An article written by Chris Campbell, Director of Marketing and Communications
FYI, you work in Marketing.
Paladin’s success is not just about marketing differently from other companies: creating unique ads, developing new products and services, employing more creativity in our use of digital channels. It’s also, and perhaps more important, about caring more than our competitors — about customers, about colleagues, about how Paladin conducts itself in a world with endless opportunities to cut corners and compromise our principles. It’s what helps us stand out amongst our clients, and stand out from the crowd in a competitive marketplace.
Richard Branson, the Virgin Group’s ubiquitous leader has a well-used quote, "Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients." It’s a brilliant twist on the ‘customer is always right’ philosophy - You can’t really think about our customers, unless you also think about our people.
That means the day-to-day interactions between our customers and you, our front-line employees are a huge part of Paladin’s brand identity and the quality, training and attitude of our people is also our best marketing tool. Yes, advertising is important, the design of the website is important, how responsive we are on social is important, but if a Paladin customer has a positive experience every time they come into contact with one of our staff, that’s what defines our brand, and builds our reputation.
So how do we ensure every customer-facing employee understands how important he or she is, that they are the personification of the Paladin Difference to our customers? While their primary duty maybe be operational, their marketing duties are a close and constant second, and they are a vital piece of a much greater whole.
We start by being selective with who we bring into the Paladin family in the first place, and then we train and educate those superior candidates to perform with operational excellence and continually strive to give them the tools to become better people. To our customers, each one of us is Paladin, and that’s why deportment, training, and constant vigilance in every sense of the word, is such an essential part of our daily activities. You can’t be exceptional and distinctive in the marketplace unless you create something exceptional and distinctive in the workplace. That’s one of the main drivers behind the impassioned design and cultivation of Paladin’s Culture – it’s the very definition of The Paladin Difference and the assurance that you’re part of a team, over 11,000 strong who have your back and share a unified vision of Paladin’s future.
It’s my team’s job to broadcast Paladin’s brand message in as many channels and platforms as possible, both internally & externally, and as such, I have the privilege of seeing the inspiring and remarkable stories that we publish in the Pipeline each month of our officers in action. However, know this, we’re not the only brand ambassadors; the entire Paladin team can and should articulate that message every chance you get, after all, you work in Marketing.