TBT: 3 Clues Your Brand Needs Attention

How is your brand doing these days? Times have been tough for many, and marketing budgets have seen their fair share of reductions. But with the economy showing signs of consistent recovery, albeit slow, now is the time to give your brand some much-deserved attention. Get it right before you begin reinvesting.

Clue 1: Your marketing investments are delivering flat returns.

No matter how you vary your marketing mix of traditional and online media the results are the same. Yes, the face of media is continually changing, but it just might be your brand experience that’s the problem. New executions and new media won’t fix a poor user experience that turns prospects off.

What can you do?

Revisit your brand strategy and claim of distinction. Is your organization delivering on your brand promise? Do you make it easy for prospects to engage with your organization or brand? Remember that every touch point matters. Spend a few hours trying to engage and transact with your organization as an outsider would. How did it make you feel? Was the experience aligned with your brand promise? If not, fix your negative touch points. I bet you $1 your returns will improve.

Clue 2: You have lost market position.

If you were number one, two or three a few years ago but have since slipped down the ladder, your brand is probably in need of repair. Tinkering around the edges won’t help you regain top positioning.

What can you do?

Take a good, hard look at your brand.
Is your claim of distinction clear? Is your message connective? Does your organization internalize its brand to the extent that all employees know what is about? If you can drive brand clarity throughout your organization and marketing efforts, it will surely pay off.

Clue 3: Senior management has restructured.

Powerful brands have top management’s aspirations for the company embedded within them (a.k.a. business strategy). So, when changes occur at the top, there is usually a need to revisit brand. Will the new structure support the existing brand strategy? Where is the company going? Does the brand positioning need to change?

What can you do?

If brand realignment is inevitable, be sure to get everyone on the same page. A good internal communications program can do the trick. If your organization is large, create a CEO road show that can energize and engage employees. Smaller organizations can arrange CEO lunches with rank and file employees, hold a kick-off event and create an ongoing employee engagement or incentive program. The Enterprise Engagement Council has some great ideas for companies both large and small.