GEFRAN
Context
Sharing the strong points of own organization can make a difference in terms of recognition, reputation, and … market share.
Brand convergence, the capacity of the brand to express and make the essence of the company understandable, is not just storytelling of the products and services, but also of intangible traits that explain the company’s essence and working style.
Gefran, an automation technology multinational, has focused on how important it is to have a story to tell in order to explain their position and to anticipate their stakeholders’ needs.
Objectives
Gefran is proud of its rich history. Now it is important to move forward with the awareness of “who we are today” and what we want become WITH stakeholders: our purpose. “What do we do to act on our purpose day by day (mission)”? And “what are our values that lead our daily business actions”?
When these elements are clear, we can build a brand strategy and identity to be shared both within the external and the internal stakeholders’ systems.
Contents
Through the stakeholders’ listening and a desk analysis, we identified Gefran’s assets and business challenges. The analysis of internal and external relation and communication dynamics allows for the mapping of cultural traits, which explain why Gefran is chosen not only as a supplier or partner but as a place to work, to grow, and to build a professional path that motivates people.
We used specific listening tools and techniques to be able to understand what is communicated, intentionally or not, and how it is perceived by the stakeholders’ system:
from the interviews to the “Identity Lab”, from the mapping of “cultural differentials” and “cultural traits test” to the active listening teams during fairs and events, from the analysis of social media to monitor the presence of Gefran and its peers … A mix of listening tools, mapping tools, and cogeneration labs allowed us to finalize – in 8 working weeks – the identity elements explained in the “Position of Gefran”: the Purpose, the Promise to the stakeholders, and the payoff connected to the logo.
Results
The identity elements are the relevant result of having built brand convergence in Gefran. However, the participants also lived a deep immersion into the essence of Gefran to become more aware of the value generated by the company, and they now feel more proud and engaged as employees, customers, or partners.
It is important, today, to consolidate the results through an awareness and engagement plan to involve the entire stakeholder system.