There are few things I love more than finding the nugget of truth and beauty in a brand, and making it come to life for consumers. To me, it’s the most powerful part of marketing. An authentic brand can emotionally move a consumer, it can inspire them to action, it can change behavior. Ugh seriously, I freaking ❤ brand.
Anywayyy, when I joined the team, London Bio Packaging was living in 2012. Old eco-language, outdated brand design, no clarity on its value proposition, and a lack of any customer engagement.
But have no fear, that’s why they hired me!
First thing I did in my second week on the job was map out objectives and a timeline (you know me, almost too obsessed with project planning).
Next step, get buy in. I pitched my plan to my Sales Direction (ie my boss) and Bunzl’s Commercial Director (ie, my boss’ boss). They were on board and we were ready to go!
After giving myself two further weeks to jump in and study the business, I started building the makings of a full-day strategy session with my team.
Of course, team morale was at an all time low. Lack of clarity and frustrating tensions with the parent company weren’t fostering the best team culture. It took more than a few heart-to-hearts and emotional pleas to get each member of the team to believe in the process that I was going to lead them through; that we were going to come away with a vision, mission, value set, and brand that they’d be proud to work toward; that we’d build clear business objectives that pursued more than just profit, but more sustainable systems. I had to help them see that this is the beginning of a change and if there was ever a time to reignite the passion that brought them to the company, this was it.
The session was a smashing success. Despite a few initial minor rebellions and expressed cynisim, I was able to maneuver us back to the task at hand: finding the truth and beauty hidden inside our brand. Though the day gave me enough valuable fodder to work with, the absolute best part was seeing spirit and passion come to life in my team’s eyes. They could see it: the value of brand and marketing.
From there, I immersed myself in all the data, conversations, ideas, and dynamics that I gathered. It was proper intense. I hosted another session to allow the team to react to three potential directions our business could go in. There was one clear choice that required some finessing.
In our 2019 Kick Off Meeting (which I planned and organised), I presented back to the team what I call our final Brand DNA document complete with a new mission, vision, value set, and annual business objectives.
But what’s a brand or a plan without execution? Previously, our team hadn’t had any type of performance review or accountability structure. It was clear that they were frustrated by lack of follow through – and to be honest, so was I!
I scoured the web (Google to the rescue) for possible structures that could suit my very particular team. I came upon the OKR system and it was exactly what we needed: something that empowers the individual and encourages team collaboration.
My boss was excited by the idea and we officially presented it with the new Brand DNA in January.
Together, these tools will shepherd us into a new 2019!
Now all I need to do, is everything. To make this new brand come to life, we need new design guidelines, new marketing materials, a new website….new everything.
Let the fun begin.
Madeline Robbins 