CHIMNEY

The Chimney of the House Model refers to the kitchen chimney of a typical house, through which the aroma of what is being cooked escapes. This part of the house analogy is intended to bring the attraction and subsequent engagement between the company’s brand and its customers into focus.

In the same way that people passing by a house may be enticed by the aroma of baking emanating from a chimney, leaders must strive to gain the attention and interest of potential customers in a highly competitive market by leveraging the value being cooked by their organization. This competitive game begins inside the house.

Whether you work in the culinary field or not, your organization cooks something, and that procedure includes the efforts, processes and activities performed in your organization as well as all the resources, technology and culture applied by the people of your organization as they pursue the outcome of producing something (a product or a service) that is intended to be sold in the market.

The House Model suggests one specific section of analysis – aroma.

Aroma refers to the intangible attributes that give meaning to the brand and make sense to customers. It is not a product or a commodity. The aroma evokes specific feelings that engage customers and differentiate the brand from competitors. The aroma is the essence of a brand, and is made of both image and value proposition.

In this area of the house, you want to know how attractive and compelling the aroma your Chimney releases is, as well as the level of engagement or acceptance between your value proposition and your customers’ experience. To do that, you need to understand the coherence and synergy with which your organization operates as a whole.

Therefore, make sure the aroma emanating from the Chimney of your organizational house is attractive enough to entice and engage your target audience. Remember, the value proposition is the end result of the sum of the cooking you do inside your organizational house. Having problems in other areas of the organizational house will probably affect the aroma of your value proposition.