Recently our global political climate has turned into a fierce battleground of beliefs, cultures and values.
As a result, consumers are starting to choose where they stand individually and also which brands they support based on common values and beliefs, and while the world is transfixed on talking about politics, it makes sense for brands to join the discussion and demonstrate how they have the same commonalities as their consumer.
We are creatures of emotion and meaning; using different symbols and meaning platforms to design our own evolving sense of self – who we are and why we might be here. Society and cultures have given us tools to shape our own sense of identity, in how we perceive and interact with the world around us.
In this age, a brand has to build identity, personality and culture with a desire to create a better understanding of self, to be able to understand and therefore project its core.
Cultural definition also forms the beating heart of an organisation. If we as employees or consumers truly believe in the organisational behaviours of the brand we represent or follow, then our daily behaviours and communications will more likely mirror the desired brand identity.
Until recent years, a brand could get away with advertising a single consistent message externally, while internally practising another. That time has passed now and companies operate in a society where we have an extraordinarily detailed view of organisations through social networks, resulting in on-demand word-of-mouth advocacy from a more educated and committed audience than ever before.
If a brand understands its own culture from the inside out, it can be more transparent with its behaviours and messages, and this in turn will resonate with the consumer. In turn, the consumer will embrace and support that brand and make it part of their own identity, using it as a way to express to the world who they are and what they believe in.
The brand ethos at Underscore wasn’t defined by a management team. It was determined by those that work in the ‘engine room’ such as the designers, account handlers and strategists. Our task was to define a cultural ambition that resonates with everyone here, and collectively agree on the key values that would connect our common goals as a team and drive our behaviours.
Underscore identified their values with the aim of encouraging a better culture, supported and driven by everyone in our community, as we understand that we all contribute to the brand which Underscore is continuously driving and developing for the future.
So.. what does your business stand for?