HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR BRAND IMAGE
Left neglected, brands can turn inward, concerning themselves only with commoditisation and ignoring the wider picture, until they eventually die out. Generally, most companies will wait until their brand name shows sure signs of decline before attempting to pick up the pieces. However, brand leaders should endeavour to renovate and make changes to their brand practices while they are still growing. They should capitalise on new opportunities immediately, and extend their reach. In short, they should strike while the iron is hot.
A BRAND IS MORE THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS
A complete understanding of what the brand stands for in the minds of the customer is a must. Brand leaders must see things from their perspective when making decisions since the key to branding is emotional intuition, not merely making an offer or offering up an image that people will be expected to accept without question.
KEEP AN EYE ON CONSUMER TRENDS
It is important to spot trends while they remain opportunities and not threats. By breaking down the population into segments, brand renovators can analyse demographics and the attendant opportunities to connect their brands to emerging trends or to cross over into different types of the customer market.
THE CORE PROBLEMS FACING BRAND DECLINE
* Failing to differentiate your brand from competitors, and thus having to compete on the level of a commodity.
* Continually trying to repeat past successes ad nauseam, to the detriment of updating the brand and keeping it active and contemporary.
* Not adapting to changes in lifestyle, technology, and consumer attitudes, thus inciting a lack of relevance on the brand’s part. This is one of the main factors that influenced the co-ops rejuvenation of their ageing corporate image.
PAIR UP YOUR STRATEGIES AND COMMUNICATIONS
The most successful branding strategies are those that ally themselves with marketing communications designed to elicit an emotional response. Yet, these communications must be tailored to fit specific areas: differentiation, reinvigoration, and relevance.
MARKETING FUEL:
All efforts at brand renovation must use the customer’s point of view as the starting point. From there, brand leaders can branch out and make appropriate decisions based on analysis of how their product, company, or service fits into different areas of their customers’ lives.
About the author: Vincent Bissette is a freelance Brand Strategy and Design Consultant with over 30 years experience of branding and rebranding businesses and organisations, systematically, thoroughly and objectively. He has worked in major Design Consultancies as well as having run his own agency for 25 years, working with SMEs all over the UK to help them modernise their brand, grow their business, attract new customers, penetrate new markets and increase their sales, market share and profit. Throughout that time, there’s not much he hasn't done or many industries he hasn't worked in. He’s a creative, strategic thinker and problem solver with a wealth of experience in diagnosing trouble spots in brands and discovering their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Now based in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, he works throughout the entire UK.
Get in touch with him on Linkedin here
