"We do such great work, and no one knows or cares!" This was the fundamental complaint of the large complex organizations that came to my firm for help with their brand image. They felt underknown and undervalued, and it hurt. 

The solution was not jumping into advertising or PR campaigns. Instead, it begins with them getting super-clear on their core identity-and determining if they were being who they wanted to be. As part of the process, we ask these challenging questions:

• In a few words, what is the core of your organization's identity?
• How do you want the world to perceive your organization?
• What truth do you need to tell?

Then, and only then, would we look into the image of their organization-how the marketplace perceived them-to assess how well their identity and image aligned and what to do about any gaps.  

7 Steps to Build Your Brand from the Inside-Out

This is where disciplined leadership comes in, always starting from the inside-out. It involves fostering authenticity, belonging and collaboration – the ABC pillars of the Amare Way of love-powerd leadership.

1. Be honest: Tell the truth about being underknown and undervalued, or lacking a clear focus, or having lost your competitive edge.
2. Require clarity: Insist on clarity and commitment about who you are as an organization and why.
3. Know your V/U: Do the ideation and research to understand what makes your organization valuable (V) and unique (U). Make the intersection of the two your sweet spot.
4. Empower your team: Audit your resources and priorities and build internal capacity to make sure your team is equipped to successfully and consistently deliver.
5. Evaluate your image: Do your stakeholder research and competitive mapping to assess your image. Require total honesty and no judgment.
6. Get in alignment: Prioritize and clean up any identity-image gaps based on ease of fixing and likely impact.
7. Deliver on your promise: Invest in communicating and providing your unique value to your customers and other stakeholders. Track the impact on your brand reputation and image.

In this way, you will inspire your team to embody and live your organization's identity, creating a cohesive, distinctive and impactful image in the marketplace that fully delivers on your promise. That is how to build a brand the Amare Way.

Inc