I am proud, but why?

Pride is often a frowned upon virtue, but being proud of my daughter is OK. To be proud of someone elses achievement seems acceptable. In a recent survey by British Future in their State of the Nation Report for 2012 they ask "do we want to be proud of the society we have become?"

The Hopes and Fears survey found that people felt proud and excited of the 2012 Olympics and the Queens Diamond Jubilee but also embarrassed or bored by these events in the year ahead. Further results identified a strong Yorkshire pride in being British harking back to 1948 the last time the Olympics graced our lands.

Does corporate pride come from togetherness? A coming together when times are tough. When our communities are thrown together to unite or solve a challenge, even negative community issues – do we begin the journey towards something that could ultimately lead to us feeling corporately proud?

When we discover this corporate pride we become advocates. We share more interesting stories in lifts and at BBQs. We exercise a positive outlook on life. This attitude is infectious and adds great value to the energy required to getting things done, feeling more healthy and a general all round goodness.

Any successful brand will have a tribe of followers, those of us that are keen to be advocates of the product or service we love. A quick journey around the ABA office revealed some brand Love Marks our team are individually very attached to.

But would they say they feel proud of those things they love. Can a brand truly convert followers and loyalists to that higher echelon of corporate pride? In the 1970's Milton Glaser created the ultimate 'in your face' pride emblem with his I Love NY logo. Would we wear these with pride in 2012?

I am looking forward to the Queens Diamond Jubilee knees up and the buzz around London 2012. I made a new years resolution to be positive and I guess proud of London this year. Maybe this year brands that embrace a corporate sense of shared pride will gain traction amongst their followers. Brands can encourage pride, nourish it and reward it, so how can you develop a brand that followers are proud of in 2012?

Top 5 tips to make people proud of your brand:

1. Recognise togetherness as an asset

– a small welsh outdoor clothing company often holds outdoor entrepreneurial lectures in the summer, they are always sold out

2. Reward your customers and audience for their achievements

– a friend visits a restaurant regularly they always know his seat, on his 100th visit they gave him a bottle of champagne

3. Be a leader not a follower

– we recently heard about how a market research company completely reinvented how they test ads for clients – brilliant

4. Create inspiring environments

– retails brands do this really well, but if you're a business to business company you can still create an inspiration workspace

5. Turn negatives into positives

– a friend helped a leading retailer to turn around their customer service desk from a grave yard to 'the' place for staff to work