Zappos, Culture, and Building Your Brand

by Bill Zipp  |  June 23rd, 2010
Culture, Marketing


 

 
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Two weeks ago on my blog I reviewed Delivering Happiness by Zappos’ CEO Tony Hsieh. I’m still struck by the connection between a company’s culture and a company’s brand, what I believe is the main point of the book.


“Building a brand today is very different that building a brand 50 years ago,” Tony writes. “It used to be that a few people got together in a room, decided what the brand positioning was going to be, and then spent a lot of money buying advertising telling people what their brand was. And if you were able to spend enough money, then you were able to build your brand.


“Over time, as we focused more and more on culture,” Tony continues, “we ultimately came to the realization that a company’s culture and a company’s brand are really just two sides of the same coin. The brand is just a lagging indicator of a company’s culture.”


For instance, if you saw an ad that announced in bright, bold letters the words, “BP Cares.” What would you think? Their culture of recklessness and callousness speaks louder than any marketing campaign, and their brand is in ruins. The same is true for our endeavors, they’re just not the fodder for daily news coverage.


Here are Zappos’ ten core values. Which of these do you like? Which would work for you? What values do you embrace that are different than these?


  1. Deliver WOW Through Service
  2. Embrace and Drive Change
  3. Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
  4. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
  5. Pursue Growth and Learning
  6. Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
  7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
  8. Do More With Less
  9. Be Passionate and Determined
  10. Be Humble

Bill Zipp

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Reader comments (2)

 

I like — ” The brand is just a lagging indicator of a company’s culture.”

Seems that a brand is like a company’s personality, and when the personality is the same inside as out well that’s healthy…

we don’t like two faced people and we don’t buy from two faced company’s, unless that company is BP then we kind of have to buy gas…


Ron Sparks | June 25, 2010

From #3, “..a little weirdness” is my favorite. If you read the book, it speaks to Zappos’ passion to let employees be themselves. They didn’t want to be a culture told employees to leave their personality at home. That’s a value we share at the MAC. Part of why we are such a creative bunch.


Matt Riopelle | June 28, 2010
 


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