Branding Beyond The Door

Were you ever so excited to go to a restaurant or store you’ve heard so much about, only to find yourself disappointed? Often, I find myself walking into stores - whether it’s a retail store, movie theatre or restaurant - and not having a great experience. I want the experience I see on the commercials or hear on the radio, but I don’t always get it. Companies put a lot of time and effort into branding themselves and getting people in their doors, but sometimes that very branding that brought us into the store stops when we speak to one of their employees. You don’t get that experience you thought you were promised because the employee isn’t connected with the brand. Branding shouldn’t just stop at the door. Branding needs to go beyond that and into the workplace. A recent article by Forbes announced a new app called CultureSphere. CultureSphere is a social media app designed specifically for business. It works similar to Facebook in the way that you can post pictures, comments, videos, etc. Employees ranking from CEO on down can see everything posted and are allowed to comment, like, and share the posts. “The disconnect between our brands’ personalities and the degree to which our employees embody those brand personalities is magnified by the disconnect between how businesses are run and how Millennials live their lives,” said Danny Gordon, CEO of CultureSphere. Gordon believes that brand authenticity comes from a strong internal culture and giving employees a way to engage with each other in realtime can help bridge that gap. With CultureSphere, upper management has an efficient way of listening to its employees. “Today, everyone wakes up and checks their social applications first thing in the morning, but they don’t engage with the company,” said Gordon. “The fact is, the most engaging ways to consume content these days are pictures and videos, but there’s nothing for this kind of sharing in the professional world.” Whether it’s about empowering employees to talk, or equipping the top brands to listen, what will benefit in the end is the brand. Having the connection between the brand and employee will give the person walking through that door a great experience they won’t forget. It’s about turning a stranger into a lifelong customer. To read more about CultureSphere, click here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/willburns/2015/06/18/a-social-media-platform-for-business-that-will-profoundly-transform-branding/