Recently I was given a tour of a high-end retail boutique by the company's CEO (think high fashion) and noticed that the marble floor that so elegantly graced every inch of the store's showroom suddenly stopped as we entered the back work area. Instead, the floors in the stockroom, manager's work area and employee break room were covered with, well actually they weren't covered at all, it was all unfinished concrete. Further, the lighting was much dimmer than up front, the walls were only partially painted and the fragrant smell that cheerfully greeted customers entering the store was suddenly replaced with a slight musky odor. Intrigued, I asked him why. "Cost", he quickly replied. "Our customers aren't allowed in the back of the store so it doesn't make sense to waste money unnecessarily."
This was an interesting answer because it is predicated on the assumption that brands live in silos with defined walls and that all brand communication can be controlled accordingly. I asked him what kind of message the less-than-inviting back room is sending to his employees whose lives revolve around his brand and who are on the front line for communicating everything that his brand stands for. Was he not sending a mixed message to them? For shoppers visiting the store, the experience is one of class and elegance where no detail is overlooked . . . perfect store appearance, beautifully displayed products and world-class service delivered by the sales associates. However, this brand image was decidedly only for the consumers; not the 'workers'. Although the employees are (or should be) the full-time brand ambassadors, they are basically being told by their company that they are not important enough to experience all that the brand is supposed to represent.
The point here is not that a store stockroom needs to have million dollar floors, rather it is to understand that a brand does not know that its experience is expected to stop at a wall. It is important that all brand stakeholders believe in a brand because the brand is relevant to them at all levels and consistent in such communication at every touch-point. You can't expect employees to embrace a brand that does not appear to be embracing them.
- chillin' at the cooler. Mark Willingham
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