Study reveals that brand is failing to be built, embodied and delivered by all staff – 81 percent of marketing professionals feel that their HR teams have limited knowledge of their role in making sure customers have the right impression of their brand.
This is according to research by CIM (The Chartered Institute of Marketing), which is calling on HR leaders to ensure that their company’s identity and values are integrated across their organisation. CIM’s Brand Experience study of professional marketers, supported by Brandworkz, reveals that half of respondents believe employees don’t fully comprehend their role in delivering the brand to customers. This could stem from the fact that 23 percent of marketers report that information about the brand doesn’t feature in employee inductions, and 27 percent admit that their organisation’s recruitment process has no link to brand values – areas within the remit of HR teams.
Furthermore, two-thirds (65 percent) of marketers believe their senior leadership teams regard brand as a high priority for the entire company, yet the report indicates that this often fails to cascade down an organisation. Only half of marketers (51 percent) believe that their employees’ values and behaviour are intuitively aligned with their organisation’s brand promise, despite evidence that brand has the biggest impact if it is implemented across the business. The Brand Experience report recommends that HR teams collaborate with marketing colleagues to integrate the brand into company culture and change initiatives.
Reflecting on these findings, Steve Woolley, Head of External Affairs at CIM, said: “A strong brand drives growth when customers see its promise delivered. So it’s great that marketers tell us brand is a priority for their company, but dig deeper and this looks worryingly superficial. Many report not delivering consistently on brand promise, and embedding it across the organisation. For a company to implement brand and truly understand its value, the motivation needs to start at the top, but this should filter through the entire workforce. Our report highlights that this is not always a reality. As it stands, opportunities are being lost and brand is not being utilised to its full potential.” Scottish Power’s 2,500 DC scheme members are now using Hymans Robertson’s Guided Outcomes (GO)™ portal for pension saving.
