Evolve or Die
IV-27-2009
Stories about dying brands that re-invented themselves and rose to new heights in the marketplace are a favorite of marketers. Think of how
McDonald’s made the shift towards healthy eating, or how Hewlett
Packard used design and innovation to make a dazzling comeback in the
computer market and how Dunkin Donuts captured huge market share in the
coffee business.
But for almost every brand re-invention success story, there is another brand failure to match it. The landscape is littered with dying brands that may have already faded too far to resuscitate. So why do brand managers and CEOs wait until the last minute to renovate their brands rather than evolve strategically over time? One probability is that they don’t understand the changes happening in the marketplace. While their brand may have enjoyed success in previous years, and perhaps is still enjoying success right now, they fail to recognize the implications of these demographic changes and generational shifts. This is why once great names like Radio Shack, GM, 7-Up and many others, are suffering today.
There is no question that in order to survive and thrive, your brand must evolve with the times, and that usually means some brand rethinking. Here are four best practices you should consider building into your brand evolution:
1. Take a brand 360
Don’t just see things from your own perspective; try to get inside the head of your customers. Learn how your customers feel about the brand, what role it plays in their lives, and the value it brings to them. What are the benefits of your brand to the customer? It’s not what you think people need or want but what they actually need and want that’s important.
2. Learn to surf
Before a new trend becomes a threat to your brand, be aware of the kinds of segment shifts that are happening so you can move early enough to ride on the wave rather than get swept underneath.
For instance: how do changes in people’s lifestyles like the recession or the move towards green living and the growth of social media effect your brand? How can your brand play a role in this new reality? And what about all the potential customers that have never considered buying in your category? Maybe you should also be thinking about who might become a customer in the future and how you might reach them now ahead of the competition.
By the time most brand managers spot important trends, they are already threats. That's not surprising, since it's difficult to identify the early impact of trends among the general population of brand users. Great brands always find a way to be absolutely relevant within a broader cultural context.
3. Don’t play zero sum games
Sometimes brands are so focused on a very narrow set of competitive issues that they don’t see how trends are affecting customer behavior. This narrow focus can lead to a lack of differentiation in a category. Further leading to the entire brand category becoming less relevant, driving down sales. This contributes to increased price based competition and tighter margins. The consumer begins to see the product as a commodity, putting further pressure on pricing and brand loyalty. It’s a zero sum game.
Don’t get drawn into the trap. Although price based competition is unavoidable in this current financial reality, your brand should find a way to offer more than just a better price. Price is only one factor that customers consider to make a buying decision.
4. Think strategically
You shouldn’t only focus on tactics like advertising and promotions. Building your brand solely on gaining short-term advantages without increasing the emotional connection between your brand and the consumer only leads to further commoditization.
The strategy should be based around differentiation and developing a truly relevant brand story. I am not saying you shouldn’t compete on price, but working your way into the emotions of the customer will help to build the trust needed to convince them to buy your product. You have to make an emotional connection!
Strategically, keeping your brand image fresh is vital to its success. But too many marketers think that refreshing the brand is just about renovating their logo. Just freshening up the logo will yield few results. A true brand refreshing will begin with an analysis of all the brand’s imagery like graphics, fonts, colors, photos and illustrations. It would also include copywriting and text based content.
In summary, it is the consumer, the brand user that must ultimately drive your brand evolution. You must be aware of the changes that are occurring both in society in general and at the level of your customer’s buying experience. Make the connection with the customer on an emotional level. Your brand’s survival depends on it.
But for almost every brand re-invention success story, there is another brand failure to match it. The landscape is littered with dying brands that may have already faded too far to resuscitate. So why do brand managers and CEOs wait until the last minute to renovate their brands rather than evolve strategically over time? One probability is that they don’t understand the changes happening in the marketplace. While their brand may have enjoyed success in previous years, and perhaps is still enjoying success right now, they fail to recognize the implications of these demographic changes and generational shifts. This is why once great names like Radio Shack, GM, 7-Up and many others, are suffering today.
There is no question that in order to survive and thrive, your brand must evolve with the times, and that usually means some brand rethinking. Here are four best practices you should consider building into your brand evolution:
1. Take a brand 360
Don’t just see things from your own perspective; try to get inside the head of your customers. Learn how your customers feel about the brand, what role it plays in their lives, and the value it brings to them. What are the benefits of your brand to the customer? It’s not what you think people need or want but what they actually need and want that’s important.
2. Learn to surf
Before a new trend becomes a threat to your brand, be aware of the kinds of segment shifts that are happening so you can move early enough to ride on the wave rather than get swept underneath.
For instance: how do changes in people’s lifestyles like the recession or the move towards green living and the growth of social media effect your brand? How can your brand play a role in this new reality? And what about all the potential customers that have never considered buying in your category? Maybe you should also be thinking about who might become a customer in the future and how you might reach them now ahead of the competition.
By the time most brand managers spot important trends, they are already threats. That's not surprising, since it's difficult to identify the early impact of trends among the general population of brand users. Great brands always find a way to be absolutely relevant within a broader cultural context.
3. Don’t play zero sum games
Sometimes brands are so focused on a very narrow set of competitive issues that they don’t see how trends are affecting customer behavior. This narrow focus can lead to a lack of differentiation in a category. Further leading to the entire brand category becoming less relevant, driving down sales. This contributes to increased price based competition and tighter margins. The consumer begins to see the product as a commodity, putting further pressure on pricing and brand loyalty. It’s a zero sum game.
Don’t get drawn into the trap. Although price based competition is unavoidable in this current financial reality, your brand should find a way to offer more than just a better price. Price is only one factor that customers consider to make a buying decision.
4. Think strategically
You shouldn’t only focus on tactics like advertising and promotions. Building your brand solely on gaining short-term advantages without increasing the emotional connection between your brand and the consumer only leads to further commoditization.
The strategy should be based around differentiation and developing a truly relevant brand story. I am not saying you shouldn’t compete on price, but working your way into the emotions of the customer will help to build the trust needed to convince them to buy your product. You have to make an emotional connection!
Strategically, keeping your brand image fresh is vital to its success. But too many marketers think that refreshing the brand is just about renovating their logo. Just freshening up the logo will yield few results. A true brand refreshing will begin with an analysis of all the brand’s imagery like graphics, fonts, colors, photos and illustrations. It would also include copywriting and text based content.
In summary, it is the consumer, the brand user that must ultimately drive your brand evolution. You must be aware of the changes that are occurring both in society in general and at the level of your customer’s buying experience. Make the connection with the customer on an emotional level. Your brand’s survival depends on it.
Comments
Post has no comments.