The Faces of Your Brand

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Hypothetical situation. Let’s say this guy…

works for your company.

When he isn’t living the new status symbol of “Crazy Busy,” he maintains a fairly visible presence in social media. He’s (mostly) professional in what he chooses to share with the world because he mentions the name of your company in every one of his bios. But, he’s also a self-proclaimed “big deal when it comes to doing the weekend laundry” and tweets songs when he ~~should be~~ is working. He tried drawing a line between his personal and professional brands, but there’s now an unending high tide quickly washing over those tracings in the sand.

So, through the eyes of some of his online connections, his avatar doesn’t just show them the face of a friend. In their eyes, his avatar, his online presence, has become the face of your company.

Let’s say you’re okay with all this. You say to yourself (remember, this is hypothetical), “I don’t mind a few people seeing him as the face of the company. He usually says the right thing at the right time. He’s loyal and does really good work for us. Also, I secretly think he’s one of the coolest people I’ve ever met, regardless of the fact that he wears jeans to work way too often.”

Then, you see a potential problem. He works exclusively in the marketing department. And, the marketing department isn’t always aware of everything that’s going on in operations…or in recruiting…or in training…or in HR. And, he’s especially not aware of everything those departments are doing in social media.

Potentially, you could have five conflicting messages being presented in social media on behalf of your company. And, all of those messages are being presented by completely different employees who are perceived by completely different people as being the face, the voice, of your company.

So, what do you do now? Do you quickly draft an addendum to your social media policy? Do you ask all of those employees to remove themselves from social media, even though they include your company’s name in their bios because they’re proud to work for you? Do you represent your entire online brand through one account, with your company logo as the avatar? Do you focus only on spreading the message of one department and not the others, missing out on all kinds of opportunities in the process?

It depends.

Remember that line attempting to be drawn between a personal and professional brand? Those same lines in the sand were once, and perhaps still are, drawn between the various departments within your company.

Whether or not your company is jumping into the social media wave, those lines are being washed away by a high tide over which none of us have any control. The need for one shared voice, the need for proud faces of your brand, the need to internally collaborate, the need to be aware of what’s happening on the other floors of our buildings, and the need to take advantage of opportunities to easily join in the initiatives outside of our departments are all needs that have become readily apparent for the future success of our companies, our brands, as a whole.

You have many faces working for you, many faces representing your brand. The question is, are they all speaking with one collaborative voice?

If the time has come for your company to develop a social media strategy to navigate the rising tide, join us in Dallas on February 24th and 25th for Talent Revolution LIVE. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if I can be of any assistance, or visit http://www.talentrevolutionlive.com to register.

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Comment by Kat Cole on January 14, 2010 at 11:32pm: Great post! And great intro to the TR Live event! It will be amazing - as are all of you at TR!

Comment by Brianna Foulds on January 7, 2010 at 1:03pm: Chris, this is a great post! Amazing timing too, I happen to have a meeting with our marketing team next week to discuss our recruitment marketing strategy in 2010.
I agree with all of the perspectives on this. There is so much value to allowing your employees to be who they are in social media and share their own stories, it naturally promotes the strength of a brand. I feel fortunate to be someone that can talk about my company and how much I love it and not have them concerned about me. However, there is also that need for collaboration at the top to make sure that the brand and its purpose are clear. If there was anything we learned at People Report it was that establishing your purpose as a company is key and everything else seems to fall in line. If we struggle with that then we risk all of our employees sharing ideas of the companys goals, ideals and purpose but none of them being consistent. That could have a negative effect rather than a positive one. As long as I and others at my company understand what we as our companies community represent we won't become robots but faces of a great brand that we love and enjoy talking about.
Thanks again for sharing!

Comment by Michael Minichello on January 7, 2010 at 11:47am: Another great post, I look forward to Thursdays.

I agree with Amanda and Joni. The key is to have a "clear line of sight" through your companie. But the hard part is not to create the "robots" and have transparency. Everyone can speak the same language it is just better if they do it in their own dialect.

Thank you, hope to make TR LIVE.

Comment by Joni Thomas Doolin, CEO People Report on January 7, 2010 at 11:23am: Gr8 post Chris (although a shattering reminder that it is already Thursday :-0)

You are teeing up some really valid questions - and the larger the organization, the more complicated the answers can become. But I think Amanda is right about when the magic happens - as workers are encouraged and allowed to be authentic. IBM is a classic example - they have thousands of employees, working in dozens of countries, engaged in social media (both inter + intra) and believe that this connectivity and collaboration has significantly improved company performance. Ditto with Best Buy and their Twelpforce, and of course the platinum standard set by Arie Ball and her team at Sodexo.

Looking forward to TR Live - you + your team continue to pave the road for the rest of us to get better at what we do. Joni

Comment by Amanda Hite on January 7, 2010 at 10:24am: Your post is up and now I can officially begin my day.

We're so lucky to have you as a face of the company. Great post.

I think companies worry to much about being "on message" the message the PR/Communications team defined. It's very hard to establish TRUST if everyone talking head is a robot. The key is to hire dynamic talent that is clear and on target with your purpose and share your principles. Let them tell their company story through their lens. People want authenticity. That is the best way you get that is by removing the filter.