One Brand, Two Stories? How to Identify if You Have an Internal-External Messaging Gap
Imagine a nonprofit rolling out a bold new mission at an upcoming press conference. The CEO’s speech is polished, her hair looks great, the deck sparkles, reporters tweet sound bites about innovation and the potential impact.
Meanwhile, back in the office, a project manager sends a Slack message to their marketing colleague: “Did anyone know we were doing this?”
Silence. A few confused GIFs ensue.
Same brand, two stories. Whether you’re a bootstrapped nonprofit, a growing consumer product brand, or an established Fortune 500 company, if you don’t tackle this misalignment head-on, the difference will trickle out into the world and in front of your target audience.
Brand alignment is not marketing fluff. It is the connective tissue between the promises you make in public and the values you live by internally. Let that tissue tear and watch engagement sag, decisions bog down, and reputation wobble.
Why Inside-Outside Alignment Pays Off
Employees Are Your First Storytellers
A Gallup study revealed that only one in four employees feels plugged into their organization’s purpose. If staff cannot explain why you exist, they will not be able to defend you when questions arise with your audience.
How can you determine the level of engagement your team has with your organizational vision? Try an employee survey that has them answer questions in their own words.
Stakeholders Will Spot the Gaps
Customers, donors, and journalists cross-reference everything. When your website says one thing and frontline teams mumble another, your credibility drops in real time.
Your organization can correct this misalignment by having messaging and positioning crafted and made available to your entire team. Not sure where to start with that? We can help.
Misalignment Slows Progress to a Crawl
The progress of any project stalls when people argue over what the brand really stands for. Anyone who has been involved with a website refresh project can attest.
Shared language shortens approval cycles and puts campaigns back on rails, chugging along to the next station.
Three Alignment Checks You Can Run This Week
Okay, so by now, you may have discovered that you might have an issue. Here are a few quick checks you can do to help pinpoint the alignment problems.
1. Leadership Narrative Check
Ask each senior leader to write a 30-word purpose statement. If you get more than two versions, block time for a leadership messaging session. Consistency starts at the top and trickles down.
2. Employee Understanding Check
This one is similar to our earlier recommendation to conduct an employee survey, but it is more active and can be fun.
At the next all-hands meeting, select three employees from different teams and ask them to describe the brand in their own words. Wide variation is a warning light. If there is misalignment, this exercise also highlights the importance of alignment to your team.
3. Channel Consistency Check
Scroll through your latest social posts, press releases, job descriptions, and earned media headlines. Make note of buzzwords or claims that surface in only one place. Tailor to the audience, yes, but keep the core promise the same.
Quick-Win Checklist
- Compare your website’s “About” section to your employee onboarding deck. Rewrite whichever is weaker.
- Replace jargon with verbs real people use. If it would not land at a backyard cookout, cut it.
- Start every campaign brief with a one-sentence brand promise. Make it the ruler for creative review.
- Share small wins across teams. The more sales hears HR language and HR hears the customer’s voice, the faster the messages converge.
- Appoint a “message steward” for the quarter. Empower them to flag drift and suggest fixes.
Clarity inside fuels credibility outside. If the echo in your hallways sounds off-key, we can help you get it tuned in. Get in touch with us today.
