When speaking about branding, everyone immediately floats to the identity of company. The brand identity is the most visible part of a brand and its branding campaign. A brand has a multitude of touch points that all work in tandem to create a total sum emotion; aka, your brand. There are touch points that are obvious and ones not so obvious. Despite being under the radar, these back of the mind touch points are still extremely vital in continuing to keep a brand in tact and on the path of growth.Everyday business decisions directly affect your brand’s message. Everything from the way your collateral is printed to your staffing solution and even the way your phone is answered. If one thing doesn’t line up, a brand’s weak points become apparent.
Example: This morning I had some coffee with Jim Carchidi of JFC Staffing. During the meeting I got a crash course in the Staffy Industry they don’t show you on TV. As it turns out, unethical practices run rampant in the industry, but don’t directly affect the clients. At least not all the time.
A recent case of unethical practices saw a immigration raid of Walmart in Allentown. Walmart thought they were exempt from the fines and charges since the staffing firm employed the illegals. They were wrong. That’s not all, though.
The brand implications supersede the direct financial loss. Now Walmart has a slew of poor press touting its weaknesses and negative, behind-the-scenes decisions. The press is something that will be hard to rectify especially in conjunction with their long laundry list of poor press and negative brand attributes.
Everything, EVERYTHING done is business affects its brand. Make your decisions wisely. Nothing is menial.
