Achieving Brand Integrity

September 20 2007 - A new book by Gregg Lederman questions why so many organizations fail to fully invest in their people by focusing on strategic tools such as mission statements at the expense of developing a performance-based work culture. Achieve Brand Integrity argues that "there is a big difference between knowing and doing" and offers business leaders advice about how to converge strategy and employee behaviors.

Based on extensive work with companies of all sizes, as well as direct entrepreneurial experience, the author considers why most companies fail to deliver organizational strategies and challenges current theories promoting business sustainability. Gregg Lederman covers these issues in chapters such as:

• 'Employees are NOT Your Greatest Asset'
• 'Marketing and Advertising Can Kill Your Brand'
• 'Buy-In Is the Only Way to Execute a Brand Strategy', and
• 'Most Companies Suck at Capturing Successes and Recognizing People'

Arguing that Brand Integrity is much more than a marketing goal, the author describes it as the "ultimate management strategy" able to provide the vital framework for employee behavior that will contribute to defining the company's unique position in the marketplace and sustain employee motivation.

The author explains that by developing a work culture that specifically encourages employees to improve the service provided, business leaders can increase market share, productivity and profits. Achieve Brand Integrity offers a model designed to:

• "Create corporate strategy by identifying the proprietary values, employee behaviors and experiences a company can deliver to drive market differentiation and keep customers coming back;
• Align all areas of the business and employees by defining the line-of-site behaviors and actions people can do at every level to execute the strategy effectively;
• Integrate the strategy into performance management systems to drive accountability;
• Improve passion and performance by recognizing employees for doing 'on-brand' behaviors, and by sharing the successes that can lead to more best practices."

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