Mar. 11, 2009 at 11:25am

The walk-talk disconnect

Posted by Kathleen Deakins in Branding, Community Relations
No comments

I passed a McDonald’s filled with hospital employees recently as I walked down the hall of a major medical center. I took note because a few days earlier, a health care employee several states away had mentioned that same in-house McDonald’s as an example of a hospital not walking the talk about employee wellness.

Actions speak louder than words, you might say. The unbreakable lease signed 15 years ago still speaks today.

Yes, the real world is messy. Intentionally or not, we — or our circumstances — are often at odds with what we want to say, with our official message. Makes things tricky for us as marketers and communicators.

A few thoughts about what we can do to limit the damage of the walk-talk disconnect:

Be humble. Earnest organizations are more able to take a reputation hit from a behavior lapse or contradiction. We’ll give more slack to the organization that says “we’re working on it, we’re trying harder” than the one that claims “nothing but the best” or boasts “we’re the leader.”

Keep your eyes and ears open. Funny how we get so used to things that we don’t see them any more. Rounding, mystery shopping, reading blog comments and listening to the chatter at your table at the next chamber lunch meeting may reveal lapses in need of your attention.

Change the decision, take the action. Don’t renew the McDonald’s lease. In the meantime, offer healthy options in the cafeteria, organize a walking club and subsidize annual flu shots for staff.

Keep your message consistent. Just when you’re getting sick of your campaign, people are just beginning to catch on. Trite and true.

No magic in all of this, but worth reminding ourselves: Relentless repetition of our core message, relevance to our stakeholders and consistency with our walk remain a convincing combination.

Comments (0)

Add your comment below