In a somewhat succinct definition of a brand, Ind (2007) suggests that it is primarily a promise kept. This alludes to the notion of making a
promise to the external market that the organisation is capable of fulfilling, and therefore, by implication, it is internally fully understood what is expected. There are myriad issues that impact organisational capability to deliver in terms of it; however, the very root of the challenge
149 lies at the commitment and definition of brand and the extent to which congruency exists internally and externally.
4.4.1 Leadership again
In consideration of the internal to external brand application, the matter of leadership surfaced prominently again. This is premised on the need to drive internal interventions that will define the very essence of the brand, enhance service delivery and manifest externally in the business, the starting point of which comes back to leadership anchored in the form of commitment, philosophy, allocation of resources and so forth. The
responsibility for building the brand internally, and the impact that this exerts on the business, falls squarely at the door of the leadership group and constitutes the point of departure in evaluating this level of
alignment.
There is no getting away from the fact that leadership must initiate the very concept of branding on the inside of the business and that this should be driven by the senior team in a highly coordinated and integrated manner:
I think the executive team will need to embrace it heavily and push it through the business and we will need to have a coordinated group approach involving HR, marketing and communication. (10:35:87)
If brand has traditionally been the domain of the marketing department then this site was challenged by the absence of this role and was the recipient of a fragmented, uncoordinated effort throughout the group:
Our current shortcoming is in the marketing sphere - this department is non- existent and is something we will need to consider - the formation of a centralised group marketing function that can ensure that both external and
150 internal branding get the focus they require and it is not left purely to the individual businesses. (9:40:95)
This organisation suffered from a lack of branding orientation and
consequently, there was little or no attention being paid to the notion of either the internal or external brand and a resultant lack of brand
approach. The ability of leadership to impact the brand internally and drive toward an improved brand orientation was clearly possible, which was a stated strategic intent of the business and the newly shaped executive team. This was confirmed by the executive responsible for Africa as a region:
…[the CEO] is new to the business but he has a clear commitment to Africa as a region and to the business and brand of .... He is a champion of the brand and is certainly leading the way forward and has had very early support and adoption from a strong exco and senior management. He has injected a new energy and passion into a business that needed it. (16:30:97)
Leadership influence, impact and commitment to the brand process and the stated future of this effort is thus a recurring theme across this case and indeed virtually all of them. A lack of leadership commitment and effort toward the branding process suggests that it is of no avail in the business, whereas it is a strong point of departure in an organisation that does have it; and a basis upon which to build.
4.4.2 Interventions and service delivery
Internal interventions aimed at initiating an internal brand orientation were considered at the site, with a view to exploring how these might manifest in the beginnings of service delivery externally, thus drawing the connection between the internal and the external brand.
151 Service delivery was clearly embedded in the business as a result of the sales and service culture and was not a direct function of a strong internal brand proposition. At the time of the case investigation and data analysis, a more holistic approach and connection between the two was being
considered:
Within AFFS specifically there are a number of efforts in the business to drive our culture, systems and service delivery. Things like the Bluprint exercise are being conducted, there is an overall systems audit and analysis taking place and we are working hard at restoring confidence and pride in our people to fight back in the market. (14:23:75)
We constantly examine and evaluate our systems and processes for optimal efficiency and service delivery and we supplement this with very specific customer service training. (21:20:66)
However, the connection to service delivery did not appear to be a
function of the internal brand per se as this was largely lacking. It seemed to enjoy a much closer correlation to the natural sales and service cycle of the business as well as the need of the company to protect revenue
streams and annuity income — the basis for performance management and reward schemes:
Our overall service delivery and culture is good - it has to be. A combination of service orientation and an incentivised sales environment makes for a high performance team, although that isn’t always the silver bullet particularly with the regulatory or environmental challenges occurring in our industry which are simply out of our control. (21:18:62)
Positive service delivery performance remained very siloed and
constrained to the subsidiary, however, as covered in Section 4.5. While the business unit is capable and highly functional, this was very
152
4.4.3 How this surfaces externally
The lack of internal brand clarity and influence is distinctly evident when considering the external brand expression at this site. It is singularly uncoordinated, unclear and confusing to the market and consists of
multiple messages, definitions and propositions. Much of the data pointed towards a lack of clarity caused by mixed messaging, whereas others suggested larger, more structural challenges in the business. Examples of unclear brand expressions were detailed as follows:
We claim that Your World is Our World externally but quite frankly I think this is meaningless and possibly resonates with 10% of our market. We are very fragmented in our little bit of brand building and we have too many business units saying too many different things - hardly likely to build a single-minded proposition to market that will matter. (24:14:53)
Although we are well positioned in a sense I think we do create confusion for certain clients and lack of understanding when we overlay the […] brand in this mix - we understand what we are doing, but the market sometimes does not. (15:16:59)
Of note was the fact that this external uncertainty and lack of clarity was an expression of some of the internal challenges to, and dimensions of, the organisation, as result of the legacy issues prevailing in the business, as discussed earlier in this thesis. The fragmented and siloed nature of the business had given rise to many independent efforts across the subsidiaries — successful in their own right, but very disjointed in an international, multi-disciplinary financial services business and contrary to what many of its leading competitors had achieved globally. This view was evident in the opinion of one of the UK based executives:
153 There is market confusion at times due to the multiple brand approach and this is also compounded internally in the business where cooperation and collaboration is not optimal due to different cultures and siloes within the business. I have not had first-hand experience of this yet, but I do sense it amongst people in the business. (22:25:74)
The CEO view summarised this in a very clear and succinct manner which leaves little room for interpretation of the problem:
We have too many subsidiaries with too many propositions. (9:16:60) This statement clarified the nature of the problem and also provided a clear indication of what was on his mind and where the strategic intent was likely to head. There was a groundswell of executive support for this intent at the time of the data gathering, but this would unravel over time — an observation due to the further leadership and ownership shifts mentioned earlier. This gave rise to significant challenges with regards to structure and group composition and serves as a basis for introduction to the discussion on structural issues.