How to Build a Royal Brand in the 21st Century

Reading the headline, you might think: ‘why is this topic relevant for a business network?’

Well, in essence, building a royal brand to sustain a powerhouse of soft diplomacy is not much different from building an executive leadership brand in the 21st century.

Whether you are a figurehead of a nation or a public or private organisation, you need to contribute meaningful outcomes for the greater good in tune with the times to justify your existence to both immediate stakeholders and wider publics.

Effective leaders define why anyone should care regardless if position of power is inherited or not.

Before we identify the one big difference between royal versus executive brand-building, let’s take a closer look at the roles of monarchs and executives.

Absolute Monarchy versus Constitutional Monarchy

In a constitutional monarchy, the monarch exercises authority in line with limits prescribed in the legal framework of a constitution. This organisation of power, which is also often referred to as a parliamentary or democratic monarchy, is a system where the monarch acts as a non-party political head of state (Grote; Blum; Kurian). 

A constitutional monarch is a cultural figurehead, a visual and ceremonial symbol of a nation.

Besides ceremonial responsibilities such as dissolving parliament and opening new sessions of parliament, appointing new ministers, signing new laws, receiving incoming and outgoing ambassadors etc., a monarch reflects national identity, unity, pride, giving a sense of stability and continuity (Blum; Bogdanor; Kurian).

A monarchy builds bridges with other countries, heads of state and governments and as a result, a monarch often hosts or participates in business- and culture-promoting events around the world.

As such, a constitutional monarchy is a very stable form of constitution. The opposite of constitutional monarchy is absolute monarchy, in which the monarch holds the decision-making power over government and people.

The Nature of Executive Power…..and Why Everything Starts with Why

An executive team is responsible for the performance of an organisation providing strategic and operational leadership. The job entails articulating organisational purpose and developing an inspiring, actionable strategy, empowering everyone to succeed and achieve goals.

The executive level evaluates performance, analyses current conditions, and sets agendas for the future. While setting goals, developing strategies, and ensuring effective execution of strategies is all very well, effective executives know that there is more to keeping a seat on the throne.

In the 21st century, successful leaders inspire followership.

When we inspire, we give people a sense of purpose and belonging and we motivate people to act for the good of the whole. Not because they have to, but because they want to.

Followers play an active, vital role in the success of any group, organisation, or society; they are neither passive nor subservient.

Inspired people create stronger communities, organisations, and economies because trust and loyalty are the norm.

It starts with the why offering both a cause and course of action. As a figurehead, you have to know why you do what you do simply because people don’t buy what you do, they buy what you believe (Sinek; Cortelius; Novak). 

Monarchs and executives need to identify beliefs: what is the better future, we want to inspire?

Just like executive teams must inspire their stakeholders and wider publics to stay in power, so must monarchs.

Games of Thrones in the 21st Century Is about Winning Hearts and Minds

Many leaders and organisations are losing out because they try to sell us what they do and how advanced their products are (Sinek). While it may have some rational appeal, it doesn’t offer a reason to belong.

In contrast, when an organisation communicates their why – their strong call to action to contribute to a better future for the common good, we start to believe what they believe. When we feel cohesion between our personal beliefs and the beliefs of an organisation, we get a sense of connection and belonging. When we feel connected through beliefs and values, we start to engage. When we are convinced about the organisational conviction to follow through on promises, we start to buy what they sell.

We are simply drawn to leaders and organisations that are good at communicating what they believe.

We engage and get involved with authentic leaders and organisations; where actions confirm what they believe.

When we engage, we become part of something special. Sharing the same vision and subscribing to a similar purpose as people who demonstrate accountability, we are safe, and we want to belong.

We are inspired to act. Our behaviours mirror the leaders we trust.

Any social system, which has a clear purpose (the why) knows what to do and how to act.

Everyone knows why they do what they do.

According to the biology of our brains, we are first attracted to how leaders make us feel and secondly, we rationalise our reasons for believing. The cause is the emotional dimension (the why is the Emotional Selling Proposition) and the course is the rational dimension (the what and the how is the Unique Selling Proposition) of our decision to follow (Sapolsky, Dipenza, LeDoux).

To win the hearts and minds of publics, monarchs and executives need to identify cause and course.

They must communicate who they are (their beliefs), how to act (values and principles that guide how to realise the cause; the culture-shaping behaviours which audiences can identify with), and what to do (meaningful outcomes of SAY-DO).

Leadership is human communication that influences behaviours and attitudes of others to meet shared group goals and needs.

Monarchs and Executives Must Become Standard-bearers of Identity

To walk the talk of their beliefs, leaders – whether monarchs or executives – must define and reflect a unifying identity that generates pride and fosters a sense of stability and continuity.

An identity is the qualities, beliefs, personality traits, and expressions that characterise a person or group.

Just like a monarch reflects a national identity and unity, an executive team sets the tone for organisational culture; the values, beliefs and social norms shared by a group of people, the taken-for-granted codes of action which allow people to operate. With the purpose of creating an environment in which everyone wants to belong, develop, and perform to achieve organisational success, the best executives are conscious role models demonstrating values in action in the quest to develop a collective identity.

The power of a collective identity is significant as it guides behaviour, generates self-esteem and a sense of belonging.

Identities are situated, contextual and situationally adaptive and changing.

Forming an identity always starts with the why: a call to action.

Do You Have Strategic Communications Competencies to Win Hearts and Minds?

When we realise that leadership is first and foremost a communication-based activity, we understand why leaders spend much time shaping messages they present to followers. The higher the level of leadership, the higher the demand for communication competence.

Communication is the deciding success factor.

The goal of communications efforts is to create a shared reality between message sources and receivers; is the message understood and do followers stay engaged and involved? 

Managing listening and dialoguing efforts with publics is an ongoing and never-ending activity.

A strong brand aligns foundation (the talk) with behaviours (the walk) and walk the talk building an authentic and inspiring identity in tune with the times; reflecting wishes, needs and preferences of key publics (Cortelius).

Success is based on holistic leadership and systemic strategising. When all parts of an organisation pull in the same values- and beliefs-driven direction based on character (sound judgment of what is the right thing to do), consistency (authentically living the values) and communication (impressing and expressing behaviours), magic happens and followership blossoms. 

The human factor is the defining factor. Effective leadership is linked to what it means to be human.

How stakeholders and publics perceive SAY-DO ratio is the strength of a brand.

From Passive Subject to Liberated Agents with a Voice – Keeping People in Power Honest

Historically, both monarchs and executives could work without much interference from society. With increasing legislation, both are increasingly challenged by the norms of society and must explain their actions.

Until the 20th century, monarchies were the most common form of government. While tradition, precedent, public opinion, and law influence the nature of constitutional power, the powers of a constitutional monarchy vary considerably within the current 43 constitutional monarchies. Some constitutions grant significant substantial discretionary powers to the sovereign while others retain significantly less personal discretion in their exercise of their authority (Blum; Bogdanor; Grote; Kurian).

Although some monarchies may think that inherited positions of power are above brand-building, today’s publics are active agents constantly analysing character and authenticity of people in power as well as assessing meaningfulness of outcomes. With the introduction of the internet, news spreads fast and everyone can easily obtain information. As people form perceptions of credibility, external social pressure has become a major driver of organisational ethics.

Billions of Watchdogs Influence Perceptions and Force Accountability  

Netizens scrutinise behaviours, share what they find, reveal experiences and voice expectations, influencing perceptions of wider publics. Information spreads like a wildfire online and activists can communicate to thousands or even millions of potential allies in an instant.

No matter what throne you sit on, ‘almost’ carries no weight. If you don’t follow through on the saying, doing and being, netizens will use your words against you to expose hypocrisy. Your offences – overpromising and underdelivering – carry their own punishment.

Unfulfilled promises inevitably lead to growing cynicism and disengagement. Your reputation suffers and your throne eventually tilts.

Today, active agents demand communication as a joint activity, hence survival on any kind of throne is a function of ability to build mutually rewarding relations with a plethora of stakeholders.

Whether it fits the ego and self-perception of anyone in position of power or not, netizens are the primary and most powerful watchdog of today’s society.

Consequently, the mantra of 21st century brand-building is active stakeholder dialoguing, complex stakeholder integration and strategic efforts to realise brand promise fulfilment from within.

The One Difference: How Royal Brand-building Diverge from Executive

While public institutions must by nature be non-political, private organisations are expected to take societal responsibilities beyond generating financial success; they are increasingly active agents pushing political agendas and transforming society in line with their beliefs.

The more values and beliefs permeate decisions and behaviours, the stronger the followership.

By contrast, a sovereign of a constitutional monarchy is by law unpolitical. As a ceremonial symbol of a nation, a monarch manoeuvres within social norms and accepted standards of behaviour in the culture in which a king or queen operates. While it is a balancing act to always operate within the norms of the majority, pushing political agendas jeopardises authority and followership.

In constitutional monarchies, the legislative governing body – the parliament – is the political battle ground representing the desires and opinions of the people.

Are You Sitting Comfortably on the Throne or about To Be Flushed Out?

Inevitably, in the 21st century, whether you are a monarch or an executive, you only have a brand if you are attractive in the eyes of your followers.

Whether you are attractive or not depends on ability to identify the wishes and preferences of your followers and align what you have to offer with what it is that they need, executing around the right set of saying, doing and being.

Monitoring the societal pulse, adapting, and capitalising on current context and crafting relevant messaging related to the context of followers is a never-ending process requiring unique skills.

Indeed, ‘failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be’ (John Wooden).  

Whatever throne you occupy, never take a position of power for granted.

The wisdom of the philosophers of classical antiquity about the inevitability of death: ‘Memento Mori‘ [In English: Remember that you die], may need a revival?

It was popular - also in jewellery - before many absolute monarchies were forced to change to constitutional monarchies to survive.

Both executives and monarchs alike may need a complacency warning to stay relevant:

‘Memento ut Moriaris’ [In English: Remember that you may die].

Undeniably, the throne belongs to conscientious leaders simply because in a hypocrisy-exposing era character is king.

Ten Reflection Points for Executive Management:

1.      Why would anyone want to follow you? Are you relatable?

2.      Have you established the why: how your organisation contributes to a better future for society as a whole?

3.      Have you translated your cause into an inspiring, coherent storyline of values and core beliefs which consistently drives decisions, behaviours, and actions?

4.      Do you monitor your electronic footprint and know how publics perceive your organisation?

5.      Do you actively follow through and transition from inside out according to your beliefs?

6.      Do you use a systemic approach to become the inspirational organisation you envision?

7.      Have you established mechanisms of accountability creating organisational coherence and success?

8.      Do you acknowledge the ongoing process of brand-building: do you have listening mechanisms tracking perceptions of internal and external key publics and societal change to be able to execute around the right set of saying, doing and being?

9.      Do you have the brand-building strategising capacity to become the brand you envision constantly translating institutional history, vision, mission, strategic directions, values, and principles into transformational communications efforts?

10.  Do you have KPIs to measure progress and identify opportunities for improvements?

Coming Up: The Great Resignation: What Are Your Employees Telling You? Continuation of articles about systemic, six-factor brand-building. The first part of the series focuses on leadership, the five remaining elements will follow.

About the series: Today, engagement is the key differentiator to outperform competition. If you want to understand engagement and are willing to invest in your organisation to gain the engagement advantage, this series is for you. If you cannot wait for the systemic approach to be unveiled, a short cut is possible.

About the Illustration: The skull is a pomander, a balm container made of white enamel, gold, and rubies, from the Royal Collection of Danish Crown Jewels. Originating from circa year 1600, the skull, which can be opened, contains a sponge and 6 small perfume compartments. While the eyeholes release scent, the construction reminds the owner, the sitting sovereign, of the impermanence of life. In Latin: Memento Mori. The concept was introduced by the philosophers of classical antiquity and has been utilised by various religions to emphasise sound judgment, perfecting character by cultivating virtues. ‘Memento Mori’ jewellery were fashionable in the 16-17th centuries; enjoy this exquisite reminder of death in the treasury of Rosenborg Castle, Copenhagen.

About Soft Power: Power is the ability to influence behaviours of others. It can be obtained through threats, money, or attraction. Soft power is a way of shaping preferences through appeal and attraction. It includes culture, values, and foreign policies. The contrast to soft power is hard power. Hard power is persuasion using force or threats (Nye).

About Character: Character is the foundation for long-term leadership success. Character is a merge of values, virtues, personality traits (who you are) and it shows in behaviours and how influence and power are exerted (how you act). It influences the choices people make about what to do. As such, character is a basic human foundation which reveals a person’s deepest intention toward others.

When establishing patterns of actions and exploring quality of character and determining ability to and interest in generating trustful relations, we distinguish between espoused values (who we say we are) and enacted values (who we really are) as conveyed by our behaviours and actions. Because of actions, the people we meet either stimulate trust or distrust.

Most people want to engage with people they can trust to make the right decisions in any given situation. A good character inspires trust as their mental and emotional dispositions are well formed by morally sound decisions and actions. Trust is at the heart of all value-adding relationships. Mutual trust reduces complexity and strengthens collaboration and loyalty. Therefore, character is power.

Morally healthy communities encourage formation of moral character by telling and retelling stories that illustrate and reinforce ethical values. Character-driven leaders motivate good behaviours and sanction bad behaviours. As leaders, we teach what we show with our conduct.

About Malene: Malene is a social scientist and branding strategist with 20 years of global working experience who passionately partners with organisations to stimulate dialoguing efforts and identify where to play and how to win brand familiarity and favourability.

References:

Blum, Jerome et al. The Emergence of the European World, Routledge, 1986.

Bogdanor, Vernon. The Monarchy and the Constitution, Clarendon Press, 1996.

Callahan, Charlotte. Social Media News: Social Media as Government Watchdog, Social Songbird, 2014.

Chen, Guo-Ming. The Impact of New Media on Intercultural Communication in Global Context, China Media Research, University of Rhode Island, 2012.

Cortelius, Malene. Workplace Revolution – Outperform Competition through Employee Engagement,

Dey, Ujjwal. How Social Media Will Change the Way We Do Business, The Hamilton Institute, New York, 2013.

Dipenza, Joe. Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself – How to Lose Your Mind and Create a New One, Hay House, 2012.

Grote, Rainer et al. Max Planck Encyclopaedia of Comparative Constitutional Law, www.mpfpr.de 2016.

Kiel, Fred. Return on Character: The Real Reason Leaders and Their Companies Win, Harvard Business Review Press, 2015.

Kurian, George T. et al. The Encyclopaedia of Political Science, CQ Press, 2010.

LeDoux, Joseph. The Emotional Brain, Phoenix, 1998.

Novak, David. Taking People with You - The Only Way to Make Big Things Happen, Penguin Books, 2012.

Nye, Joseph. The future of Power, Public Affairs, 2011. 

Sapolsky, Robert. Behave – The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst, Vintage, 2018.

Sinek, Simon. Start with Why – How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, Penguin, 2011.

Scudder, Rebecca. The Internet: Its Impact on Culture, BrightHub, 2008

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