Simply put, a brand is
what a company does
and how it does it. And
brand building involves

“Vertical” Alignment of
improving what the
Heads
company delivers
Hearts
to its customers
Hands & Feet
and how it runs its
business—essentially
its experience design
for customers and
stakeholders.

brand to life in a valuable cus-
tomer experience.

January + February 2010

interactions

Brand As a Way
of Doing Business

Conventional wisdom suggests that internal brand efforts should focus on line employees, e.g., staffers working the counter at McDonald’s or those who play the characters at Disney World. But, in fact, all stakeholders affect and are affected by the brand.

The second half of the defi-
nition of a brand speaks more
to its internal value: It’s the
bundle of values and attributes
that define the way a company
does business with its stake-
holders. The brand should drive
the organization, aligning and
guiding every single business
decision and task. It should also
serve as a compass, defining
what the company does and
does not do.