Branding is one of the few investments that business owners and organizations can make that crosses all departments and all constituencies company wide.

A Brand is simply a reputation. It's what people say when you're not in the room, and branding is the discipline of influencing that reputation. It is not reserved solely for the marketing department, but it is a company wide initiative and benefit.

The brand is the lens in which the business should be seen and should determine:

• How do we operate?

Zappos‘ unique positioning of "free shipping both ways" drives their supply & logistics chain.

• How do we market efficiently?

BMW could advertise all of their value propositions (nice interiors, good looks, dependability, etc), but they don't. They only focus their brand on "drive-ability" as "The Ultimate Driving Machine". Without that focus their marketing could be quite inefficient and ineffective.

• How do sales people sell?

How do they answer the phone? How do they speak directly to a prospect's core need? Who is an ideal customer and who isn't?

• How does Human Resources hire? How do they fire?

People can be the biggest touch point for a brand. Their personal perception can heavily influence the perception of the company they represent. How do you train a workforce to be "on brand"?

• How does Accounting bill and collect?

How do they handle non-paying clients? How do they allocate budgets? Where is their focus?

Branding is the only company-wide initiative that brings all departments together under one umbrella and one heart beat.

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