news & insights

We all know your brand is monumentally important to the success of your business. If you need a refresh around the benefits of a strong brand, you can brush up on that in one of our previous articles about rebranding your business. Every part of your brand has to have meaning, and resonate with your audience. However one thing we see a lot, even with successful and established businesses — is stagnancy when it comes to branding. Which means missed opportunity for growth.

Your brand isn’t just a project with a beginning, middle and an end. It’s a living, breathing entity that has to evolve with the audience it serves and the market space it occupies. So, how can we assess whether our brand needs a refresh? Here are five key considerations…

1. REVENUE ISN’T AS HEALTHY AS IT COULD BE

What is the clearest sign that your brand isn’t connecting with its customer? Well, the customer is choosing another brand instead. So what does that mean? Your sales will decrease, or plateau. It’s very common for a business to see healthy revenue initially, only to see it drop off as more competitors enter the market, or as customers’ needs change. So there’s the first step: assess your sales figures regularly. When you see a drop in revenue, or market share, or a lack of growth, it’s time to dig a little deeper. 

2. YOU DON’T KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

This one is intrinsically linked to our first point. When we aren’t connected with our customers, we will lose some of them, and find it harder to gain new ones. You need to be constantly working to understand their needs and their circumstances. For instance, 2020 changed a lot of scenarios for so many people. Their priorities shifted and habits evolved. Be across all of this, know who your audience was, is and who they are likely to become. Then consider how your brand needs to evolve to be part of that journey. 

3. YOU DON’T STAND OUT

If your customer could stand in the shopping aisle, or peruse Google searching for your specific product or service, and not find it to be a compelling choice… then you’re not different enough. Or perhaps it’s that you are different, but your branding isn’t communicating your unique strengths clearly — when compared to your competitors. So many businesses are selling themselves short by not clearly articulating what makes them special. It could be the brand messaging that needs work, it could be the product itself that needs assessment – the point is that you need to stand out to be successful in any marketplace. Rarely will you come up with an idea or a product that has zero competition. So if you’re not revolutionary, you need to be evolutionary.

4. YOUR TEAM ARE NOT YOUR CHAMPIONS

A huge part of the success of your brand will be anchored to the engagement and sentiment of your people. If they’re happy, they are productive. They’re more creative, insightful and inquisitive. And, if they are happy – your customers are happy. If your people are fulfilled in their work, then they want the business to succeed just as much as you do. Not only that, they’ll be your biggest brand champions. 

5. YOUR BRAND ISN’T DOING YOUR PRODUCT JUSTICE

Finally, how good is your brand? Was it well-crafted to begin with? If not, then you’re doing yourself a disservice. We see so many amazing products everyday, but the reason yours will succeed over another is because your brand is meaningful and relatable. People want to spend their money with you, as opposed to your competitor because they can see the care, quality and effort that’s gone into trying to win them over – a reflection of the quality of your product or service. In addition to this, your messaging should be so clear that your key points of difference are obvious at a glance. Don’t make the consumer think about why they should buy your product. Tell them why they can’t live without it. 

Hopefully this helps you on your brand building journey. Every business needs to consider its brand’s effectiveness to be successful in a competitive world. We’re passionate about rebranding, branding and brand strategy and have a particular interest and expertise in family business rebranding. However, whether you’re big, small, medium, family or not — we all need to be measuring the success of our brand intermittently, to make sure it’s working as hard as it can be.

Written by: Phoebe Carden
Published: June 16, 2021