The CMO s Role in Activating Corporate Messaging Inside the Business

Transcription

1 The CMO s Role in Activating Corporate Messaging Inside the Business How marketing can cross organizational boundaries and bring the corporate story to life in the customer experience.

2 As marketers begin to take more ownership of the customer experience, they must find ways to engage their entire employee population in the process of delivering a clear, compelling and consistent message in every customer interaction. The question is: How does marketing break down barriers inside the organization and deploy a cross-functional strategy that will make this happen?

3 Organizations with engaged employees experience 21% higher productivity and 22% higher profitability. Gallup

4 Creating the Fundamental Connection A core element of employee engagement is establishing a strong connection between the employee and the company s story. More specifically, why the company does what it does and the core value it delivers to customers. And who owns the corporate message? Marketing does. So, it only makes sense that marketing take the lead in defining and implementing a comprehensive strategy that will activate storytellers across the organization. It is proven, when employees have a deep and intimate understanding of the company s message, they instinctively model the behaviors and actions required to bring that story to life, every day. Unfortunately, in most organizations there is a great divide between the corporate message and the actions and behaviors employees model in daily conversations and connections with customers. This inevitably leads to brand erosion. Alarmingly, recent statistics from Gallup indicate that only 41 percent of managers and just 9 percent of front line workers know what their company stands for and what makes it different from the competition. While this statistic is distressing, it offers perceptive marketers an opportunity to create a strategic and competitive advantage. That advantage is realized when marketing creates a cognitive and emotional connection between employees and corporate messaging. Only 41% of managers and just 9% of front line workers know what their company stands for and what makes it different from the competition. Marketing s Role in Driving Organizational Change While employee engagement has been historically defined as human resources responsibility, forward-thinking marketing executives recognize the enormous influence employees have on brand perception and the customer experience. This influence is significant and supported by research conducted by leading expert Ken Irons, who found that 70 percent of 4 The CMO s Role in Activating Corporate Messaging Inside the Business

5 brand perception is driven by employee / customer interaction. This staggering statistic illustrates the power of employee / customer communication and why more executives are looking for ways to harness the power of employees as part of their overall marketing strategy. However, for this to occur, marketing professionals must be prepared to co-develop and implement new, expanded strategies with leaders across the organization (C-suite, HR, sales, customer support, professional services, etc.). This concept is further validated by David Cooperstein, vice president of Forrester Research, who recently wrote in an article published on Forbes.com, to truly earn their place at the executive table, chief marketing officers today must go beyond overseeing marketing programs. They must drive the brand promise into the hearts and minds of everyone in their organization. 70% of brand perception is driven by employee / customer interaction. What this means is that business leaders must redefine how they view marketing and open the door to marketing executives so they have access to every area of the business that impacts the customer experience. When marketing leaders are able to collaborate cross-functionally with transparency, they are empowered to design and implement organizational change initiatives that drive mindset and behavioral changes across the company. This is precisely what marketing must do to bring the company story to life throughout the customer experience. The return on investment for this type of organizational change initiative is no different from what you would expect to see from other marketing channels: improved customer acquisition, retention and loyalty, a differentiated customer experience and ultimately increased employee satisfaction, engagement and ambassadorship. Commitment Across the Enterprise Although marketing must lead the process of infusing corporate messaging into the hearts and minds of employees, creating mindset and behavioral change takes substantial time and resources. As a result, the entire executive team must get behind a sustained and persistent organizational change strategy. At the core of this strategy is the perfect blend of training, educational tools and internal communication initiatives that have a lasting impact on the culture of The CMO s Role in Activating Corporate Messaging Inside the Business 5

6 the organization. Marketing must secure the support of key leaders across the organization to be successful at driving cross-functional change that will truly activate the employee s role in bringing the corporate story to life throughout the customer experience. Commitment to See It Through Creating emotionally connected brand ambassadors requires a substantial change effort that often takes as much as 12 to 36 months to realize, depending on the size and complexity of the organization. Mindset and behavior change occurs over time through a series of structured communication and education initiatives that enables employees to internalize, personalize and activate the corporate message in customer conversations and connections. Part of this process is making it easy for employees to weave the company s message into their everyday work activities. In time, this powerful change builds a culture of engaged ambassadors who are empowered, inspired and enabled with the knowledge and skills they need to bring a clear, compelling and consistent corporate message to life. The Pillars of Lasting Change We ve discussed how marketing must take the lead in this critical initiative and that executives must make it a priority. But how does marketing actually design and implement the plan? The first thing they must do is understand what their team is capable of doing. What resources, skills and expertise exist internally to actually implement a complex organizational change initiative? Because this is a fairly new discipline in the world of marketing, many companies choose to work with experts in the field of corporate messaging and organizational change. By selecting the right partner, marketing executives are able to guide the process, but leave the strategy and execution to a company that has a proven track record of success in this area. What do you look for in a partner to help with organizational change? Well, first you have to recognize what you don t need and that is a traditional ad agency that will likely suggest an expensive, one-time internal event or party as the answer. What you need is a strategic partner that understands the three strategic pillars that are actually required to create 6 The CMO s Role in Activating Corporate Messaging Inside the Business

7 lasting change. These three pillars are anchored in a disciplined and sustained organizational change strategy and include formal training, educational tools and internal communications. These three initiatives must be uniquely designed and integrated to create the emotional and cognitive connection between employees and your corporate story. The organizational change strategy starts with a deep understanding of your organizational structure, leadership, culture and go-tomarket strategy. This means your partner will need to have experience deploying internal research and discovery methods that are required to formulate a plan tailored for your specific organization. They will also need to have a team of experts that have extensive experience in adult learning techniques, curriculum design, corporate culture development, internal communications and of course marketing and corporate messaging. In the end, the organizational change strategy should include specific components: discovery, design, communication / engagement, execution and measurement. The specific tactics within the plan should be designed to drive mindset and behavioral changes that will maximize your return on investment. Ultimately, bringing a company s story to life requires a comprehensive, multidimensional strategy that changes both mindset and behavior by appealing to aspects of the company s story that employees can connect with and activate on a daily basis. While this starts with a clear, compelling and consistent corporate message, it requires marketing executives to lead sustained organizational change initiatives that will ultimately create lasting change throughout the customer experience. To truly earn their place at the executive table, chief marketing officers today must go beyond overseeing marketing programs. They must drive the brand promise into the hearts and minds of everyone in their organization. David Cooperstein, Vice President of Forrester Research, Connecting the Dots Around the Customer The CMO s Role in Activating Corporate Messaging Inside the Business 7

8 About OnMessage OnMessage is a messaging infusion company with a proven model for helping you develop a clear, compelling and consistent corporate message. Our methodology aligns your company s strengths and true points of difference with customer needs to create a messaging platform that elicits optimal engagement throughout the customer experience. This methodology, when combined with our organizational change, sales enablement, content development and brand integration services, enables you to achieve a higher return on every connection you make. We do this through five highly integrated service offerings that enable you to: > Develop and deliver a clear, compelling and consistent corporate message > Train employees so they can bring your corporate message to life > Provide sales with engaging messages, stories and tools > Extend and amplify your story with compelling content > Integrate your corporate message with captivating brand creative By partnering with us and infusing consistent messaging in all five of these areas, you can create a differentiated customer experience that will accelerate business growth. For more information For more valuable and informative resources that can help you improve your customer s experience, go to: itsonmessage.com/resource Follow us on Chi Nguyen Managing Director / Corporate Messaging and Organizational Change As managing director of corporate messaging and organizational change, Chi provides clients with the strategic insight and direction required to competitively position their company and develop a clear, compelling and consistent corporate messaging platform. In addition, Chi leads our organizational change team to implement messaging education and internal communications programs that provide clients with the knowledge they need to ensure messaging continuity in all customer conversations. Leveraging years of experience in brand research and positioning, Chi provides clients with the leadership and expertise required to utilize corporate messaging as a strategic weapon in the marketplace. Copyright OnMessage, Inc All rights reserved.