In an era of radical transparency, a company’s organizational culture becomes its brand. What it means to be a brand today goes far beyond the products it offers. It is about how employees interact within the company, how the hierarchy works, and what values are perpetuated by those in charge. Uber’s founder resigned after a culture of sexism and bullying at the company was exposed. HSBC’s CEO in Taiwan walked one of his gay employees down the aisle after the employee’s father refused to do it. A United Airlines video of an employee forcibly dragging a passenger off a plane went viral. All of these are examples of a change in the nature of brands, and of the great opportunity and great risk of operating in glass boxes.
The glass box concept The easiest way to explain this shift in consumption is the glass box. Until a few years ago, companies were big black boxes. Outsiders could hardly know what went on inside; they only saw the results in the products delivered to customers. Today, more and more, businesses are glass boxes, transparent surfaces through which the public can see their values, processes, and relationships. This shift happened thanks to the connected world, where everything is exposed and spreads quickly. What are brands? Why is this such an important shift for brands? We relate better to, and become loyal to, companies that represent our emotions, express our feelings, and align with our values. It is about how brands see us and how we look alongside them. When we knew nothing about what was going on inside, these feelings were based only on the picture painted on the outside. Today, everything is visible. Every person, every process, every value, and every event. Companies’ organizational culture What do people see when your company is open to the world? Its organizational culture. Today, your company’s internal culture may be the most powerful marketing and branding tool you have. One example is Starbucks, which uses social initiatives to reinforce its brand (already strong in emotional terms). The company has opened a store in Kuala Lumpur dedicated to hiring deaf employees and has put up a deposit to help employees get a home, for example. The need for connection and for consuming things that represent a purpose drives purchases that carry meaning. This is also why many people dig deep into who is behind what they buy. This way of consuming has many positive sides, but also some risks. Activist brands The danger in all this? Turning your brand into a political activist. As I said before, it’s important to think twice before taking a political stance with your brand. Building an egalitarian environment is indeed a way to stand out politically, but you need to be very careful about how you do it. You can’t please everyone, so whom does your brand choose to please? And there’s no point in letting the stance of just one person in the company show through, because at some point it will be seen. Your brand has to build a bond with its target audience, but when it offers a product or service to the mass market, taking a position means facing the consequences. In the end, we come back to the same point: the best way to take a stance that truly makes an impact on society is to show that there aren’t two sides. When there is no good and evil, it is possible to show others respect, compassion, and empathy and to play a positive role in society. This starts in your own workplace, with the first people who need to buy into your brand and your ideas: your employees.
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