Does your brand strategy provide air cover for employees to say no?

Lindsay Says

The CEO always owns the brand strategy (or the lack of it).

If someone other than the CEO owns the brand strategy, then it simply is not a brand strategy. This is because only the CEO can provide the air cover necessary for the whole organization to deliver on the brand.

Brand strategy that gives air cover requires two things: bold clarity in your North Star, and unwavering protection for those who follow it. The best brands emerge because someone at the top made focus possible with a specific choice, and modeled conviction in that choice.

A brand strategy's bold specificity creates a stringent filter against off-brand opportunities. It directs everyone to focus solely on things aligned with the brand.

Employees crave clarity and job security. For employees to steward the brand strategy, they need the psychological safety of knowing that the CEO supports their focus. They need to know that they will not get into trouble – and in fact will be celebrated – for saying no to off-brand initiatives.

An example of this that I love is Brooks Running's “run happy” promise. It is a bold and specific choice. It is NOT “happiness with any sport” or “running” with just any emotion. It is running with the emotion of happiness. This specificity empowers employees to reject, for example, football partnerships, because football is not running. It empowers them to say no to running ideas that are merely about performance, because performance is not happiness.

On the other hand, there is an athletic brand with the vague promise “Sports is Everything.” Since they lack a bold, specific North Star, employees are not empowered to filter out opportunities that may bring short-term rewards but may degrade or muddy the brand. These employees lack air cover to focus on something brave.

Notice that this bold, specific North Star is not only serving the marketing team. It’s serving engineering, product, corporate development, partnerships, legal, and operations. It is organization-wide, modeled from the top.

Don’t let your brand be vague. It defeats its purpose. It gives no one protection to focus. Articulate and model your specific North Star. When you provide the air cover that makes bold decisions possible, you give your entire organization permission to be extraordinary.