Savage Thoughts

By helping your employees understand the purpose of your company, you open up opportunities for them to build and add value to your brand. Robin Tooms visits with Ralph Vasami, president and CEO of Universal Weather and Aviation.

Often, companies looking for their most influential employees don’t even know what they’re looking for. Mapping internal social networks through organizational network analysis helps you pinpoint the most important and influential internal audiences. Jeppe Hansgaard, partner at Innovisor, talks about performing the “Where’s Waldo?” of the business world.

Although it seems counterintuitive, focusing on employees first will actually improve your company’s customer experience. Jay Steinfeld, CEO and founder at Blinds.com, talks about why their company prioritizes people, product and profit—in that order.

When it comes to brand messaging, you need to put your money where your mouth is. Robin talks to Donna Smith, director of marketing and communications for Forum Energy Technologies, about how they’ve put their messages into action.

Would someone from outside your company know what your company values are based on your employees’ actions? Jane Henry, CEO of Xcution, Inc., talks about how they make their corporate values visible on a day-to-day basis.

Successfully rebranding a company from the top-down means listening to your customers and your employees, then engaging middle management as influencers to keep momentum going. Ralph Vasami, CEO of Universal Weather and Aviation, shares their strategy for gaining brand alignment.

How do you convey the consistent message that you are one brand when your company is composed of multiple sub-brands? Donna Smith, director of marketing and communications at Forum Energy Technologies, shares how they’ve built their external messages to demonstrate their unity.

When employees understand the part they play in the company’s larger purpose, they live out the brand you’ve built. Ralph Vasami, president and CEO of Universal Weather and Aviation, talks to Robin Tooms about how he personally helped employees understand their purpose at Universal.

Acquiring multiple brands? Assessing each to determine how much equity it has before creating a holistic branding strategy is essential. Donna Smith, director of marketing and communications for Forum Energy Technologies shares about the discipline required to bring in multiple new brands.

When it comes to M&A, think people and culture first, then the mechanic of merging operations. Robin Tooms discusses internal branding during transitions with Jane Henry, CEO of Xcution, Inc., a management consulting firm.