What story is my brand telling?
I was sitting in Corporate Reputation and Brand Management and we were discussing the importance of vision. We were asked to recall examples of an organization that changed their corporate vision and comment on the results of that change. I immediately thought of the change in vision that occurred at Toyota when the former CEO went back to Japan and a new CEO came on board.
Vision is so important to an organization. It motivates employees and keeps everyone singing the same song…
One of my colleagues raised his hand and discussed the example of Starbucks. When sales were dropping and the stock price was looking pretty bad, CEO Howard Schultz reverted back to his original vision for the company.
“Starbucks sells coffee of course, but it’s in the business of human connection…”
“[Starbucks] offers a third place between work and home for our customers”
It may seem very small but Schultz certainly had a powerful message to promote and based on the feedback and customer response, he has done a pretty good job! For the full video, check out:
http://video.forbes.com/fvn/business-renegades/starbucks-secret-brew
