picture credit:
Cathy Martin(www.intellectualcapitalconsulting.blogspot.com)
It was a great interest to me when I discovered Reebok, a German sportswear company’s name was coined from the Afrikaans spelling of Rhebok, an African antelope. However intriguing that was to me , the name was seemingly not helping their bottom line until ZigTech-an innovative performance-enhancing shoe technology that transfers energy to the front of the foot from the heel- was introduced. Small wonder sales climbed 4% in North America by this rebranding effort. Rebranding a company cannot be ruled out from the timeline of an organization, and the objectivity of the process varies with the business needs of the different companies.
From launching a strategic product line under a new subsidiary or an SBU, introducing a major innovative business system within your industry, or laundering a tarnished company’s image , the business benefit if unachieved makes the rebranding wasteful. Achieving the same borders arguably on the culture of the company. The failure of this is not far-fetched from certain bad behavioural patterns that forms a segment of a corporate culture which affects its commercial success. Reconfiguring such corporate culture becomes vitally important as an integral part for a successful, proactive rebranding. It is fundamental.
CULTURE AS A BRAND
Tony Hseih, former CEO of Zappos.com and author of Delivering Happiness said it better, “ Your culture is your brand.” If your culture is wrong, your brand in time maybe a disaster. Suffice then to put the word –Culture - in proper perspective. Is tradition another word for culture? Culture is the strategic amalgamation of behavioural patterns of enclaved individuals established or constituted to govern and guide relationships within and infrequently outside the group. Simply put, culture is the way of life, so is tradition, too.In business, it is a vehicular tool or valve that conveys or opens the values that are intrinsically wired into the vision(s) of a company. This influences how businesses or services are delivered and invariably determine the frequency of patronage the company gets, and the bottom-line ,indeed.Customers are concerned about your service delivery. That is what they see; that’s your brand. When you hear Zappos, delivering happiness ignites in your mind.
THE BOND: CULTURE,VALUES AND VISION
There is a symbiotic relationship between values and vision. The in-depth comprehension and the ingestion of a vision into or by a leader often times births the inherent values that drive the vision. The values culminate into the culture which varies from company to company.It is an aberration when visionary leaders do not possess or exhibit values that are part of the core values of the company. Haven’t you seen ‘integrity’ as a core value of a company, but the MD/CEO chews his words like bubble gum? Imagine a company collecting money from customers to supply a requested quantity of product at an agreed deadlines, and three months afterwards , no supply was made. And the MD/CEO doesn’t care about such business practices or the processes. It is obvious his personal demons has formed and calcified, or runs independently parallel to the corporate culture.It’s ridiculous most vision and mission statements are just vail, unweighty, mere and empty sentences in a 21st century era.When such are unchecked, it cascades to the lowest employee of the company. I can bet,not far from long, internal frauds would spring from one or two departments . Don’t forget these employees are also ambassadors who drive or sell your brand. Hence, business leaders should be mindful of their organizational culture.Oh yes!You want to know why?
CULTURE RECONFIGURATION NEED
Aside the contextual reason of this article ( rebranding ), profitability should be the ultimate. Your profit, sometimes is derived from your image . Some call it brand worth or equity .At a time Coca- Cola as a brand was worth about $80 billion while the company was $8 billion. Rebranding is not a cheap business endeavour ; counting the cost is very critical. I am yet to discover a company a company that rebranded but doesn’t care a hoot about its business benefits. Lets assume company XYZ has been notorious for several huge internal frauds, and complaints have always been lodged to the Consumer’s Protection Right Agency about the crude , shady ways of XYZ doing business with the customers, and the Standard Organization of Nigeria pushing the Federal Government just got the Industry Best Practices bill signed into law.Hence, it is mandatory business in all industries are conducted using best practices. For XYZ to stay in business for a long while in order not to lose her market share of 43% to competitors, reconfiguring the organizational culture becomes the essential bridge to the future, and to launder her tarnished public image; rebranding would be helpful , if it’s affordable. However, it can get very challenging reworking a deadly corporate culture as part of the rebranding project.
THE CHALLENGE OF CULTURAL CHANGE
Beside the underlining issues interwoven with transition, human psychology, corporate communication model ,among others, there are some little foxes that spoil the vine. You wonder who the foxes are ? Ask John Maxwell. “Everything rises and falls on leadership. The success in changing the organizational culture ,or better put , reconfiguring it is magnified when there is experiential evidences of top-management inclusion. “Be the change you want to see ”, Mahatma Gandhi said. Change Management as crucial it is for a company would not be sustainable if started bottom-up. I don’t think I’d loiter GlaxoSmithKline premises with the used wrapper of my menthol gum when the Managing Director keeps his own in his hand until he gets to the nearby waste bin. Or seeing the Vice President , Finance of my bank stops to open the door for a customer. That’d make me bury my prideful, lousy attitude towards customers. I would have had a rethink about the scenario and the unlearning process starts.
The culture critical path goes thus: rethink - new habit – relapse – new habit – attitude – new behaviour - new culture. You may choose to call it over flogging the dead horse; the success of this cultural change path is hastened or consolidated when an old, ill-mannered top executive turns a sincere new leaf, take for example vis-à-vis upholding integrity.
THE RECONFIGURATION PROCESSES
Reconfiguring a corporate culture or otherwise , rebranding it inside –out. I would liken it to the biblical analogy of taking away the grimy, grubby garments and being clothed with rich, royal robes. To buttress this, I coined a concept which is Zechariah’s STK Model.
The Zechariah’s STK Model was born out of a profound understanding of the fourth vision – out of eight – of Zechariah, one of the postexilic jewish prophets in the Bible. See the book of Zechariah, chapter three ( The Vision of The High Priest ) of New Spirit –filled Life Bible (NKJV). The Model is applicable when there are evidences of dysfunctional character traits, moral infection and invariably unhealthy workplace culture which are potential drawback to the achievement of corporate goals. Dr. Jack Hayford wrote in the Bible commentary,” The essence of this vision is the cleansing of the priests and the land.” The priests are the visionary leadership while the land is the entire workplace. The Model is in three phases and has been summarized as STK: Strippers’ Act, Turbaning The Head, and Keeping The Command.
Watch out for the next installment of Reconfiguring Corporate Culture:A fundamental of Rebranding as we post The Zechariah's STK Model for Rebranding.Meanwhile,please engage this article.
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