Your company’s messaging should pervade the entire organization, not just the output from your marketing department. Think of your messaging as that wonderful smell of fresh bread baking in the oven. You can usually smell it throughout the house. Below is an example of behavior that not only is totally out of whack with the company’s messaging, but it stinks up the joint like last week’s boiled cabbage.

I’ve applied for a position at a company that goes to great lengths (not to mention expense) to brand themselves as fun, friendly and easy to like. But when I called to follow up on the status of my application, my request was met with something not far removed from “how dare you call us, we do not accept calls from the likes of you.” Wow. Nothing fun, friendly, or likable in that message. Perhaps they should change their corporate theme song to that 1970’s rarity “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.”

The key takeaway: slogans and messages are wonderful (and I have been blessed  to have come up with a few good ones) only if they are pervasive and consistent throughout the entire organization. Make sure everyone in the company understands and lives up to the slogan – especially the people who are customer-facing.