ALIGNED!

ENHANCE YOUR BUSINESS RESULTS, RELATIONSHIPS AND REPUTATION IN 90 DAYS BY ALIGNING  YOUR COMPANY CULTURE, COMMUNICATIONS AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE 

Just as your car runs more smoothly and requires less energy to go faster and farther when the wheels are in perfect alignment, you perform better when your thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values are in balance. Brian Tracy

The marketplace is highly competitive, commoditised and distracted, with a proliferation of undifferentiated products and services distinguishable mainly by price.

This environment has made it increasingly challenging for small businesses to connect with the target markets.

That’s why it’s more important than ever that brands differentiate themselves by making clear what they stand for and establish strong market positioning so they can cut through the clutter and noise.

It’s also vitally important that in an era when people want brands to stand for more than just profits, that businesses articulate what they stand for beyond delivering their products and services.

We have now entered the age of purpose, where business communication is more about connecting with, and engaging people –  staff, customers and other stakeholders – through the power of ‘why’.

Your ‘why’ is your purpose, your cause, your deep-seated reason that sits behind the ‘what’ (products/services/programs) and the ‘how’ (strategy/systems/processes) of your business.

When brands make clear the difference they seek to make in the world through a meaningful purpose and compelling vision, they can achieve a deeper level of connection with their target audiences. Why? Because people want to feel like they’re part of something bigger, something that matters.

When employees can answer the question ‘why am I here?’ and customers identify with a company’s mission, businesses can connect with them in a most powerful and sustainable way.

THE JOURNEY TO STRATEGIC BRAND ALIGNMENT

When it comes to strategic brand alignment, a business will sit somewhere on a spectrum between ‘disconnection’ and ‘integration’. The below figure shows the journey for businesses, from being in a state of disconnectedness (lack of alignment of intention, language and action) to reaching a state of integration (complete alignment of intention, language and action).

The degree of strategic brand alignment within a business, as determined by its current state and focus, will impact its results, relationships and reputation.

WHAT YOUR SMALL BUSINESS WILL GAIN BY PARTICIPATING IN THIS PROGRAM

• More engaged employees, with a strong sense of shared purpose and clear understanding of how their role fits into the bigger picture
• A more cohesive, supportive and productive team, as the planning and delivery of all services, programs and activities will align with the brand purpose, vision, values and desired strategic objectives
• Consistency of corporate messaging across marketing collateral and channels, and customer touchpoints.
• The attraction and retention of loyal customers who resonate with what your brand stands for and have their expectations consistently met through highly engaged staff, high quality services and interactions that meet their needs and expectations
•  Stronger brand positioning within the industry, with a distinctive brand purpose, image and message
• Greater trust, credibility and goodwill in the brand leading to a more sustainable business.

THE PROGRAM IS IDEAL IF YOUR SMALL BUSINESS IS EXPERIENCING ANY OF THE FOLLOWING CHALLENGES

Inconsistent results, because …

• The thinking, language and behaviour of employees varies, is incompatible or conflictive as there are no culture pillars guiding their everyday work.
• Employees don’t understand how they solve the client’s problem; they cannot articulate how they close the gap from where the client is now (problem state) to where the client wants to be in the future (problem resolved state).
• Teams work in silos and are task focused rather than customer-outcome focused.

Fragile relationships, because …

• Employees are not engaged, they don’t feel valued and they don’t understand how their work fits into the bigger picture.
• Employees, as brand ambassadors, do not speak with a united voice, and the resulting mixed messaging causes confusion and division internally, and potentially, in the community
• There is a fear and/or lack of responsibility, transparency and accountability.

Poor reputation, because …

• Negative reviews and/or media coverage are not uncommon.
• The business is not delivering on its brand promise to customers.
• The quality of the product/service and customer experience does not meet expectations.

ROADMAP TO STRATEGIC BRAND ALIGNMENT

In a world of changing views, needs and expectations, businesses that demonstrate consistency in their intentions, words and actions build trust with people. In other words, alignment between organisational values and beliefs (culture), corporate messages (communications) and service delivery (customer experience) fosters familiarity, predictability and reliability; three crucial elements of trust.

Culture reflects what an organisation thinks – expressed through its beliefs, values, sense of purpose and traditions.

Communications reflect what an organisation says – expressed through the brand identity, imagery, stories and messages it conveys to the outside world.

Customer experience reflects what an organisation does – expressed through direct delivery of its products and services, and interactions it facilitates via customer touchpoints and marketing channels.

When company beliefs, values and a strong sense purpose (CULTURE) are aligned across marketing messages and channels (COMMUNICATIONS), customer touchpoints and service delivery (CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE) and corporate social responsibility activities (CITIZENSHIP), the consistency of thoughts, words and actions builds brand credibility, fosters trust and enhances reputation.

This alignment also creates more cohesive and engaged teams because the thinking, language and actions of employees are based on a shared understanding of vision and values, and desired strategic outcomes.

ALIGN! PROGRAM SNAPSHOT

The ALIGN! Strategic Brand Alignment Program helps business and organisations align their organisational culture (think), communications (say), customer experience (do) and citizenship (give) to enhance results, relationships and reputation.

The program includes six workshops on the following content:

CULTURE

Focus area 1:   PURPOSE

Discovering the ‘why’ that sits behind our ‘what’ and ‘how’, defining an aspirational company vision about the difference we want to make in the world and crafting an inspiring mission that describes what we will do exceptionally well every day in bringing our vision to fruition.

Focus area 2:   PRINCIPLES

Defining the beliefs, core values and trademark behaviours that will underpin our work, define our standards and guide our intentions, language and behaviour.

COMMUNICATIONS

 Focus area 3:   PROPOSITION

Understanding deeply our clients’ problem/need and articulating a compelling value proposition that closes the gap between where our client is now (stuck in their problem / unmet need) to where they want to be in the future (having their problem solved / need met).

Focus area 4:   POSITIONING

Defining our brand image and voice (language and tonality), developing  our brand story and crafting the key messages about our product/service.

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

 Focus area 5:   PROMOTION

Selecting and planning the right combination of promotional tools and tactics to connect with our target markets, build our public profile and extend our reach in the community.

Focus area 6:   PARTICIPATION

Putting in place a system and processes to facilitate positive customer experiences, and receive the gift of feedback from staff and customers so we can make more informed decisions and deliver on our brand promise.

TESTIMONIALS

Ros takes the passion and vision you have for your business, draws out the ideas you didn’t realise you had and articulates these perfectly into a document that is usable and relevant to your business to define your brand, vision, mission and values to your clients and staff.  Cameron McKerchar, Managing Director, Tudor Insurance Australia

Ros’s work helps clients get clear on who they are, the needs of their target markets and how they wish to be positioned in the marketplace. Every chance we get, we recommend our clients see Ros first as we know it will be highly beneficial for the final client outcome. Ricky Verkaik, Director, Zain Digital

Ros’s energy and passion for communications and engagement is infectious and she really helped us as a team articulate our purpose. The groundwork that we have done here is going to be enormously beneficial in creating a Communications Team Strategy moving forward. Sam Shalders, City of Ballarat

ABOUT THE TRAINER

Ros Weadman FPRIA is an award-winning brand communication and reputation strategist with a career spanning more than 35 years across diverse industries.

Ros has empowered dozens of business owners and organisational leaders to articulate what they stand for, communicate their brand value and transform their brand story, value proposition and communications from dull and detached, to energised and engaging.

 This has helped them stand apart, resonate more deeply with target audiences and forge a great reputation based on the positive ripple effect of their work.  

There are three programs from which to choose –  a one-month, two-month and three-month program.

Enquire now via the Contact page.