Protecting Your Brand

A debate is raging on how best to protect your brand best.  Some believe it is more important to protect it from competitors and other external sources, while many believe you must protect it from employees first.  This article describes why we believe it is important to begin with an internal look first.

#1 – Protect the brand from internal attacks first.

External attackers get their information from your internal sources.  This can come from customer interfacing employees, leadership’s interaction with the marketplace, or your suppliers.  That is why it is important that all of these sources understand how they contribute to maintaining a strong brand and how easily they can undermine it.

#2 – Employees can be loyal – and still hurt you.

Many internal attacks are the result of individuals who don’t fully consider the consequences of their words and actions.  It’s important to make sure all employees, including senior leaders, are well informed and well trained when it comes to brand risks.

#3 – Non-engaged employees can sabotage your brand.

Employees who do not know what to do, or those who wouldn’t undertake the appropriate activities even if they knew what they are, will have a detrimental impact on your customers.  This represents a significant brand risk.

 #4 – Competitors capitalize on an organization’s missteps so pay attention to what’s happening inside your organization.

Monitoring is important.  Find ways to identify internal threats before they become a problem that your competitors can attack. 

#5 – The internal people issues affecting your brand are much bigger than just HR problems.

This is not just about hiring and training the people with the right backgrounds.  Practically every corporate decision can help strengthen or weaken the brand – from safety standards to pricing decisions to supplier selection.  It is important to have an HR strategy that is aligned with your brand strategy to reduce brand threats for the entire enterprise.