The Marketing and HR power-struggle: Who is responsible for brand management?

The Marketing and HR power-struggle: Who is responsible for brand management?. They are the ones that clearly communicate from the top down, what the company stands for and how each employee contributes to the realization of that promise. At a time when customer experience is everything, internal team alignment has never been more vital. Businesses must clarify departmental responsibility It doesn’t take much to imagine how much harder it will be for brands to communicate consistently if HR takes on internal branding and departmental alignment, and Marketing is left to deal with external customer communications only. And the good news is, at Brandworkz, we know how enthusiastic people are to get it right. Digital brand hubs are as much about empowering employees with the information, clarity and tools to represent their brand in the right way as they are about storing and creating marketing materials. We know employees welcome the opportunity to better understand their brand. Nor are the resultant benefits for business, including consistent and positive customer experience. Achieving internal team alignment is dependent on organizations finding smarter, more integrated ways of working; promoting collaboration instead of territorialism – particularly between Marketing and HR; and embedding brand education across the business. Anna Cotton is head of marketing at Brandworkz Brandworkz is a cloud-based digital asset management and brand management software platform for marketers and brand managers.

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Anna Cotton is head of marketing at Brandworkz.

Just imagine, for a moment, this fictional scenario. You are paying for presents in your local John Lewis store this festive season and the member of staff serving you, a Partner, is loudly rubbishing the company’s eagerly awaited Christmas television ad. You’d probably feel a little disconcerted; regardless of the ad itself, you’re a loyal customer and you expect to experience a sense of loyalty within.

This gap, or disconnection between consumer expectation and experience, is what tests our decision making process when we are buying goods and services in B2B or B2C. It’s only when our interactions are consistent with our expectations, that our brand perceptions and allegiance are positively reinforced. Just the idea that an organization’s employees don’t share our understanding or regard for a brand, is enough to leave us feeling unconvinced, or worse, that we’re somehow being duped.

The brands that get it right are the ones that align their staff across departments, behind a common goal and set of values. They are the ones that clearly communicate from the top down, what the company stands for and how each employee contributes to the realization of that promise. Because an engaged and empowered workforce is a business’s best asset; a living manifestation of the brand spirit, tangible at every touch point.

However, research commissioned by agency Omobono suggests that many businesses lack the necessary mechanisms and the cultural mindset to make internal team alignment happen successfully.

Moreover, at the heart of Omobono’s findings is the revelation that the Marketing department is struggling to maintain its responsibility for managing the brand. In a drastic shift, branding accountability is being dispersed across teams. According to the research, HR is now the second most influential voice when it comes to defining what a company stands for, with 75% of employees believing the department contributes to the overall profile of the brand.

At a time when customer experience is everything, internal team alignment has never been more vital. So what can organizations do to avoid problems on the inside impacting negatively on the outside?

Businesses must clarify departmental responsibility

It doesn’t take much to imagine how much harder it will be for brands to communicate consistently if HR takes on internal branding and departmental alignment, and Marketing is left to deal with external customer communications only. Marketing needs to reclaim its role as the guardian of the brand’s promise, look and feel, and story…

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