Who are your brand guardians?

I was at a company in Crawley a while ago, fairly sizable - they turnover about £800 Million, and was delighted to see that they really take their brand and values seriously. They realise that every staff member is an ambassador for their company and empower them to be positive brand guardians from the day they join. EVERY new employee they take on has to complete a 3 day course in the values, personality and structure of the company, ensuring they understand and buy into the whole ethos.

The company realise the strength and power that they have and how, by empowering their staff, they can deliver it consistently from board level to shopfloor. It not only improves understanding of what the company is, but also where it is going, why and how. Maintained, it's an direct route to great communications, whilst also building brand perception and ultimately, brand value.

Brilliant.

Ask yourself this, If you could be a fly-on-the-wall for ANY single employee within your organisation and hear them out socially (for example in the pub) with their mates being asked what it is they do and what the company was like, would they answer it how you or any member of the board would...? And if they cant answer that consistently, what would they say about the mission and direction of the company..?

At Preview we have worked hard to ensure that our core values and the company ethos are something that not only exists through the company but are actively challenged and developed - the team are always questioning communication and marketing activities to check that we are following our own rules - I'm not saying it's easy, but its well worthwhile - I think it also makes change management one helluva lot easier to confront.