Brand and culture – two sides of the same coin

Years ago, talking with a CEO he kept referring to brand and culture – curious I asked him to distinguish between the two. He said – “our brand is our reputation, how we are experienced in the world. Culture is how we do things round here. And how we do things round here directly affects how we are experienced out there, for better or worse. Brand and culture are two sides of the same coin”

I got it in an instant. What we do minute by minute, hour by hour either builds or diminishes our brand (reputation). And it’s not just the executive, it’s everyone: the middle manager, the receptionist, the van driver. Here’s a real example:

I was driving down the motorway in the outside lane doing a couple of miles per hour above the speed limit. I was overtaking a car which was overtaking a lorry. A white van raced up behind me with flashing head lights. The driver was waving me over and giving me an angry two finger salute – all this going on in my rear view mirror. Eventually when I could, I moved over and let him pass. As he went by I could see him mouthing more verbal abuse. And then I noticed his company logo on the side of his vehicle. A global construction company and one of my customers. In my mind a very fine company though in that moment I thought “git” and quite a few other expletives. That driver damaged his company’s brand (reputation) for me and I bet for many others as he bullied his way along the highway.

Does it matter that a few people on a motorway think less of that company?

Another example – when I was a contracts manager one of my sites refused to employ an office assistant. “The job can’t afford one” was the site manager’s rationale. He would tell one of the site workmen to make tea and coffee for visitors and meetings. And the phone was either left to ring or was answered by whoever was stood by it at the time and often with a gruff “hello”.

Did it matter that the client was served tea from a dirty cup each time she visited site?

And another example. The contractor I worked for, this time as operations manager, was desperate to win work. We were pretty close to landing an airport project and it all hinged on whether we put Steve in charge of the job. Steve had extensive airport construction experience. We had named him in the bid and the client wanted him. It was a deal breaker. Steve, however, lived down south and was tied into another big job and that region’s director wasn’t going to let him go without a fight. The call came in from the client to my boss “put Steve on the job and it’s yours”. Faced with a desperate decision between losing the job with seemingly dire consequences for our division and promising the client what he wanted, the promise was made and we were awarded the contract. The client got a good job, on time, on budget and safe though he never got Steve.

Did it matter that we reneged on our promise?

How we do things round here, our culture, either strengthens or damages our reputation (brand). But does that really matter?

Several years later I was traveling into London on the Paddington Express. The train was crowded, there was one seat available. I took it and noticed I was sat beside the airport job client. He seemed terse, a bit off. I asked him where he was going. He told me “to the regular meeting of all the airport managing directors where we talk about things like: security, policy, new projects and who builds them”. He hesitated a moment and then said “and your company won’t be building anymore, not after you lied to me”

A true story.