How to achieve staff buy in on rebrands and branding activity. Useful for marketing, HR and internal comms teams.

1. CHALLENGES OF LAUNCHING A
BRAND
(And how to achieve staff buy in!)

2. “Customer experiences define the brand. Great
brand experiences are the result of great
common, consistent, customer experiences.”
Interbrand

3. Challenge #1 – Does everyone internally know what a brand is?
• “It’s our logo; our slogan, our font; our advertising; our product.”
• Everyone thinks they know...
• Solutions:
• Clearly define what a brand is and get everyone on the same page
• Avoid patronising those that know what a brand is

4. Challenge #2 – What’s wrong with our old brand?
• Staff will have strong emotional ties to the old brand
• Resistance is natural when asking staff to do things differently
• There can be mistrust with something new and unproven
• Solutions:
• Share positive stories of rebrands from similar organisations
• Explain the strategy for rebranding and what it will do
• Always invite feedback in a format that suits staff
• Enlist brand champions across the organisation
• Base brand conversations on research-based facts – internal and
external research
• Prepare staff for switchover

5. Challenge #3 – Did our messaging on the rebrand get through loud & clear?
• Staff are engaged in different ways
• Everyone is different!
• This means saying the same thing about the rebrand via different media;
in different formats – this is expensive and time consuming but essential
• Solutions:
• Find out how staff want to be communicated with
• Segment staff audience ‘types’ and treat them differently
• Assess the most effective communication media and formats
• Continually adjust and test communications to suit internal audience
• Make communications relevant to staff

6. Challenge # 5 – Consistent Colin not Jekyll and Hyde...
• To be a credible brand, staff need to reflect the brand values. This means
all staff , services and communications being consistent with the brand.
• Everything the organisation and its staff do either builds on the brand or
works against the brand. Consistency reinforces brand values resulting in a
stronger brand.
• Solutions:
• Give staff time and space to understand the brand values
• Explain ‘We are all in this together’ – everyone needs to pull their
weight
• Continually review staff understanding of the brand, send reminders
and share feel-good stories about staff and the brand

7. Challenge # 6 – Remember: it’s marathon not a sprint
• So too, is knowing where to invest time and money in the brand’s
development
• Maintaining momentum and interest in the brand values is challenging
• Some rebrands require a change of culture which requires strong
leadership
• Solutions:
• Get the thinking cap on Plan, Plan, Plan ways to keep the brand values
top-of-staff-minds
• Ensure the CEO and directors are seen as brand champions that
continually communicate about – and live – the brand

8. Challenge # 7 – Measures of Success
• What is the best way to measure the success of the internal comms
around the rebrand?
• How do we measure the success of the rebrand with staff?
• Solutions:
• Use tools available to measure internal engagement such as hits on the
intranet; logo or brand guideline downloads; staff survey responses or
attendance at brand talks
• Overlay internal data with external brand metrics and benchmark
against other organisations

9. Final Challenge – We got a new brand, now what do we do with it?
• Once the rebrand has taken place, it’s just the start...
• Ways to maintain staff buy-in after the launch:
• Ensure on-going staff training, dialogue and sharing of successes
• “Get them early” – present the brand at new staff inductions
• Ensure staff feel equipped, supported and confident about
their brand knowledge
• Promote continuous communication/dialogue from the top to
maintain momentum, importance and relevance
• Keep measuring to make sure staff are engaged
• Most of all, make it fun!