Going to School on the Brand
The Challenge of Brand Buy In
Every identity – no matter how uplifting – needs a sales job. Canada Life’s new identity was no exception.
The strategic reasons for identity change are not always apparent to the people who must live the brand. Competitive differentiation is often only half the story; the other half is re-energizing and re-focusing the staff. But staff are normally suspicious. Uncomfortable with change generally, they may wonder why big bucks are spent to rebrand when costs are a concern and what does all this mean for them. And they don’t want to feel sold.
Rebranding only delivers when people deliver on the brand. In Canada Life’s case, it needed to galvanize people from across Canada and across its international offices.
Bringing People Together
Brands are not usually handed down the chain of command. Brands need local champions to set the example and bring peers on board. Our task was to take about a dozen skeptical employees and transform them into brand champions in a two-day workshop setting we called Brand University.
We began with Brand 101, clarifying the nature and value of brands in terms they could readily relate to. Next, we explored the strategic reasons for the change, what it would mean for enterprise brand and for them personally. And we ended the workshop with a bang – a bang up brand quiz show that go people working in teams to synthesize two intense days of learning… and laughing.
Tuning Out Brand Champions
When the day was done, we send home enthusiastic, knowledgeable brand ambassadors to spread the word and live the promise.
Team:
Brand Workshop Strategy, Development and Delivery: Harry H. Cornelius/ Cornelius Jacobson (Sideren Inc.)
Design Partner: Fusion Creative
