Before a company can communicate well externally, it needs to communicate well internally. Companies that focus on honing their culture and employees via communication and education can create brands with a purpose. Brands need to start trusting the voices of their valued employees. In essence, brands need to become social.
Take, for example, this site, the AT&T Networking Exchange Blog. Bill Strawderman and Trish Nettleship spearheaded this blog in order to bring the digital voices of their employee ambassadors in the public sphere as part of the company’s effort to help foster authenticity. In an eMarketer article, Nettleship said, “The idea is to build that thought leadership and engage customers earlier in the research process, as they’re starting to learn about these technologies and how they are going to help their business.”
While it’s been over 12 years since the publication of the Cluetrain Manifesto companies are still trying to humanize their businesses. Internal communication among employees is critical for external communication to start the process. Despite the reality at most companies, these firms need to remember that people don’t think of a brand as a series of departments. Rather, they think of a brand as a whole entity.
The concept remains difficult for many brands, but companies are made up of people. Real people. Brands need to start tapping into this golden opportunity to elevate their brand relevance in a world where a person or business’s reputation can be destroyed in a mouse click. There’s liquid gold in the voices of employees, but few brands realize this unharnessed potential.
