Turning Your Workplace into a Powerful Communicator of the Corporate Brand
An office building is a sophisticated communicator of the purpose and style of the people who inhabit it. In the corporate context, it is a ‘living’ communicator of a firm’s brand and corporate culture.
Companies who understand its potential in this respect gain a valuable advantage over their competitors in dramatising their brand, supporting and reinforcing their unique personality and engaging employees with their purpose.
Here are five top tips for successfully branding your building:
Be clear on the objective. What are you trying to communicate? Ask your Marketing Vice President to explain the corporate brand proposition and the key messages he or she would like to communicate. Challenge them if the articulation is not simple and clear! Ask HR to explain what the firm is trying to achieve in cultural and behavioural development terms and put the two together.
Write a precise brief for the interior design team. In explaining the brief, take time to emphasise the corporate brand proposition and the fact that you will be evaluating their design recommendations against the communication objectives set, in much the same way as an advertising campaign is evaluated against communications objectives.
Understand that workplace branding is not just about reflecting the corporate colour but how the whole space and use of space communicates. Consider use of light, choice of furniture, the ‘language’ of how the space is divided and arranged, the personality and manner of the receptionist and many more ‘silent’ communicators.
Consider appointing a stage manager. Once the workplace is designed and functioning it needs management to ensure that it not only functions as it should in practical terms, but in communication terms too. Find the right person and write into their job description a responsibility for ensuring that things look and work as they should in communications terms. It will take only a little time, but the payback will be significant.
Measure results. Though rarely considered, it is quite possible to quantify the communication impact of your office. A report can be produced which clearly demonstrates how well the building and workplace is communicating key brand and cultural messages. It is also possible to examine the communication effect of specific floors and spaces, e.g. reception, café area, meeting rooms, breakout spaces etc. Use the results to build your understanding of what works and doesn’t work for the next project and to correct and improve the new space where practical. For a multinational / multi-site business you can quickly build a bank of benchmark data which will allow you to transfer learning and build best practice across the organisation.