Put Me In Coach, I'm Ready To Brand!
May 2011 - by Jeff Nixon
In sports it takes the efforts of an entire team to win the game and the championship. So it goes with re-branding a community. No single player, even a star, can execute the winning brand strategy. Success takes buy-in from all stakeholders, and that takes vision and leadership from brand champions, who more than just giving “rah-rah” support, actively work and play well together to plan and promote the program from its inception. Executing a decisive brand strategy means answering a lot of tough questions pertaining to the community’s values, what it stands for, and how it can strive honestly and practically to reshape public perceptions. Just as it took many people to construct the past, so it takes many to rebuild for the future.
The ideal brand team committee is composed of community brand champions who represent a dynamic cross-section of stakeholders, including residents, visitors, business owners, municipal staff, senior management, and even members of council. Each brand champion has a core responsibility to help shape the shared vision and to ensure its unique and exciting brand story is expressed loudly, clearly and consistently.
Despite the best of intentions, too many branding programs fail during implementation — not unlike certain sports teams that start seasons with a bang but don’t make the playoffs. Over time, the program starts to fizzle due to individual agendas resulting in lack of cohesion and consistency. True brand champions keep to the game plan and stay actively engaged in the community, working to ensure new groups, and even new councils, don’t hinder progress and momentum. Remember, it takes years to develop a strong brand, and only months to destroy it.
And what if brand champions don’t agree or they lose focus and start to drift? Enter your Brand Coach or Chief Branding Officer, a respected leader in your community who is carefully selected to give objective guidance. Your brand coach sits on the branding committee and oversees the branding program and its execution, providing direction when the committee is divided or unsure during the strategy and concept development stages of the re-brand. Like the coach of a sports team bent on taking the league championship, the brand coach is there to remind even the star players that they need to stick to the winning system and strategy. No short cuts, no individual agendas, and no star showboating!
So who makes the best brand coach? Always the Mayor or CAO? The answer is simple! Anyone can be a great brand coach, as long as they are a respected member of the community and committee, who has a strong voice, is one-hundred percent committed, and is able and willing to make the tough calls that keep your brand team on track, not only to secure the win today but also ensure a legacy of champions.
Jeff Nixon is a senior consultant at Synergist Communications (www.synergistcommunications.com). He is an expert in strategic place branding and takes pride in helping organizations to improve public perception, encourage investment, and create a better community through effective brand management. Follow on Twitter @Jeffrey_Nixon.