transparency | Real Communications

“No man is an island, entire unto itself, but rather a piece of the whole”

And no business can “make it on its own” or say “to hell with the rest”……..

Strategise your branding

Every business is an integral part of a community, society, country and the world. And nowadays a concerned public is watching business more closely and able to scratch the surface of your utterances and actions to reveal the true you. What it finds impacts your business reputation.

A business has to start its branding process by exploring its core values. Yes, values. Today there are powerful societal and political forces at play and these are influencing how the public and audiences perceive a business. If your business shows a blatant disregard for certain labour or environmental principles, they won’t like you, even if your product is top-notch.

Strategic brand communication planning is a must for all businesses. Those who don’t engage in strategizing their brand communication will suffer negative consequences that directly impact their operations, stakeholder engagement and reputation management:

Strategic branding gives you a sound foundation based on your beliefs and values.
A strategy provides the criteria for defining who you are and what you want to achieve; it finds opportunities to focus on your strengths and reformat weaknesses. It differentiates you from the rest, positions you exactly where you want to be and gives you a competitive edge.
Identifying who your people or stakeholders are and what their needs and expectations are, gives you the advantage of direct, relevant and meaningful engagement with them.
A strategy ensures that you plan your communication and your actions to reflect and reinforce your values. The integrity of your business ensures ongoing delivery on its promises and achievement of its goals.
Strategic planning is a mindful, purposeful process aimed at long-term commitment to stakeholder engagement and relationship building, and addresses issues of sustainability, good governance, ethical branding and reputation, using these as guiding principles in the business.
A strategy works from the inside out where your internal goals are aimed at making the ‘outside’ world a better place for all, and ensuring that the people out there want to continue doing business with you – this applies to both commercial and social brands.
Strategy is for a good business, it’s good for business and it makes great business sense.

There is a corporate revolution going on! Complexity and chaos theories abound, and things have to change. Businesses need to take note of this and listen to the thought leaders’ appeals to start adapting before it’s too late.

As with all change in thinking and behaviour, there comes a change in the language we use to reflect our new beliefs and actions. Here are some of the current buzzwords in business, branding and corporate communication:

Organizational change involves “deconstructing the silos” or structures of business past and means making the necessary strategic shifts to meet the demands of the changing times. One of the most fundamental changes is in the balance of power between consumer and producer.

Power to the people, not corporates – people know more, they have more freedom, more access and more voice. They expect more and want to be treated accordingly. It is people who build brands and reputations, not companies themselves.

Customer is now audience, so-called because people are watching, listening and responding now, not just buying. If this relationship is audience-centred and managed well, the audience becomes your ‘community’ and advocates on behalf of your brand and builds your business with you.

Sustainability and Social responsibility – these concepts focus on conscious decisions and long term commitments to social, environmental and economic issues that affect ALL people, not just short-term CSI campaigns that gain company kudos.

Truth, Vision Transparency, Collaboration? Unfamiliar terms in business? But soft skills are now core skills. Developing these soft skills within a stakeholder engagement strategy means working on BOTH an emotional and a rational level. After all, we are dealing with people who really want to know who we are and what we stand for. And as with all relationships, we need to unpack our true purpose and seek collaboration partners to share it with. So now there’s more use of ‘us’ than ‘them’.

Spin is replaced with real content – spin attracts and lures people into believing what you say, based on the company’s needs or agenda. Relevant content and story-telling engage people and build relationships based on audience needs. It’s an ‘outside-in’ approach that values content marketing, instead of just product marketing, and connecting, not just selling, using conversations about the business and its products and services to build meaningful, long term relationships with the audience.

Ethical branding not just advertising. Every brand has its unique story about what it stands for, not only about its products. And even the products are ethical now. The question of image versus façade highlights exhibiting an identity based on purpose not profit, and mindful actions, not pretty packaging. People trust businesses that believe in what they do and value integrity rather than those with nice appearances and words.

The authenticity revolution? Carla Enslin calls it an evolution – wherein organisations become…. “responsible for creating legacies based on sound social and economic values and authentic practice”.