To get the most leverage out of your brand, employees and partners need to have an understanding of the brand promise and subsequently be empowered to deliver that promise in their areas of responsibility. By teaching employees and partners about the brand promise, you are empowering them, and the brand, by creating an entire lifestyle instead of mere obligations or workplace responsibilities.

You often hear the refrain, “our employees are our greatest asset.” Unfortunately, corporations rarely enlighten their employees on what the brand really stands for and then fail to engage them in identifying and creating behaviors and actions that bring the brand to life in their respective functional areas.

Why bother to spend the resources on this?

Simple: It pays. Studies have shown that stocks of “brand leaders”—that is, companies with both high brand awareness and high ratings regarding the alignment of employees with the brand promise—return over 300 percent more than the S&P500 and nearly twice as much as companies that just have high brand awareness.

The following process is proven to be effective across different brands and organizations:

Step 1: Brand Focus Workshop.
This is where the optimal three to four perceptions you want your brand to stand for in the marketplace are nailed down by leaders in the organization. The workshop is designed to create consensus around a set of perceptions for the brand that are different, credible and relevant. Some brands already have this, in which case this step can be skipped.

Step 2: Cascade Planning Meeting.
With the three to four desired brand perceptions clearly defined and agreed upon, the next step is to conduct a cascade planning meeting. Brands must recognize every organization is different and what works for one may not work for another. Based on differing personalities, markets, organizational structures, cultures, etc., brands should work to define the optimal approach to structuring the cascading project, the agenda for the workshops, who should attend the workshops and measurement criteria for that particular brand.

Step 3: Cascading Workshops.
Based on the size of the organization, brands must either conduct all workshop sessions, or train others within the organization to conduct the sessions (“train the trainers” approach). These workshops involve a primer on branding, specifics about the brand promise, the perceptions the brand is trying to create and why, as well as the power of engaging all employees in “living” the brand. The workshop should also involve structured brainstorming so that employees can identify methods, procedures and behaviors in their specific areas of responsibility that will help the organization deliver on the brand promise and perceptions.

Step 4: Implementation.
Following the cascading sessions, companies should review with management the ideas and proposed actions and changes identified during the cascading sessions. Decisions are then made about which to implement and goals are set for each. Proposed ideas and changes are vetted against what will likely create the most impact relative to cost.

Step 5: Measurement.
What gets measured, matters. Working with appropriate team members, brands must collectively determine how best to measure the impact of the changes and how to hold the organization accountable for the success of these initiatives.

One of the best ways to change behavior is to get people involved. Living the brand promise and perceptions requires that employees have an understanding of how and why this is valuable to their success and that of the organization. Allow them to provide creative ideas, to experiment and to practice actions that support the brand. The result will be an army delivering the brand promise. An army much larger and more effective than the marketing and advertising departments.