Reprinted with permission from Dobies Healthcare Group.
A brand is only as strong as the connection between the organization’s actions and its messages. After all, your brand is more than what you say – it’s what you do.
So how do you determine what your brand is really saying? Two words: Brand audit.
A brand audit systematically assesses the company’s brand from three vantage points:
- Communications: How authentically the company appears in documents, proposals, advertising, Web sites and other venues
- Internal: What employees think
- External: What the customer believes
An audit is like peeling an onion one layer at a time to expose the core essence of the brand, and reviewing these three areas can help leadership understand how well the brand aligns with the organization’s strategic priorities and core values. Plus, it creates a road map for both marketers and executives to use in improving the brand’s overall authenticity.
To learn more, check out our article on brand audits and take the first steps toward truly living your brand.
About the Author
Carol Dobies of Dobies Healthcare Group has 30 years of marketing experience in privately operated and publicly traded healthcare firms. She serves as project leader and creative director, and her expertise is in marketing strategy development, product/service line branding, creative and interactive communications, public relations and internal/team communications.