Branding is all about differentiating your brand from your competition. Often companies craft marketing strategies primarily focusing on customers to fine-tuning their brand. One of the biggest mistakes is to focus too much time and resources on external things that help them stand out among their customers and overlook internal corporate culture and how their organization conducts itself. As a business, you should do everything you can to make employees proud to represent your brand. Most often this isn’t about paying huge bonuses or salaries but small steps that a company can take to build an internal corporate culture that helps the brand. This corporate culture can have a significant impact on your brand. Companies build a sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace by attracting and keeping top talent, and corporate culture plays a crucial role in keeping their best people and attracting better talent.

Leverage Corporate Culture to Build Your Brand

The Mercedes-AMG Formula One team is an excellent example of a company that leverages internal corporate culture to build its brand. The team has been unstoppable since the beginning of the 2014 season — including last season, Mercedes-AMG has won 24 of 28 races. And as a team, they’re enjoying the most dominant season in more than 60 years. While Formula One is a sport dominated by gifted drivers and technology, at the end of the day it still boils down to how the team performs on a given race weekend. The Mercedes-AMG team has accomplished great things in last two years, but it’s the small things that team does that matter most. For example, in Formula One races, during podium ceremony, winning driver get to spray Champaign from the podium while mechanics and engineers cheer from the crowd. For decades, this has been a relatively routine practice in Formula One and other forms of auto racing.   However, Mercedes-AMG Formula One team does things differently. Mercedes-AMG presents Champaign at the track when they do well to make their employees feel special and appreciated. In terms of financial cost, it is pennies compared to what team spends on the races. However, from the perspective of an employee, it is a big deal. If you were a Ferrari or Lotus mechanic at the scene, wouldn’t you admire Mercedes-AMG as an employer and wish you were working for them? This is how small steps become significant factors in recruiting top talent from your competitors. Focusing on developing a corporate culture that supports your long-term brand building efforts can provide a significant pay off down the road. In simplest terms, your corporate culture should be a key component of your brand building efforts. Remember, your employees are your most powerful brand advocates, and building a brand should start with them.