Every human experiences culture. But brands have also the potential to develop what is known as brand culture.
They are many definitions of the word “culture”. The most useful one, in this case, is Clifford Geertz’s definition, which is
“…a historically transmitted pattern of meanings embodied in symbols, a system of inherited concepts expressed in symbolic forms by means of which humans communicate, perpetuate, and develop their knowledge about and attitudes toward life.”
So if we look at everything that gets involved in the process of building a brand, one can begin to grasp the similarities between a brand and a particular culture. Some believe — myself included, that in order to be relevant to consumers and sustainable over time, a brand must operate much like culture does.
Brand culture is a perceptual frame, through which consumers understand, value and experience your brand.
Because people never experience things objectively, brand culture acts as a sort of lens, shaping our senses and emotions when consuming, and the remembered satisfaction of those experiences.
In essence, brand culture is the core values and reason behind the existence of a brand, beyond the profit motive. It is an ethos and a worldview that the company or person absolutely believes in and perpetually acts upon in accordance. So that everything it does — every product or service offered; every public statement, advertisement, and website it generates; every internal policy, memo, and business decision it makes — must be congruent with that ethos and worldview.
Brand cultures are “sticky”.
If a brand truly represents an ethos and worldview that is attractive to consumers, those consumers will not just patronize the brand, they will not prefer that brand, they will not just be loyal to that brand, they will embrace that brand as part of their own identity.
People join a brand’s culture and participate in that culture as a way of expressing to the rest of the world (and to themselves) who they are and what they believe in. And once they have accepted them as conventional wisdom, they become reluctant to abandon those conventions of the brand culture. Unless they have experienced or encounter brand stories that profoundly contradict conventions, people are usually happy to maintain the taken-for-granted understandings of the brand.
A company with a good brand culture and values not only will attract consumers but will also attract and keep employees.
The internal dynamics of a company are equally important for the performance in the market as the external factors. If a brand sprouts from an internal truth rather than a manufactured image, then the brand starts here as well — on the inside of a company.
What makes Brand Culture so powerful?
Psychological research demonstrates that brand cultures are durable because people are cognitive misers. Because we are so overloaded with information — far more information than we can reasonably digest even if we wanted to — we rely upon a variety of heuristics to simplify the world. We seek ways to minimize the amount of thinking and searching that we must do to make good decisions.
Brand cultures work as one such heuristic. Once we determine that the conventional wisdom of a brand culture “works” for us (e.g., a detergent whose conventional brand story is that it performs great in all temperatures seems to do so), we are not interested in seeking out new information that would contradict this assumption. The heuristic provided by the brand works well, so we go on using it.
Sociological research demonstrates another reason why brand cultures are durable. Brand cultures are shared by many people and expressed in a variety of contexts (talk, product experiences, ads, and so on). They are maintained as the brand’s stories, images, and associations pulse through these networks. Hence, it is quite difficult for an individual to opt-out of the conventional wisdom of a brand’s culture and assign the brand alternative meanings.
Just as brand cultures are formed collectively, decommissioning a brand is also a collective decision. Because of this network effect, brand meanings maintain a tenacious hold until a critical mass of customers and influencers join together to transform conventions.
Why building a brand culture is important?
Brand culture is rooted in the heart of the organization and radiates outward as a natural set of actions based on a common ethos and worldview. This not only unites employees with a common purpose and vision, but il will also attract consumers and engage them in a deep and meaningful relationship that transcends traditional marketing efforts.
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