I once had a client which had an internal mantra that was usually only visible sporadically in company offices, or buried in the content of internal company newsletters. It was the acronym, “EZTDBW.”
It doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, does it?
It stood for the words, “Easy To Do Business With.” In spite of its poor grammar, the term and its acronym was the heart of a very successful and well-loved company.
“Easy to do business with.”
It wasn’t an ad slogan. It wasn’t on the side of the company’s vehicles or plastered throughout company facilities on banners and posters. I first noticed it on the desk of one company manager in the form of a 1950s-style desk name plate. His name wasn’t on the plate. It was the EZTDBW acronym stenciled in an everyday Arial font, white on faux wood grain.
“What’s that mean?,” I asked.
My client told me it’s their company philosophy. Everyone in the company, from the CEO to the loading dock workers are expected to do everything possible, every day to make their company “easy to do business with.” Internally, everyone in the organization was expected to make working with each other “easy to do business with.” This was their one uncompromising rule.
It was that simple and that brilliant, mainly because the organization lived it.
It didn’t matter that the acronym wasn’t branded in ways we’re used to seeing – four-color posters, professional graphics, design and photography, online pages and groups, or a tie-in to an external marketing campaign. These are all reliable, effective and can be required tools of the branding trade.
But what this company understood was that before all of that, it had to be committed to putting quality service, responsiveness and flexibility. Its premise was that if it could do this with consistency, it could build and maintain a strong work force and an infrastructure that ensured client satisfaction to drive business growth. It did all of that and more.
The company was unique in its sector, defying industry norms in the way it managed its work force and served its customers. As a result, it became a leader for its innovation, service quality and growth.
The lessons for me had mostly to do with where true branding begins. It starts with an organization’s operating philosophy and its discipline in staying true to that philosophy. To build the brand, the philosophy had to be integrated into everything the organization did without exception.
The customer had to see it and feel it, even if not aware of the actual words or acronyms used to coalesce the work force behind the vision. Other constituents and stakeholders had to also see the benefits. Internally, employees had to see the philosophy as a genuine commitment to everyone and everything the organization touched.
For any organization, that is where branding begins. From there, all graphic identity, marketing, internal communications, online and digital, external marketing, investor relations programs must reinforce this brand. All must work together to bring that philosophy to life – real, strong and powerful.
For a strong brand, a strong operating philosophy is at the core, and it must drive all efforts to define that brand for all internal and external stakeholders.