How to Build A Strong Brand Culture

A company’s products and services aren’t the only USP (Unique Selling Point) that makes it stand out among its competitors — its culture also matters. From ditching boring workstations to encouraging creativity, a company’s culture defines its work environment, employee state of mind, and job satisfaction. Most companies are known for their unique brand culture, which generously adds to building a brand identity like Google.

Interestingly, culture and brand go hand-in-hand, helping organizations stay ahead of the competition. Culture and brand are distinct features of a company — you can’t copy them from other companies. Both culture and brand integrate naturally in a company to ensure maximum productivity and build an inclusive work environment. 

We’ve broadly discussed what brand culture means and how it can shape your company for a better future below. Read on to find more.  

Culture Versus Brand

Workplace culture and brand identity are two sides of the same coin; they work together to help businesses overcome their weaknesses and failures. They guide the path for future improvements and success. Let’s understand culture and brand a little more deeply.

Culture

A firm’s culture can be friendly, intuitive, analytical, value-based, or competitive. You can’t restrict it to one specific characteristic or attribute. It helps define and discuss the workplace’s goal, purpose, and vision. Culture helps build a strong and lasting relationship between a company and its employees.

Workplace culture helps businesses encourage employees to share their ideas, feedback, and reviews to improve the pre-existing system. It also promotes transparency and encourages employees to participate in the decision-making process.

Brand 

On the other hand, a brand is an intangible identity of a company that’s often reflected through its employees, products, services, and, most importantly, workplace culture. It’s a valuable asset of the company that shapes the perceptions of employees, consumers, and stakeholders. 

For consumers or audiences, it might be the brand logo, tagline, advertisements, or even the slogan that helps them recognize the company. But for employees, a company’s brand is translated through its workplace culture, hierarchical system, management, and training techniques. 

Building a Company Culture

To build workplace culture, you need to revisit your goals and decide how you operate. If the aim is to create a healthy environment through employee satisfaction, you need to develop an encouraging brand culture. But if you strictly want to increase numbers or follow a target-based approach, go by the rule books. 

Remember, your employees build your culture, so make sure you plan things with their interests in mind. There are different ways to connect with your employees, e.g., you can introduce online team-building games for remote employees or use interactive employee onboarding software. 

Brand culture is the internal expression of a company that motivates employees to think positively about the company. And to build strong brand culture, focus on things that distinguish you from others. 

How Culture Creates Brand

Understand this simple math equation: Good Culture = Happy and Satisfied Employees = Brand Identity/Increased Profits

It’s simple. Companies that keep their employees happy make more profit. Also, giving your employees a healthy and harmonious workplace culture will eventually add to their productivity and job satisfaction. 

In 2016, Chobani, an American food company, handed up to 10% shares of the company to its employees for when they go public or sell. Basically, the people were no longer employees but shareholders in the company. Chobani’s founder, Hamdi Ulukaya, said that the company’s success wouldn’t be possible without its employees.

By offering the company’s shares, Chobani motivated employees to work with even more dedication and perseverance. It’s a message to future employees that the company cares for its people and workplace culture. And even more, the customers felt emotional toward the company, creating a strong brand culture that helps generate more profit. 

Synergizing Brand and Culture

No advertising or marketing can promote your brand better than your employees. Your employees are the biggest cheerleaders of your firm. If they’re happy, the company will thrive and vice versa. 

The best way to amalgamate a brand with culture is through building lifelong relationships with employees. Being respectful, offering medical benefits, emotional and financial support, and celebrating small victories can contribute largely to your brand culture. 

You can provide them monetary benefits like Chobani or give them a unique and intriguing workplace like Google. But don’t forget to have a distinguishing feature that makes you stand out in the market. 

Onboarding Into Your Culture 

Brand culture doesn’t build overnight. A lot of planning, determination, and execution goes into gaining the trust of your employees. To onboard your employees into the workplace culture, introduce new things s. 

Let them absorb the change and adapt to it organically. For example, companies can’t just introduce a new employee onboarding software when they want to be technologically advanced. They need trials and feedback. Moreover, they need to consider what their employees think about the software.

Companies can try introducing quick-burst games to help employees understand the brand culture better. Rather than announcing the change, let them play with it a bit and provide their feedback. What do you think?  
And the best way to do that is by opting for 1Huddle. We have 1,000 science-backed games that help you train and onboard employees quickly. To try our services, request a demo now!