Question

What is a training “brand”? Why is it important? How does it relate to marketing the training or learning function in an organization?

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.

(Answer) Let us assume a knowledge-based company like ‘Unilever.’ This is the kind of multinational company that consists of extremely varied departments. There is an accounting department, there is a design department, there are marketing departments and others such as research and development, chemical analysis etc. This is the kind of company that makes shampoos, detergents, toothpaste, lipsticks etc.

Furthermore, this company has been around for decades and has managed to establish their own standards of production. Therefore, to ensure that employees learn those standards and apply them, there might be training modules. There might be graphic design training for the design department, there might be ethics training for HR, there might be training in scientific experimentation for the research and development department etc.

This “brand training” is important because it works just like passing the proverbial torch of quality from one set or generation of employees to another. Furthermore, the standard of work that the employees are able to produce after such training would enable them to excel in their output.

Let us assume that ‘Unilever’ would want to talk about the standard of products. To convince the shareholders and consumers of their quality, they will talk about their investment in resources. One of the major resources would be the people who work there and the skills they possess after brand training. Better employees do better work and better work entails better standards of production. It would enable the goods to have a good value in the market and the image it holds in the eye of the consumer. Therefore brand training works as an asset for marketing as well and quality of production.