Respecting the Brand

RESPECTING THE BRAND BY DAVID STUKUS

How many of you have clothing or other gear with your company logo on it? It is a great opportunity for your company to gain brand recognition and for employees to proudly wear their “team colors.” But it can have a huge negative impact if people do not “respect their brand.”

I fly a lot, but the last time I flew was Thursday March 12, 2020. I remember it well because it was the day that sports were effectively shut down due to COVID. It was a somber day because the hopes of many teams were dashed. In the Nashville airport that day I witnessed several teams sadly returning to their campuses due to cancelled seasons. The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team and Cleveland State softball teams were near my gate. Their seasons were just getting started and I am sure they were excited about their Spring trip South. I saw a basketball team from afar could not help but feel sorry for them all for having their seasons ripped away from them, especially the seniors.

I too was heading home a day early due to COVID. I have always loved people watching and making observations, especially at the airport. Being a retail junkie, I pay closer attention to those wearing gear somewhat related to that sector (who were they, what were they doing, where were they going). As I sat there observing this somber mood thinking about those teams who had their seasons cut short, two people wearing gear from a major food CPG sat down in the next row of seats over from me. They had jackets, bags, and shirts with their company logos, and they were loud, sloppy (one of them had an untucked and stained shirt) and appeared to me to be tone deaf relative to what was happening in the world at this time. They did not stay long – only enough time to polish off the greasy mess that they picked up from the nearest fast-food restaurant and to leave some of their trash behind. I thought to myself that these guys were never coached about respecting the brand.

When I was in college, my basketball coach gave the team a speech when he handed us various pullovers and other gear with our university’s name on them. He spoke about proudly representing the university and the team when we were in public. He realized we were college kids and were going to go out but reminded us to represent the brand. I heard a similar story about Bobby Knight at Indiana – he worked his guys hard but did not control them off the court and insisted that his players not embarrass the team and the brand.

I believe life and business mirrors sports in many ways, and there is a saying that football coaches use when their team scores a touchdown – “act like you’ve been there.” Jim Tressel, the former coach of The Ohio State University football team taught his team to hand the ball to the referee not only on touchdowns, but after every time they were down. I always respected and admired this that his players did this EVERY time. In all those years, I never saw a player slip up and it was noticeably clear that Coach Tressel must have talked frequently about the importance of the image of their team. It is called respecting the brand.

As a youth basketball coach, I teach my teams to respect the brand as well. One of my teachings is for my players to thank the referee after being handed the ball on free throws and on out of bounds plays. I learned this from my high school basketball coach, and it has stuck to this day. Another thing I teach is to offer a hand when an opposing player is knocked down. I hate it in basketball, whether college or pro when players rarely help opponents up – and in many cases they step over them or taunt them. There are other ways to show you are tough and not willing to back down. You are wearing the “brand” on your shirt, in this case your school and you need to represent the brand. At a recent game, a referee came to me as he was jogging up the court and told me that he loved the way I coached the team and the respect he had for the boys based upon their behavior. This was during a tight game, but it made my day. After our win, I recognized the team and shared with their parents the comments I received from the referee. As we were leaving, the referee told me that he is going to request our games when our boys make it to high school. Wow! It is called respecting the brand.

As leaders we are never going to be able to prevent all team members from not respecting the brand. Case in point, there were people fired from their jobs after they were viewed at the recent Capitol riots wearing their company name badges! But we need to try as leaders to convince our team members the importance of respecting the brand. Always keep in mind the impact that you leave on others and remember all we have is our reputation and that is our brand. So, treat others with respect and respect the brand! If the 12-year old’s can do it, we all can!