I read an article this morning, “Best Buy Asks the Wrong Question on Facebook” and all the comments and controversia that this simple question posted to the web. However, I took it from a different angle which highlights the importance of truly “living your brand”.

When employees are in direct contact with their marketing activities, the message, the brand value proposition, the brand identity, etc. the more likely they are to embrace it on their day-to-day work. Employees need to honestly believe in “their brand”, make it theirs and not only pay attention to what they saying but influence it.

Many companies have approached this with a top-down mindset…Here are our values, here is our brand promise, please embrace it, here are some incentives. I think that is not enough, especially with the proliferation of social media and other generational trends where employees are looking for different forms of engagement.

I don’t think that BestBuy employees are racists, it was just a mistake. But I am using the story to highlight a point – the need for a closer connection between employees and the brand.