Brand: Who's Responsibility Is It, Anyway?

Brand: Whose Responsibility is It, Anyway?

A few years ago, on one steamy summer day, I sat across the table from one of the most powerful CEO’s in the automotive world.  My colleagues and I were having a conversation with him about the underleveraged value of his brand.  We suggested that his organization needed someone to champion the brand.  When he asked us who that should be, we told him that he would be the perfect brand champion.  We used the example of Steve Jobs as the ultimate brand champion to support this recommendation.

At that instant, the already warm room got a lot hotter. He was not just taken aback, but actually indignant that we would suggest that he, the CEO should be the brand champion. He told us in no uncertain terms that brand was the responsibility of marketing and, of course, us…the advertising agency. The conversation came to an immediate halt.

Having spent about half of my career in advertising, this was not the first time that someone equated brand with marketing communications. It happens all the time…even with some of the world’s greatest brands. 

Several years ago, I had the opportunity to work with one of the most iconic entertainment brands in the world, on what started out as a ‘branding’ (marketing) project for one of their underperforming theme parks.  As we dug deeper, it became apparent that it was not a marketing issue at all, but rather, a product issue.  Guests arrived at the park with high expectations that were set by the brand name, and left severely disappointed with their experience.  So, to fix it, we took a step back and developed actionable brand guidelines that could be implemented across the organization…from product, to CRM, to pricing, to partnerships, and yes, to marketing as well.  Today, that park is thriving. This positive outcome was only possible because the President of the park had commissioned the project, and thus we were able to move upstream and fix the real issue.

For while marketing communications are important in brand building, marketing communications are most effective when they amplify a coherent and desirable brand experience.

The only way to create that desirable experience is to ensure that everyone in the organization is crystal clear on what the brand stands for, and understands what they need to do to contribute to building that experience.

And who is better poised to drive absolute and coherent operationalizing of the brand, than the CEO?