Yesterday I watched U.S. President, Barack Obama address the general assembly of the United Nations. He spoke about peace, security, social progress and human rights, the hall marks of the UN, or as we say in the world of branding, those are the reasons to believe in the brand. The 192 member states are brand champions, or should be brand champions for supporting these guiding principles.
Observing the member nation representatives as they watched President Obama, I realized that while the UN aspires to be a branded house, the UN is a house of brands. Much like Proctor and Gamble and its many brands. The UN is not a Starbucks or a Southwest Airlines. It also dawned on me that as globalization has become a reality, so too are the differences in cultures around the world. Maybe we are just now facing the extremes of those differences and realize that we have not developed the systems necessary to play together. To be a group of one brand champions.
As we hit the refresh button and live and work in the new normal, perhaps the UN can be the guiding light that it was intended to be. Like all complex organizations, the UN brand has periodically been bruised. But like sustainable brands it has not forgot its mission, core values and given stakeholders the opportunity to engage in dialogue about its brand. Today, the United Nations is the Brand Champion of the Day. Brand Champions remember your name is your brand. You are the UNITED Nations.
Rex Whisman
BrandED Consultants Group
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