Time can take a toll on any brand.
Unexpected deadlines. Personnel changes. Changing competitive dynamics. Presentation panic.
You name it and a brand is subject to it. And what seem like small acts of variance when perpetrated, can add up to a wide divergence from a brand’s core over time.
So, what to do? What we call a Brand Intervention. All you need is some honesty, some discipline and a big red marker.
This exercise can be narrowly focused to include just one part of the brand (e.g. identity) but ideally is widely cast to include all elements – visual, written and oral – that you use to guide your customer’s experience.
Elements may include: logo, colors, fonts, packaging, messaging, website, social media, customer service interactions, store layout and décor, advertising, press releases, public relations, email marketing and more.
This can be a daunting task filled with all sorts of minefields and Fathom is often asked to facilitate interventions to bring an objective voice to the discussion. The results vary. We’ve had clients decide that their brand, in its current state, is too sick to save. Others discover they’re not that far off and that a few small changes and some brand diligence will keep it strong into the future. Still others choose to strip down and come back more focused and ready to fight the good fight.
To start your own intervention, consider taking this approach:
1. Pick a wall and split it in half with a piece of tape. Tack up your brand positioning statement, brand promise and a black and white version of your logo. Now post everything and anything that has carried all or part of your brand story on one side of the tape. (You will need to pick a period of time, e.g. past two years, past five years, to analyze.) Be sure to include everything, right down to the language on your collection notices if you have them. You may have all of this at your finger tips or you may need to reach out to your sales force or branch offices and ask for anything they have produced over the period of time that you have chosen.
2. Take that big red marker and start crossing out the things that don’t live up to or deliver on the core elements of your brand. Use question marks or other visual cues to indicate items that warrant various levels of further consideration. Post copies of all the items that absolutely deliver on your brand’s core ideal on the other side of the tape.
3. Now go back and analyze the maybes. Why are they still in the running? Do they convey an attribute that was not part of the original brand vision but now feels right? Are they appropriate evolutions given the age of the brand or the current market? Do they more closely convey what you have been hearing from customers? If you can’t identify a concrete reason for keeping them, don’t. Remember, simplicity and clarity is key.
4. Have you identified anything that is missing or weak? Does the promise of your brand remain unfulfilled? Is the purpose unclear? Does the logo miss the mark in projecting the right story? If you answer yes to any of these questions, it means more work. Continue to discuss, eliminate, create and change until you’ve found your brand’s most essential elements – those that your customers will care about and share. By closely examining the evolution of your brand, your customers’ experiences and organizational changes, you can determine where and why your brand went astray and how to prevent it from happening again.
Whether you determine that your brand needs a minor rejuvenation or a major reinvention, the work of a Brand Intervention puts you one step closer to creating a brand experience that customers will remember.
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Posted by:
Bruce Kaechele
Email the author:
brucek@fathom.net
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