Back in 2005 when we at Imaginasium began positioning ourselves as a Full Brand Alignment firm, the term “brand alignment” was met with its share of blank stares from clients and prospects.

Fast forward to 2012 and Brand Alignment seems to be gaining ground. The blank stares have been replaced with inquisitive looks among business leaders charged with communications. Yet, brand alignment still seems to be missing the mark for the rest of the C-suite. The question we hear most often is, “How does Brand Alignment affect the bottom line?” After all, no matter what business you’re in, the bottom line is ultimately what it’s all about.

On February 29 of this year, The Gallup Management Journal published an article by Dan Witters and John Fleming entitled, Do Consumers “Get” Your Brand?

Don’t let the title fool you. This is not your typical “branding is good” article. This is the proof — the piece of information/research we have all been waiting for: “the more consumers can accurately verbalize the principal characteristics of the brand promise, the greater the share of their business they give those brands.  In short: Greater alignment brings greater success.”

Witters and Fleming go on to say that the “new normal” for brand development will not rest on how aware people are of any given brand, but rather on how aligned each organization is with its identity and promise among customers, employees, prospective customers, and prospective employees.”

Greater success, and double the share of wallet. Brand alignment’s effect on the bottom line now has a research leg to stand on. It’s time to bring the CEO, COO and CFO into the brand alignment conversation.

How aligned is your brand?  Can your bottom line benefit from a little brand TLC?

If you build a truly great experience, you may not even have to advertise much at all.

Advertising’s role has changed. Years ago, it was used to differentiate and convince people to try your product or service. Today, it’s better used to entertain and build the brand image. True loyalty comes once your customers try what you have to offer. They’re finicky, so you’d better get that interaction right the first time.

Recently, Zendesk (a helpdesk software company), released an infographic with some great facts on why customer experience takes precedence over advertising (see below). It shows, with real data, how good experiences grab customers, while bad experiences push them away — and, in fact, have a ripple effect in keeping potential new customers from trying you in the first place.

It also shows that while businesses are spending billions on advertising, only 4% of people trust the venue as an important source for real information. They’re much more likely to trust friends, family and colleagues who’ve had first-hand encounters with brands.

Don’t ge me wrong: Advertising is still important in getting the word out and building awareness. But you have to use it right. And it’s just one piece of the mix. Brand alignment and a great experience beat ads hands-down in building sustainable, engaged customer and employee relationships.

Image originally posted on Zengage, The Zendesk Blog

“The idea that business is strictly a numbers affair has always struck me as preposterous. For one thing, I’ve never been particularly good at numbers, but I think I’ve done a reasonable job with feelings. And I’m convinced that it is feelings — and feelings alone — that account for the success of the Virgin brand in all of its myriad forms.”

— Sir Richard Branson

Something happened in business the last four years or so: those of us still around got pretty good at making money. We survived the recession. We cut overhead. We slashed travel budgets. Marketing. Education budgets. Anything we could find to cut waste and make us more efficient until the economy came around.

But at what cost?

Our own business lost something in the process…and we’re finally beginning to get it back. Sure, we survived. We honed our procedures and efficiencies. But we lost the focus we once had on relationships and feelings as we struggled through the mire. As we turned our attention back to the importance of who we are collectively and individually, we regained our differentiation. Culture improved. In fact, we even had a couple of record profits the last couple years.

Does Richard Branson say what he says above just because he’s now a multi-billionaire? Nope. Go back to interviews in his early days, and he was focused on the same thing: creating experiences that connect people in real, memorable ways.

We’re working with a number of firms now who, like us, forgot that along the way. It cost them more than money. It’s cost them loyalty and true engagement from their people. They’re smart enough now to do what it takes to rebuild that trust and their culture.

This week I was fortunate enough to hear a presentation by and later speak with James Hunter, author of The Servant (a book about the true nature of great leadership). He maintains that healthy business is, at its core, all about healthy relationships.

How are yours doing these days?

But way too often, they’re used as a shield to hide behind. Rigid policies — used poorly — serve as an obstacle to great customer service and a “wow” experience. And most likely, they’re telltale signs of poor management, bad training, and a culture of distrusting employees to think for themselves.

A few weeks back, a colleague of mine organized a planning meeting between our team and our largest client at a local hotel/restaurant/meeting facility. Naturally, she ordered food & snacks for the room. Most of them went untouched, so she asked for some boxes to take them back to share with the rest of the office staff. “We can’t do that,” she was told. And of course, when she asked why, came the response: “It’s our policy.”

A bit puzzled, she asked what was going to happen with all the food — and found out it was going to be thrown away. She pointed out that she paid for it and wanted to take it with her. The staff called a manager, who after some discussion reluctantly agreed to box up the food with the admonition, “But next time, know that it’s not our policy to do this.”

I’m pretty sure there won’t be a next time for us at that place.

It’s ridiculous experiences like that which have led to our policy: “Do the right thing. Always.” For the customer. For the company. For the team.

Has it cost us money? Absolutely. Do we ever disagree about what the right thing is? Sure. Do we have to remind each other occasionally? Yep. Have we stumbled employing it along the way? Sometimes.

But it’s a mantra that trumps territory and individual interests in pursuit of the greater good. That’s the core of a sound “policy.”

Of course we have procedures and standards we require our staff to follow. But they’re also empowered to work around them when it makes sense and if they explain to the team why we need to do so. That kind of policy empowers staff to take responsibility and make the right decisions that build relationships — and ensures happy customers.

Take a look at your policies. Are they a defensive shield? Or are they built to empower and engage staff and customers in great relationships?

Why not? Because nobody cares. And they don’t believe you in the first place. They’re looking for a great experience they can count on.

That’s the premise that Apple was built on: Think Different. Steve Jobs knew the experience was more important than the product, price, or policy.

It may be counterintuitive, but focusing on the emotional experience easily pays more dividends than does justifying the rational facts. Don’t get me wrong; that doesn’t mean service/quality/price aren’t important. It’s just that everyone says they have the best service, quality, price, people, etc. In fact, they’re the price of entry into the buyer’s selection set. They expect it. If you don’t have at least a couple of those going for you, don’t bother. You’re not going to get the sale unless you’re willing to sell at rock bottom prices.

Rather, take some time with your team and your customers — or an outside advisor — to figure out what really moves them. What will make them FEEL differently about you. And if it does come down to service, quality, or price, dig deeper to find out what about them makes you different. Describe the “why.” For example:

• What is it ABOUT your service that’s different from everyone else’s? Do you have some sort of program built around it that the customer can count on? How do you make it tangible to your customer?

• Is your product truly higher quality than the competition? If so…so what? WHY does that matter to your customers? Do you have some sort of quality program built into delivery? Can you prove that it matters?

• If it’s price you’re relying on, can you really offer the best price in good times & bad? Is it sustainable for the long-term? Do you have some sort of exclusive supply chain that the customer can count on?

Finally, if you STILL can’t find something that differentiates you, invent one that you can own and authentically live up to. You might even be able to wrap it up into an exclusive guarantee of service, quality or price. That’s something that’ll resonate with customers…they’ll know they can count on a great experience with you, because you’re promising them something tangible.

But that’s a last resort. Chances are, there’s something you’re overlooking that makes you special in the eyes of your customers. See if they’ll tell you or a third party who can research it for you. And then build your brand and plan your experience offering from there.

But can experiences actually change individual behaviors?

That’s the premise behind The Fun Theory — an initiative stared a few years back by Volkswagen. The group wanted to test whether fun experiences can actually change peoples’ behavior for the better. They believed fun was easier and more effective than enforcement in encouraging people to do things they might otherwise not choose to do.

They were right. And they can prove it.

Here’s my favorite example:

If you cannot see the video, click here.

By taking a dreary gray staircase and turning it into a memorable experience, they influenced 66% more people to take the stairs rather than choose the easier escalator nearby. (See more of those experiences here).

As humans, we’re built to seek and enjoy experiences. We’ll choose an interesting experience in an instant if we can avoid the drudgery of having to do something we don’t want to do.

Take a look around your place. What behaviors would you like to change? What are you tired of nagging or complaining about? What are you going to do about it?

You can choose to keep cracking the whip, or you can redesign the experience and get people to choose to change on their own.

Have some fun with it. And let us know what you come up with, no matter how small…we’d love to showcase some examples.

Every time you lose a customer or key employee, get a complaint, get beat by a competitor or worry about lackluster growth, look at it again and ask yourself what changes you need to make to the experience you provide.

During Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign, chief strategist James Carville posted a similar sign in their “war room” to keep staff focused on what was important: It’s The Economy, Stupid!

They knew that no matter what bimbo eruptions or shady real estate dealings surfaced, an unwavering dedication to what really mattered to voters — a bright future — would beat their status-quo competition hands-down.

They were right.

That’s the mentality you need to thrive in the next decade. Service, quality and price don’t cut it on their own anymore. It’s the experience that matters. It’s the experience that keeps customers and employees engaged in a sustainable relationship.

The experience beats product, service or expensive marketing every time. Invest in it every chance you get. The dividends are exponential.

We’ve come up with a lot of communications tools & technologies aimed at making it easier since then. But the fact is, engaging with the right people, the right way, at the right time has become a lot more difficult since the days of the Dictaphone.

Good communications is hard work. But it’s the linchpin of moving your business forward at all levels — inside and out. You can have the best products, outstanding service and unbeatable prices, but if your competitor’s better at getting their message across, they’ll beat you every time.

So what’s the “right stuff” it takes to effectively engage coworkers, customers, prospects and influencers?

According to The Communications Executive Council, good modern communicators need 16 key skills (see the full post here):

Quite a list. And it’s tough to be good at all of them. Thus the role of professional communicators in larger organizations. But even among the pros, it’s tough to keep up. According to the CEC, the weakest skills among communicators tend to be:

• Global perspective/awareness

• Communications measurement

• Business acumen

Some good lessons for those seeking to connect better with their teams & customers. And some good reasons why execs should form real-time, collaborative partnerships with their communications staffs to join communications excellence with business acumen to move their organizations further, faster.

Some easy examples are Steve Jobs & Apple, Howard Schultz & Starbucks, or Sir Richard Branson and his far-flung Virgin empire.

They grew their brands because they breathed life into them. They had a passion, made it part of the culture and operation. They did the hard work of standing for something and building the company around that vision. They imparted their values and their high expectations — and they built sustainable brands that will last and thrive long after they’re gone.

They also were careful to ensure that their brands weren’t solely built in their image and their personality. Great leaders of great brands have their own personal brand, and they don’t let it supercede the greater good. That would damage the life of the brand they worked so hard to build; brands built solely on personality don’t survive once the leader’s gone.

I saw the interconnectedness first-hand last week while sitting in with some colleagues at a marketing firm owners’ group meeting in Mission Viejo, California. (Side note: completely enjoyed the sunny 65 degree day with the windows open and thankful I wasn’t experiencing the 20-below windchill back home in Wisconsin that day!).

We had 10 firms all in various stages of that leader/brand symbiosis. Looking at the people in the room, though, I was struck at how their brands are defined through them. Some hadn’t yet completely defined themselves as individuals or their companies, and that was apparent. One puts finance first and is left grasping at straws for a sense of purpose. Another went a bit too far embracing the purpose while not getting paid the full value for their work. Others and their company brands were completely inseparable and they were working to widen the gap so that they could eventually sell the company…a smart move.

But those with the clearest sense of purpose knew what they wanted and expected of themselves and their company brands. They had a clear separation of the two, yet had done a good job developing a symbiotic relationship in which the leader’s personal brand and vision gave life to the company brand. And the company brand, in turn, expected a good, strong and disciplined leader to protect it and nurture it.

None of that happens, though, unless the leader spends some time establishing their own sense of purpose and their own “personal brand.”

A few years ago, a business associate of mine introduced me to something he called the Life Map. It’s a good tool for establishing purpose, which then can be used to build your personal brand. You can download a copy of it here.

Basically, it’s three columns. Begin on the right side, and lay out how you’d like to be remembered at the end of your life in each category (family & friends, business, financial and personal). It’s kinda like writing your own obituary…but remember to write descriptions of yourself, not “things” you’ve done or will do. Then, in the middle column, write down your “bucket list” —things you’d like to do in your life that will drive toward the right-side column. Then, in the far left, write down things you WILL DO this year (you can us items from the bucket list).

Then, carry it with you in a notebook or on your iPad. Look at it every day. Those around you will have a clearer sense of what you stand for, without you even telling them. And for yourself, it will keep your passion alive AND give you a sense of accomplishment.

Then, you’ll be ready and strong enough to continue to build your own personal brand while giving life to a sustainable brand culture for your company that will last long after you.

That’s what legacies are made of.

Promote that person. Quick. They can help you connect with your customers better and quicker. They key is giving them permission to buck the system and bringing them into the process up front.

In our industry, that person is called an “account planner” — the voice of our clients’ ultimate customer. It’s fairly common on the “agency” side, but I haven’t seen too many similar positions on the mid-size corporate side.

Why put a “planner” in place in your company? To save you from yourself. And to save yourself time and money.

Often, I see companies trying to push a message about how great their products or services are. And spending a lot of money to do it without being sure all that noise is going to get the customer to take action. They end up talking to themselves without truly understanding what their customers really think and feel.

How about your own situation…do you know where you stand in your customers’ minds versus your competition? Do you know what influences their decision to buy? Do your salespeople or customer service people tell you? How sure are they…and are you sure they’re right?

People are complex. We use an intricate web of thoughts, facts and feelings inside our heads every time we make a decision. Unless you have someone constantly digging to see what’s going on and getting your team to adjust course, you’ll increase the chances for a disconnect.

In our world, it’s the planner’s job to remind our team — and our clients — about what their customers want to hear and how they want the message delivered. The planner doesn’t care what so much what our client wants to say, but rather on what’s going to be effective with the audience.

The planner also stays on top of research, marketing communication trends and industry happenings, offering a unique point of view and insights that generate additional opportunities to engage with customers.

Do you have someone like that within your walls? Spend some time with them and really listen. Ask what they know. Ask what worries them about what they don’t know, and what they’d like to know. About what resources they need to be sure. You’ll likely find out that their questions and insights will put you on a better track for connecting with your customers from the start.