Branding in the workplace

Published on Tue 3 Jan 2012

"A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn a good one by doing difficult things well and making sure people know about it. The difficulty for organisations is how they maintain and communicate the brand values they have worked so hard to attain" comments Ken Bundy of Claremont

Some methods of communication are obvious. The standard parts of the marketing mix such as advertising, PR, events and sales are clear ways of communicating your brand to the world. For retailers, store design, merchandising and point-of-sale put them in direct contact with customers. Yet brands are far more complex and rich than that. Recent years have seen a surge of interest in the concept of the employer brand, which argues that it is important as part of an overall brand strategy for an organisation to communicate its values to potential employees but also to the people who work for them. It's no coincidence that this idea is growing in importance at a time when intellectual capital has become the driving force in the economy.

For workplaces designers and managers this surge of interest in communicating brand values to the people who work for an organisation has made it even more important for them to create spaces that closely reflect and communicate key brand values. It is not enough to rely on front of house space to talk directly to customers, suppliers and other external visitors. The entire building must reflect a coherent narrative of brand value.

So how should companies go about branding their workplaces?

Firstly it's about far more than integrating logos and other elements of corporate ID into the space. The brand can mean colours, logos in the carpet and that kind of thing and sometimes that's fine. But for most organisations, the challenge is to help them live the brand so the design of the branded workplace must focus on the cultural, the graphical. The important thing is to recognise that what people mean when they say 'brand' can mean a lot of different things.

Claremont recently completed the design and fit out of spaces for Coca Cola's new offices in Hammersmith, McDonald’s in East Finchley and Reckitt Benckiser in Slough. Each company owns some of the world's most powerful and valuable brands, so there was a natural desire to express those through the workplace.

In the case of Reckitt Benckiser this was most evident in the way the design integrated elements of packaging design and colours into the interior. Even though the majority of such branding was subtle, the design also reflected the ways in which Reckitt Benckiser works to provide employees and visitors alike with clear signals about the company. The large reception area is equipped with touchdown workstations, essential for the demands of mobile workers within a global corporation. Meeting spaces are bookable and are placed at the front of the building wherever possible to allow easy access. The entire space reflects both the visual identity of the company but also the culture. That even extends to serving the 'best coffee in Slough' according to office services manager Sendra van Roon.

In the case of Coca Cola, the expression was different but based on similar objectives. While the design of the Coca Cola offices has also been strongly influenced by the company's wider business objectives, Claremont was briefed very carefully and in great depth about the business's plans and especially the fact that there is to be a much greater emphasis on Coca Cola as an organisation, rather than just as a drink. The principles behind certain elements of the new space - the library, the breakout areas, the ability to 'detox' before you get to the workstation - are all driven by the changing face of the business and the fact they want employees to live the brand.

Design can also indicate changes in a company's brand values and overall identity. At McDonald's new headquarters building in East Finchley the design of the space incorporates a range of graphics that reflect McDonald's commitment to healthier lifestyles. The underlying message is that the menus in the restaurants must be reflected in the environment the company creates for its employees if everybody is to understand what the McDonald’s brand stands for.

The similarities in approach defined by the three firms is striking even if the end results are as naturally individualistic as you would expect. What has been important for all three clients is to develop the ways in which the workplace can help them to extend and communicate their brand throughout their organisation. The brand has to go more than skin deep if it is to endure and thrive.