Pope Idol

I was struck at the weekend when reading an article about the effect the new Pope is having on

the Roman Catholic Church. According to reports there has been a surge in attendances and confessions since his appointment, reversing years of decline. In the UK, in the 8 months since his appointment, for example, the church has seen attendance rises by almost 20% as new and lapsed members find their way to their local church.

And he has done this by being true to his brand, by living its values and by being seen to do so.

For a brand which ought to be built on humility, for many years it can be argued that this is a brand which has lost its way. Pope Francis has put a stop to this with brand defining ‘legends’ such as travelling by bus instead of a chauffeur driven car; carrying his own suitcase; living in a humble flat rather than in the grandiose Papal apartments in the Vatican; washing the feet of female prisoners; even taking a ‘selfie’  which went viral. This truly is a Pope with the common touch, a brand that recognises the importance of the authentic gesture.

Many businesses and brands can learn much from the Pope’s example.

Research has long shown that 65% of communication is done non verbally. In other words it’s not what we say that matters but what we do. This has important implications for all of us in business and in brand management.

Too often business leaders will proclaim their values to the business along with their Mission Statement and in too many businesses it is expected that the mere act of proclamation will lead to the values being lived and shared by all the business.

But it is not what it is said that it is important but what is communicated through the eyes and until and unless our people see the values being lived and demonstrated by their leaders, both remote and close at hand, why should they bother. This is why it is important for leaders to build stories and legends, just as the Pope has done, that will cross organisational boundaries, that will take root within the organisation and that will demonstrate that the values truly are being lived and being demonstrated.

And what is true for our people is also true for our brands. It is not what our brand says when it speaks to customers through a 30 second TV spot or its Facebook page or its press releases that matter but how it delivers on its promise day in, day out across all its touchpoints.

Despite the hype around hares and bears, brands at the end of the day are not judged on what they say but what they do, just like the Pope. John Lewis is not a great brand because it does great ads. It is a great brand because its leadership and its people have a ruthless focus on earning and keeping the trust of its customers across every channel and  through every interaction.

And if the Pope gets this simple truth surely some of the finest business brains around should get this too. There is no excuse for any business to have anything but a great brand. It is not about investing in advertising but in the people that work there, the manufacturing processes, the support infrastructure. It takes ruthlessness. It is about having real insight into what the customer values, the emotional and rational need the brand fulfils. And more importantly a critical understanding that non-verbal factors are a far more important means of communicating than the verbal ones.

This is what Pope Francis gets. This is a great case study in modern brand management.

And this might be the first time you will read this but marketers really can learn from the apostolic successor of St Peter.