustwithregardstopoli:cs,butalsohowIgoaboutmyworkandpersonallife,howItreatothers,andbehavemyself.

TheU.S.feelsatodds,withleadingbrandsneedingtobeveryclearandcarefulaboutwhatthey“standfor”withemployeesandcustomersalike,readyto“standup”fortheirbeliefsinamomentiftheyare,inanyway,contrary.Thisisacountrywhereconsumersmayendupchoosingbrandsbecauseoftheirpoli:calstanceoverpersonaltaste–atleastinthenextfouryears.

Recently,StarbuckstookheatwhenCEOHowardSchultzvowedtohire10,000refugeesgloballyoverthenextfiveyears.“Wewillneitherstandby,norstandsilent,astheuncertaintyaroundthenewadministra:on'sac:onsgrowswitheachpassingday,”Schultzsaidinamessagetoemployeespostedonthecompany'swebsite.

Tweetsof#boycoUstarbucksemergedonsocialmedia,withinminutes,withmanyangrypeoplesugges:ngthatStarbucksshouldonlyhireAmericansorAmericanveteransinstead.Infact,in2013StarbuckscommiUedtohiringatleast10,000veteransandmilitaryspousesby2018.Todate,8,800veteransandmilitaryspouseshavebeenhired.Butthelast:mesomeAmericansboycoUedStarbucks,inNovember2016,wasbecausethecompany’sholidaycupsweren’t“Christmas-y”enough.SothereiseverychanceaboycoUwillhappenagain.

BrandsneedtohaveaplanfordealingwithboycoUs,asUber’sCEO,TravisKalanick,foundoutafewdayslater–makingaswi]decisiontoquitPresidentTrump’seconomicadvisorycouncil,asaresultoftheoutcryfromnotonlyhisemployees,whofeltverystronglythatbeingpartofthecouncilwasnotinlinewiththebrandvalues,buthiscustomerswhoalsovoicedtheiropinionwith#boycoUubertweets.

Butwhathappenswhenthevaluesaresuchthatthebrandiscompromised?

TwiUerrecentlyannouncedthatitislimi:ngaccountsthatactabusively,withCEOJackDorseysugges:ngthat“currentTwiUertrendsaresimilartothoseduringtheArabSpring,”wheresocialmediaaidedtherevolu:onaryuprisingsthatledtotheoverthrowofmul:plegovernmentsandcivilwarsacrosstheMiddleEast.However,bylimi:ngaccounts,TwiUerisbreakingabrandpromiseoffreespeech.

BRANDS AND STAYING TRUE �1 WWW.CHROMIUM.GROUP

A Chromium ThinkPiece by Fiona Berry Gray

http://www.chromium.group
http://www.cnbc.com/howard-schultz/
Page 2: Brand + Culture and Staying True

Whenisitoktobreakabrandpromise?Inthisinstancestayingtruetothecentralideacompromisedthebrand,makingitavehicleforhate.Shouldbrandsconsiderevolvingtheirvaluesastheymaturetostaytrueandfitforpurpose?

I’mmindfulofaclientwhosecompanyhadthreecorevalues:“simple,”“crea:ve”and“trustworthy.”However,asthebrandmatured,thekeystakeholdersneededtoadd“brave”togiveemployeespermissiontoact.Insomeculturesthisvaluemightbeexplicit,butinthisinstance,beingclearaboutwhatbravemeantforemployeeswasvitalforrealchangetohappen.

BeingbraveintheU.S.isgoingtomeanmanydifferentthings….

Inhindsight–asinthecaseofNordstrom–itwas“brave”droppingtheIvankaTrumpbrandduetopoorsales,anac:onthatwasgreetedwithasurprisingtweetfromthePresident.WhetherornotNordstromhadanypoli:calmo:veisunclear,buttheresultwasinteres:ng.Nordstromstocksendedthedayonahigh,eventhoughthetweetwasnotfavorable.

Crea:ngastrongbrandandculturewherepeoplefeelempoweredtobebraveisacrucialfounda:onforanyorganiza:on.Ar:cula:ngwhatthebrandstandsfor–yourpurposeandhowyoulivethatpurpose,day-to-daywithemployees–willmakethedifferencebetweenaso-sobrandandatrulygreatone.

RichardBransonwroterecently:“It’sourpeoplewhodrivesuccess,sowestrivetomaintainahealthyandhappyculture,andcreateenvironmentswhereeveryonecanflourish.”

Whenabrandisclearwhatitstandsfor,employeesandcustomersalikeunderstandtheimplica:onsforthem–andthatinsomeinstances,theyarepartofsomethingbigger.ThisisthecaseofVirgin–achallengerbrand,disrup:ngandseingnewbenchmarks,:meand:meagain.

Socialmediaisempowering,butalsoenlightening,asitisapparentveryquicklywhethercompaniesaretalkingtotheindividualorshou:ngatacrowd…withinvertedcommasandcapitalleUeremphasisingthedifference.Findingtherighttoneofvoicetoexpressyourbrandvaluesiscrucial.Youhavenocontroloverthesitua:onthatthereaderisin,butyoudohavecontroloverhowyouspeaktothem.Inthis:meofuncertainty,itisimportant–asabrandorindividual–tobeclearwhatyoustandforandhowyoucommunicate.Maybeitis:metore-evaluateyourbrand’scentralideaorevolveyourbrandvaluestobefitfortheZeitgeist.Employeesandconsumersarelookingforthetruth.Makesureyoustandoutfortherightreasonsandcommunicatethethingsthatareimportantclearly,andinaconsistent

BRANDS AND STAYING TRUE �2 WWW.CHROMIUM.GROUP

Employees and Consumers are Looking for the Truth

http://www.chromium.group
Page 3: Brand + Culture and Staying True

andcohesiveway,togiveeveryone–employeesandcustomersalike–thebestpossibleopportunitytobeonyourside.

Itwillbeinteres:ngtoseetheimpacttheadministra:on’sac:onshaveonthebrandsinthenews–whetherStarbucksdoeslosesalesorUberridesdecreaseandwhateffectlimi:ngaccountswillhaveonTwiUer.Ican’thelpwonderingwhethermoreDemocratswillshopatNordstrominthefuture–althoughtheseeventswereonlyafewweeksago,todaytheysoundlikeoldnews.AnewstormragesforCEOKevinPlankofUnderArmour,whoaweekagoonCNBCpraisedPresidentTrumpas"arealassetforthiscountry,"onlytofindunderaweeklater,hashadtotakeoutanaddinalocalnewspapertostate,"Iansweredaques:onwithachoiceofwordsthatdidnotaccuratelyreflectmyintent."Theques:onis:Willthismakethesitua:onbeUerorworse?Nowisthe:metobeclearandcareful,andstaytruetowhatthebrand“standsfor.”Alotofdamagealreadyhasbeendone.Employees,customersandthepressarewatching,andtoborrowathoughtfromMichaelJordan–Republicanswearclothestoo.

FionaBerryGray is theTelecomPrac4ceLeader forChromium,and isbased in theWashington,DCMetro

Area. Fiona’s past experience includes building brands for na4onal and interna4onal telecommunica4ons

companiessuchas:Cellnet(now02),BTMobile,Orange,Base,Three,Hutch,MaxisCommunica4ons,NewZealand

Telecom,AircelandGlobeTelecom.

ChromiumisastrategicconsultancybasedinSanFranciscowithofficesintheDCMetroandNYMetroAreas

thatisworkingtobuildaworldwherevitalorganiza4onspairbrandandculturetoachieveextraordinarysuccess.

The firm’s unique high tech/high touchmethodology catalyzes the energy of an organiza4on’s culture, inspiring

peopletobuildvivid,shiningbrandsfromtheinsideout.

BRANDS AND STAYING TRUE �3 WWW.CHROMIUM.GROUP

http://www.chromium.group
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