Why you should apply an internal branding strategy to your team
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A few weeks ago, in a post, I showed you the new brand we have developed internally for the ‘Digital Growth’ team at @Telefónica Innovación Digital. Perhaps we are less accustomed to seeing this type of internal branding and for many it may even be unfamiliar.
It is not aimed at large audiences and the environment is reduced to the people who are part of the team and those who relate to and interact with it, such as company employees or external suppliers. However, although it is not common, the impact can be great.
Detail of team branding for Digital Growth.
Internal branding in search of meaning
The fundamental objective in creating value is to generate a sense of pride in belonging and to identify the team or area as a unit, which conveys its own personality and identifies itself with its brand, without the need to explain what it does. In our case, we are a fast-paced, multidisciplinary team accustomed to changing projects and pivoting.
The relevance of this type of branding comes from the impact it has on employees at an individual level, and this is something I have experienced on several occasions during my career, especially in large companies, where it is much easier to become alienated, to feel like just another face in the crowd among a large staff, and to stand out as a team or as a professional is much more complex.
Internal branding can also help with more emotionally complex tasks. By working with this focus, we will be able to connect with people on a deeper level and turn around adverse situations within the company, because really, what are we talking about? Empathy and a sense of unity.
The power of building a visual identity in teams
Years ago I had the opportunity to create an identity for the team we were then, but this time I did it through a creative and less common resource: illustration. The team was not going through the best of times, we had been separated and we had been left on one side, reduced to five members. The atmosphere was not the best and I identified that I could help lift the team spirit and motivate the unit by creating unique and personalized avatars that would identify us as the newly formed team.
At that time I was following the great illustrator Stanley Chao, based in Manchester (UK), who makes illustrations of sports and cultural characters with a very characteristic and simplistic style, but with a lot of force.
Stanley Chow and some of his illustrations.
I thought it might be impressive for all the members of the team to see themselves represented in this style and thus show unity in the company and make an impact. On the other hand, it seemed achievable to me to produce these 5 illustrations, although I was concerned about achieving the likeness and the reaction they might cause.
Illustrations made for the team in 2016.
Here you can see the first illustrations and avatars I worked on. Naturally, some are better than others, but I achieved the main objective of creating a feeling of unity, because we were the only team in the company that had them.
Another achievement was the surprise factor, nobody expected this and it generated a positive feeling in the team. Finally, the repercussion, we reached the rest of the teams and company staff who started to ask us and to ask for their own avatars.
On that occasion, the solution was provided by a specific style of the team’s avatars in the search for that feeling of unity and motivation. Could I call it branding? I’m not sure, but as I managed to help at a time when it was necessary to improve the feeling of belonging and communication through visual identity, I could say yes.
