For organisations seeking to build a brand today, “movements” are more effective than traditional brand building. Likewise, for companies wishing to become more adaptive and innovative, culture change can’t be achieved through top-down mandate.
Rather, it thrives in the habits and passions of your employees and requires a movement. In both cases, movement inside or movement outside, are strategies that can inspire change, optimism, engagement, passion, trust, conviction, and creativity. And in the process grow business fast.
We believe that the most significant brand building ideas are those that are on the rise in culture. We have proven that company leaders can use movements to engage and mobilise the masses to institutionalise new habits and build global business.
One company that understands this well is Google. We worked with the leadership as the company was growing to devise a Movement Inside framework that enabled thousands of new employees to understand what Google stood for and what it stood against. Standing for something is the first step in devising a movement marketing strategy. It engaged employees and genuinely inspired them to align with and believe in the company culture, vision and meaningful difference.
Like Google, Emirates was faced with a fast growing international organisation, with new destinations and lots of new aircraft. Instead of a traditional brand strategy that would slow down the company, the management chose movement inside to establish its new culture.
This was launched through iconic actions among the employees inside the global firm. Thereafter, we launched the movement outside to the world. The Movement?
To make the world smaller and by doing so overcome misunderstandings and misconceptions between people. The motto befitting this new movement, which I wrote, summed it all up: “Hello Tomorrow”. The first global TV campaign bringing this idea to life featured people connecting with other people around the world, no aeroplane in sight, only a powerful human idea.
With more than seven distinct business units operating around the world and more than 110,000 employees, decision-making at India’s Mahindra had grown more convoluted and branches of the organisation had become misaligned.
Over the years, Mahindra had built in lots of procedures, and for many good reasons. But those procedures had also slowed the company down not inspired the kind of innovation the leadership knew it needed to leapfrog the status quo and become a world-class company.
Anand Mahindra, the Chairman, sought to evolve the culture to be innovative, and customer-centred. He knew it required a journey to align and galvanise all employees.
Over the course of several months, the Mahindra team worked with StrawberryFrog to learn about the needs of everyone. Together we defined and distilled the movement of the company, paring it down to one simple word that inspire both the customer and the employee: “Rise”.
Instead of plastering this new slogan on motivational posters, the leadership team began by using Rise to start guiding their own decisions and executives within the entire company. The goal was to demonstrate this idea in action, not talk about it.
Projects were selected to highlight the pillars of the movement: Accept no limits. Use your ingenuity. Drive positive change.
Recently the new brand name FAB entered the world with the merger of NBAD and FGB, and with it the movement to “Grow Stronger” was launched.
The brand Emaar turned to us for a movement idea to first engage all employees, and then externally with the whole wide world. Working with the management, we developed and then unveiled a new brand identity and website that publicly stated our movement: “Downtown Dubai, Centre Of Now”.
Likewise when working in close collaboration with the leadership of Dubai World Central, we devised the Movement to create the worlds happiest city: Dubai South, City Of You.
What does a movement look like?
To draw parallels between the journey of these brands and a movement, we need to better understand movements. They are the evolution of purpose, which has become a strategy too inwardly focused rather than inspiring to both employees and consumers.
We often think of movements as starting with a call to action. However, movement research suggests that they actually start with emotion — a stand for a new vision of the world and dissatisfaction with the status quo. These ingredients mixed with the hand of experience can turn them into a movement with a positive force for good and a path forward inspires the crowd to act.
Remember movements emanate from ideas but are grounded in action.
Movements are a force. Leaders should not be too quick or simplistic in their translation of social movement dynamics into brand building or change management.
However, leaders can learn a lot from the practices of skilful movement makers. We understand how to best apply these practices to achieve sustainable growth and momentum.
And remember that engagement and culture change only happens when people take action. That is where we start. Showing people the change we want to see in the world.
The writer is founder and CEO of StrawberryFrog based in New York City. He is author of “Uprising: How to build a brand and change the world by sparking cultural movements”.
