"Why should I include operations and field people in brand development?"

Got this interesting question earlier in the week.

Short answer: So they don't have to make s**t up.

(Pardon my language, it was a manly-man meeting. We also grunted a lot.)

Seriously, why the effort? Well, you're building (or refining) a brand. One you hope will be a powerful purpose engine if you're being conscientious. What you learned in the course of learning about yourselves can be of great help to others, a lot of others you never get to meet or see. But your employees will. Do we trust that they'll follow a script well? Have we scripted every possible circumstance so whatever comes out of their mouths, whatever solution they offer rings true to all the other messaging and communication and stuff you're throwing money at? Wait. Who believes and trusts someone who parrots back rote, scripted answers? How about when the unexpected happens? When presented with an unusual circumstance, as a representative of the brand what font of knowledge, language and manner do they refer to?

All that money spent on "branding" and what do you get? Deer. In. Headlights. Or a freelance response that may or may not finesse the situation, but probably doesn't reinforce a strategic market position. Unless of course, "shoot from the hip" is your market position.

Uhhhhh....

This is why top-down, outside-in brand initiatives lose their appeal and become bend-over-here-it-comes-again eyerollers. Branding ubiquitously crystallizes the loose understanding employees may have rattling around in their heads about an organization, and shapes it into a compelling portable, personal narrative that applies 9-5 too. Authentic people don't need a script. Again, they don't have to make s**t up.

But, you have to know what you've learned and be able to share the rationale and result for others in order to make brand an adaptable, authentic persuasive tool. If you know who you are and like yourself for those reasons, it's easier for others to get you and like you. Shared purpose is important. Confidence is magnetic and viral. Coherence is vital. But context--relevance, resonance and internalization--well, I can beat Goliath with that.

That's why you include field and operation people in your brand-building.