Branding from the inside out at Yahoo!: HR's role as brand builder

Every day, thousands of companies spend millions of dollars to build external brand identity and customer loyalty. Branding implies more than just selling a product or service; the best companies create a strong emotional connection between the message and the product. The brand attaches meaning, the lifestyle, the transformation, the potential, the joy, and the fulfillment to the product. Today, competing for employees is as difficult as competing for customers; building employee loyalty is as important as building customer loyalty; and treating employees right is the key to treating shareholders right. Here we discuss what Yahoo! has done to build its strong branding image. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.