The Brand Champion

Larry Light (former CMO of McDonalds) wrote a really nice piece entitled “Six Rules for Brand Revitalization”. I wont go through his six steps … you can read the entire article here.

What I like about Larry’s gameplan is that he goes way beyond traditional brand vehicles like ads and visual cues. He stresses the need for the brand to resonate everywhere, raising it up to an experiential level.

Said another way, your employees, retail environment, products, etc need to echo the essence and promise you are telling everyone exists.

In my experience, educating and energizing the employee base is the hardest – and maybe most critical – part of that equation. (BTW - they can often be the most overlooked part of a brand transformation.) As a Brand Champion, you have to explain to each employee group how they affect the overall brand and how they can contribute to success. After all, just one incorrect customer interaction has the ability to tear down millions of dollars worth of nurturing.

Kudos to Larry for a well written piece and for the transformation he led at McDonald’s.