Your brand is now a glass box
Consumers care more about what's going on inside the box - and that can build or destroy a brand
A business used to be a black box. Now it's a glass box.
When a business was a black box, it was hard for outsiders to see what was going on inside. The brand was whatever you painted on the outside.
Now, outsiders can easily see inside. They can see the people, processes and values of the business. They can even see what the people inside the box feel about what they're doing.
A brand encompasses the emotional and associational touchpoints that consumers have with the business.
Now that a business is a glass box, the brand is everything that is visible. There is no such thing as an "internal" culture.
Whatever happens inside your business, the world can see. And once people see it, they will feel something about it.
Now, your internal culture could become the most powerful brand and marketing asset you have or your most powerful brand liability.
Connectivity and the intensifying search for a more meaningful consumerism are a few drivers of this trend. Employees now share their (working) lives online. The culture of sexism at Uber was split open when an employee blog post went viral, prompting the eventual resignation of its founder.
In a survey of over 10,000 consumers from around the world, 78 per cent said it is "somewhat or very important for a company to be transparent". And 70 per cent said that "these days I make it a point to know more about the companies I buy from".
It wouldn't matter that consumers can look inside your business if they didn't care about what they saw. But they do.
Millions around the world are searching for a more ethical and sustainable consumerism. Another study found that 70 per cent of millennials are willing to spend more with brands that support causes they care about.
So make positive changes to your internal culture, and tell the world about it.
Why is that a powerful move? Because consumers don't expect you to be perfect: they understand no perfect culture exists. But they expect to see you moving in the right direction.
That is an empowering truth for any business leader. Because wherever your internal culture is now, you can start taking steps to make it better, and start telling people about that.
Your internal culture is made real - and lived every day - by your people. No surprise, then, that when it comes to making a positive change to that internal culture, your people are a great place to start. Transparency is an amplifier. Not just of your mistakes or weaknesses - but of your epic wins, strengths and virtues, too.
The writer is Head of Global Insight Network at TrendWatching, a global consumer trends firm headquartered in London. This piece is adapted from TrendWatching's Quarterly Briefing "Glass Box Brands" by David Mattin and appeared in The Business Times yesterday.
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