"Harness the strength of your brand." The expression of your brand must include attitude and tone of voice. All varied forms of brand expression must harmonize and the melody must be recognizable in all internal and external communications.

 

For anyone charged with building the company brand, The Corporate Brand Matrix, is a masterful tool to guide you through the process. Fantastic article. This would be a great reason for a company retreat.

 

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An excerpt: A visual identity—such as IBM’s iconic logo—is often considered the essence of a corporate brand’s expression, but to us this is a narrow interpretation. The expression of a brand also includes attitude or tone of voice (think of Geico’s gecko), a flagship product (such as Omega’s Seamaster watch), taglines (Nike’s “Just Do It”), and even signature audio clips (MGM’s trademarked lion’s roar). All these varied forms of brand expression must harmonize.

 

The CEO of an international shipping corporation we know has compared a corporate brand to a work of music, emphasizing that its “melody” must be recognizable in all internal and external communications. His favorite song, “My Way,” he explained to us, had been performed by Frank Sinatra, the French star Claude François, Elvis Presley, Pavarotti, and even the punk rocker Sid Vicious, and though their voices, styles, and audiences all differed, the melody remained the same. “In our company,” the CEO said, “we too have different voices and communicate through multiple channels, telling the world about our brand and what it stands for. The key is for everyone to follow the same melody.”