If an organisation really wants to get a message out there – they should know what their organisation is all
about. In simple words, every individual working in the organisation, whether it’s top management or general
staff, should have the ability to say who they are or their reason for existing as an organisation in less than
eight words.
It doesn’t matter whom you ask – the answer should always be the same. The simple theory is, if you
don’t know who you are as an organisation, how can you communicate yourselves beyond your
organisation’s front door?
I was recently approached by a business to develop an awareness campaign for their brand. When I asked
their top management about their reason for the campaign, they advised me that the target audience didn’t
know exactly what they did – even though they have been operating for years.
I was quite fascinated by this problem. They had carried out a number of campaigns prior to now but had not
achieved the results that they wanted.
As I wasn’t entirely familiar with what they did, I proceeded to ask the managing director about their
organisation. He gave me a lot of information and then referred me to the marketing manager who briefed me
on the campaigns but still seemed to miss the mark in terms of who they were as a business.
I quickly realised that there was a major communication problem internally. Whether it was a lack of
freely available information or not having the right guidance or leadership, something was affecting
the companies communication process. Even more fascinating was that they didn’t realize this.
I had my work cut out for me. First I had to make them realise that there was actually an internal problem.
Then I had to find a way to make them work together to unify their message.
So I devised a plan to show exactly what the problem was. I gave 3 copies of a blank creative brief to the
managing director, the marketing manager and the marketing assistant to fill out individually. Then I called
them into a meeting and compared what each of them answered.
Their understanding of their target market, objectives and identity were completely different. That evening we
all sat down and really drilled down on their target market and came up with exactly what they wanted to say
in one sentence.
We developed a campaign that ran internally, re-enforcing this new and unified identity. The campaign was a
great success. At the end of the campaign, everyone in the organisation knew exactly who they were. This
resulted in subsequent external marketing campaigns with the first bringing in $300K in the first 14 Days. It
made communicating the clients’ identity a breeze – and opened the floodgates to massive growth.
So – Are you clear on what your business stands for? Do you know how to communicate exactly what you
need to, to get sales? Chat with us today about how you can get real results by strengthening your corporate
identity and building a business that works FOR YOU.
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