The public knows your brand, but they speak to your employees. Are the two working together?

Many of these articles or columns suggest this could be done largely by informing the employees about the brand repositioning and involving them, in some fashion, in the public announcement.

That logic is solid: although branding is largely aimed at external audiences, it also has important internal implications. For one, the employees will need to deliver on the new brand promise - through products, services and behaviour - to ensure the integrity of the brand messages.

Going a step further, you need to leverage the employees as brand ambassadors. Don't just make sure they understand and help deliver the brand, make them active advocates who promote and demonstrate the key elements of the brand promise.

What's at stake in this internal communications process is the equity of the brand, and by association, the very reputation of the company. So there appears to be acceptance - at least among specialised practitioners in the public relations arena - that employees are the brand, and should be treated as a priority audience. This is particularly true in the service sector, where most brand contacts occur directly with company employees.

But even taken to its ideal limit, this prevailing modus operandi is based on informing, educating and involving employees as participants. This approach has merit, but is it enough?

Beyond informing and motivating employees, there is the issue of what the brand is. How is the corporate brand being repositioned? What will it stand for? And, most important, how was all this determined? In many cases, the model outlined above implies informing employees about the brand after it has been defined and repositioned. That is not enough.

While it is possible to promote a brand internally with limited insight or consideration for employee values, that is not the easiest or best strategy. A more responsive and inclusive approach will greatly improve the odds of success. Companies can save considerable time and effort by ensuring a measure of compatibility between their employees and their brand. Brands that are anathema to employee values are destined to fail, no matter how resonant with the public or well intentioned.

If we accept the premise that customers own the brand, we must also accept that employees own part. A credible brand must be based on both the external market forces and 'internal reality'.


Bernie Charland leads Golin/Harris International's employee communications consulting group, specialising in internal communications, change management and corporate reputation. Bernie has assisted a wide range of clients, across several industries, with a variety of internal communications needs - including mergers and acquisitions, announcements, layoffs, labour negotiations, re-engineering efforts and internal branding.