What branding can teach about culture

Seth Godin explains the difference between a brand and a logo by saying that if you heard Nike was going to open a hotel, you could instantly imagine exactly what that hotel would be like. That’s a brand. Nike has a distinct point of view that shapes how it presents itself to the world. This point of view is so strong and consistent that you can easily extend it to a hypothetical hotel.

This concept is very similar to how you should think about company culture.

Your culture is the framework that helps people understand how they should act, even in situations they haven’t encountered before. It must be rooted in a strong point of view. This is why you can’t simply adopt another company’s corporate values as your own. Those values are shaped by a unique perspective that doesn’t necessarily align with yours.

Your culture, then, is the combination of your organization’s point of view about how to behave and the actions your employees take to embody that perspective.