Gareth Kay writes about Brand Defining Gestures on his blog and the idea that brands need to go beyond the so called 'communications' or 'marketing' and provide a proof of what they are committed to. A similar thought has been building up in my mind since i first read about 'signature policies' as a brand building tool for service brands in Stephen King's classic Brand Building in the 1990s. Increasingly companies that pit their money where there mouth is and use actions to communicate their commitment rather than words will get to be 'brands' ahead of others. To that extent some of the most iconic companies have used signature events to strengthen their equity- Apple and MacWorld, Infosys and its quarterly results (not off late though) etc.
The first step, in my opinion to think up an action would be to get in touch with the core purpose i.e. the sense of contribution that genuinely drives the management to work. And from there any large hearted, imagination capturing experience that suggests itself would be a great place to start. Recently Starbucks' decision to shut down all its outlets for 3 hours to get beck in touch with its roots or Intel management's walking out and reentering the premises as if a new management had taken over under Andy Grove are inspiring stories of using a difficult moment in the brand's history to reinforce its core value.
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