Our 29 years of experience has taught us that this is a misguided notion. In fact, in cases where our Clients have invested in their brand, the payback to their philanthropic efforts has been quite evident. A strong brand benefits fundraising by:

• Making your brand recognizable and distinguishable from competitors
• Making your mission relevant to donors
• Helping your organization make an emotional connection with both current and prospective donors

Investing in your brand is more crucial than ever because of the increased competition chasing after a smaller pool of philanthropic dollars. If people don’t know who you are and what your organization stands for, how can you expect your development team to be operating at peak performance?

The stronger the brand, the more known it becomes and the more donors become willing to invest and stay loyal to the organization.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eX38PuMprEg

How many times have you experienced a customer service letdown at a retail store, an airport or even at a bank?

As a marketing professional, it makes me scratch my head when I receive poor customer service.

• Do companies realize employee interaction with customers can have a far greater impact on their brand than the advertising that engaged the customers in the first place?
• Do they realize that aligning their organizational culture with their brand promise is the most crucial part of their marketing efforts?

Companies that feel they need a little customer service pick-me-up may wish to take note of the customer service trends of popular brands such as Southwest Airlines, Nordstrom and Enterprise Rent-A-Car — power brands with tremendous customer loyalty.

A company’s culture and the ability to deliver an on-brand customer experience can be its greatest competitive advantage. At gkv, our 28 years of marketing experience has taught us the importance of aligning an organization’s culture with its brand promise — and it doesn’t have to be difficult.

It takes just four steps:

• Identify Current Cultural DNA

Uncover the internal behaviors and systems that created the existing culture and modify those to support the brand.

• Unleash Brand Champions

Pinpoint a select group of employees who can internally lead your organization to embrace and live the brand every day.

• Deliver Branded Behavior

Identify key customer service-related opportunities (or “moments of truth”) that can distinguish employees, processes and the organization from the competition.

• Construct a New Branded Environment

Walk the brand walk internally and weave the brand essence into every fabric of the workplace.

If you manage a brand that is getting low customer satisfaction scores, take a step back and re-evaluate your customer service policies. Realignment of your organization’s culture may be the boost your company needs. Let us know — we’re here to help.