The following is a summary of Chapter 4 of the book “Integrated Branding” by F. Joseph LePla and Lynn M. Parker. Buy the book.

Organization Drivers determine the form and direction your brand will take- they are the genetic code of your brand.  Organization Drivers are made up primarily of your mission statement, your core values, and your marketing story.  In short, Organization Drivers answer the following questions:

1. How do you define your business?
2. Which concepts do you cherish?
3. What story do you have to tell?

Any serious effort at creating a strong brand begins with these questions.

The Mission Statement: Setting the Boundaries of Your Brand Universe.

Chances are, you may already have a mission statement.  If you did, it was most likely created as an entry to your business plan, which in turn, was most likely created to obtain a business loan from a bank.  Unfortunately, and ironically, most loan officers are clueless when it comes to creating a healthy brand.

Ask yourself these two questions:

1. What is the purpose of a mission statement?
2. What does a mission statement look like?

Your answer to these questions will determine how effective your mission statement is.  If it isn’t memorable, or doesn’t inspire and motivate your employees, then it isn’t doing its job.

How many of your employees know it by heart?  How many can recite part of it?  How many of your upper management use it to guide new employees into the culture of your company?  How often does it come up at strategy meetings?

The mission statement is the most undervalued and underused Organization Driver.  The following three questions are sometimes used to help you create a good mission statement:

1. Does it help you get up in the morning?
2. Is it easy to understand?
3. Can you remember it?

With those questions in mind, here are a few additional pointers to help you recapture the power of your mission statement:

• The mission statement describes what your business does.  It should be future-oriented while focusing on present activities. It should also help you maintain a perspective on market trends by helping you see the big picture.  It’s the difference between Xerox being a “copying” company and a “document” company.
• The mission statement provides boundaries for product brands.  In describing your business, your mission provides a “citizenship test” for product brands.  All product brands should be measured against the company brand to keep them in line with the overall direction and identity.  If Jack Daniels had paid closer attention to this tenant, they wouldn’t have ventured out on a disastrous and costly mission to produce beer.  Stick to whiskey, Jack….it’s what you’re good at.  Beer doesn’t compliment whiskey.  Barbeque sauce, however, does.  The mission should be worded in such a way as to help employees see the big picture while keeping an eye on the central direction and identity.
• How often should you change your mission statement?  Revisit it every year.  If market evolution requires that it be tweaked, then tweak it.  If not, then leave it alone.  Good reasons to change your mission include new trends that impact your markets, acting outside the scope of your mission, or a general consensus that it should be changed.  Keep in mind that these things could just as easily indicate that you are losing your focus and straying off track.  The point is that it is not a cut and dry process, rather one that requires some serious consideration.  If your mission is an integrated part of your business culture (and it should be), then this review will happen naturally.

One characteristic all successful mission statements have in common is that they capture the excitement and vision of the company founders or upper management team.  The best mission statements are motivators, they are clear, they are simple, and they focus on the most foundational aspects of your business.

Values and Your Brand

After your mission statement, values are the next Organization Driver.  “Values” is defined simply as “beliefs that a company prizes above all else.”  Your company values should drive both employee and company action and behavior.  A value is something you’re simply not willing to negotiate- you will hold fast to it even at the expense of short-term profitability.

For example, at Mojoloco, one of our values is “Creative Control.”  It is our job to visually express the key points of your message.  This is one of the main reasons that clients hire us.  If a client tries to dictate the creative process, then that client is wasting his money, and we are not being true to our purpose.  Therefore, we are willing to- and have on several occasions- resign an account to remain true to this value.

Another core value of Mojoloco is “Focus First.”  This value is expressed in our slogan- Focus, Execute, Succeed.  We believe in doing our homework on the front end, and we do not engage in guesswork or production without meaning or purpose.  We require some billable time on the front end of any new client relationship to study and learn the brand.  Only then can we make sound recommendations.  If a prospect is unwilling to agree to this, then that client is simply not a good match for Mojoloco.

Our remaining values are:

• Fresh Thinking- we have positioned ourselves as  “new marketing” firm, specializing in new/non-traditional tactics and an unconventional approach to ideas.  If a prospect is looking for a media buyer who is concerned only with a quick-turn on easy tactics, then Mojoloco is not the agency for that person.  We stick to our values and look for prospects that are a good match for the kind of thinking we produce.
• Teamwork- we believe in a team approach.  This value includes personal responsibility, discipline, and time management.  We are a small firm, and we expect all of our people to excel in their job.  Upper management does not micromanage.
• Leadership- it is our job to create order and inspire trust.  Our clients look to us to provide leadership and guidance.  We are not a media firm- there are plenty of design boutiques that provide that function.  We look for clients that need the kind of leadership we provide.

The point is that values are more than just “honesty, integrity, and hard work”- every company would claim that these values are important to them.  Take some time and really, really think about those few things from which you are just not at all willing to budge.  Being grounded in this manner helps your business maintain its focus and be true to your original vision and passion.

How many values does a company need?  There is no right answer, but for clarity’s sake, keep the list short.  For example, Nike only has five core values: performance, authenticity, commitment, innovation, and teamwork.

Values can also speak to the commitment a brand makes to the society in which it lives.  Does the brand participate in social issues or charities?  Does it “give back”?  If your brand were a person, then which social activities would be most fitting?

Giving back to society in this manner can help reinforce your company’s values in the public eye and can also work wonders in helping employees gain a firm understanding of what your core values are all about.

Conveying Meaning Through the Story- a Powerful Context Generator

The final Organization Driver is your story.  The story is the least understood and most powerful of the organization drivers in its ability to deepen the customer relationship.  Since the beginning of time, human beings have used stories to convey meaning to one another.  Despite our technological advances and myriad creature comforts, we’re no different today.

I made an entry here on this blog a few months ago about the role that stories play in marketing.  It would be beneficial to revisit it for our purposes here.

Stories have the ability to break through the noise and make a lasting impression on the consumer.  Remember the relationship pinnacle?

No single effort will help move the consumer from awareness to agreement with the goals of your brand than the story.

How do you create a meaningful story?  Begin by asking a group of your employees to tell you your company’s story.  Give them free rein to put the story in their own words and vernacular.  Step two is to boil all of those down to a single rendition.  The final step is to bring that single rendition to your brand team for confirmation, review, and change.

Your brand team will look for several criteria in your story:

1. Passion- does the story capture the heart of the brand in a way that creates a strong emotion?
2. Values- does the story reflect company values?
3. Vision- does the story reflect the company vision?
4. Audience Reaction- does the story engage the listener?  Does it provoke a good reaction or a bad one or a neutral one?
5. Avoid jargon and passive voice- be straightforward and universal in your use of grammar.

Once your story is complete, you can use it to convey meaning and context, and to communicate what you do and why you are different.  You can reduce your story down to a 15-second “elevator speech” to introduce yourself and your brand.

Organization Drivers:  a Foundation for Things to Come

As you can see from this summary, the process of developing your Organization Drivers is involved, intimate, and possibly even difficult.  But it is also vital to your understanding- and your employee’s understanding- of your brand.  And it is incredibly rewarding, as these drivers will enable you to remain grounded in your original vision for your brand, and not get sidetracked by hype and crisis.

The Organization Drivers form the basis for all of your company’s efforts.