Improve your employer brand and corporate culture by personalizing your office space... This is the promise of office branding, a trend that is gradually finding its way into French companies. A true reflection of the brand's identity and values, office branding is a way of creating excitement among employees and visitors alike. Here's a look at the concept and tips for implementing it.
What is office branding?
Originating in the United States, office branding is an interior design technique that transforms the workplace into a vehicle for corporate branding.
This "office marketing" is very popular with Silicon Valley startups and has been adopted for several years by American giants such as Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Amazon and Apple - but office branding shouldn't be caricatured as the addition of cafeterias and ping pong tables to the open space!
Like merchandising, office branding gives a company's premises a soul and identity. How does it work? By personifying the offices to reflect the company's image, philosophy and DNA.
What are the advantages of office branding?
Office branding is a real communication tool for the company, as it can arouse the interest of employees and visitors alike, and create a lasting impression of the brand image with customers, suppliers, future candidates and even journalists.
If well thought out, office branding enables employees to work in a stimulating, positive and creative environment - and they become imbued with the company's values on a daily basis. According to Actineo's 2019 barometer, 41% of employees surveyed believe that office and space design has a very important impact on their efficiency, and 48% on their well-being.
The benefits of office branding are well proven: it lays the foundations for a genuine corporate culture, generates comfort and well-being for employees, and strengthens their sense of belonging and hence their commitment.
For your external visitors (customers, suppliers, future employees, etc.), office branding is a way of conveying your values and identity in the field. It contributes to your reputation and visually reflects your brand universe.
How to develop an office branding concert?
A little thought goes a long way. The aim of office branding is to personify the office space and create a coherent relationship between the brand and the working environment, in order to communicate with the company's ecosystem. From the moment a visitor enters the premises, he or she should be immersed in the brand's universe.
Wall decorations, illuminated signs, logos, team photos, quotes, references to the graphic charter, messages, goodies, photos of founders and teams, office supplies, street art... Office branding can take many forms, as long as the brand's graphic charter and identity are respected. In LinkedIn's offices, the signature blue of the logo can be found on the walls and furniture, in a highly coherent visual style.
It's also possible to use decorative elements in reference to your brand. For example, a communications agency might opt for pencil-shaped cushions, an architectural firm might decorate its corridor walls with house plans, a travel agency might place planes and globes in each office... The key is to create a universe that is as attractive as it is coherent, like Google, which didn't hesitate to introduce surfboards into its offices to highlight its Californian DNA.