Brand change and long-term strategy

25 June 2020

Recently, one of my clients called to inform me that we would have to re-look the brand we had just positioned for a new product he is about to launch. He was not certain that the existing brand would suit a potential investment strategy and associated affiliation the prospective investors have.

The conversation frustrated me because I felt I had gone to great lengths to explain what the purpose and meaning of a brand and its positioning are. A brand should be a relatable and enduring image or ‘connecting entity’ between a product or service and a consumer. It comprises carefully planned attributes and benefits that help the brand build up and acquire strong, positive associations over time, which ultimately affect people’s propensity to buy into that product or service.

At the same time, I had to exercise restraint because while I was essentially being asked to retrofit a whole new (irrelevant) dimension into an existing brand story, here was a business owner unfamiliar with the intricacies of brand-building, particularly in relation to a dynamic and ever-changing external brand environment. He was acting reactively to a business proposition based on a belief that his brand would always need to radically transform in accordance with every business challenge or opportunity that presented itself along the way.

The conversation that ensued got me thinking about the countless brands I have worked on and subsequently questioning how many of these brands were designed with the future in mind?

In the case of my client, I explained the necessity of stability in a brand and its positioning to secure greater future success. Much like a human being, there are enduring qualities that make a brand distinctive, recognisable, familiar and memorable. The context may change and the brand may adapt accordingly and mature over time, but the brand’s fundamental DNA should not. The positioning, values and narrative we had created for his brand were based on enduring and universal human needs capable of adapting to changing contexts and even business demands. The brand might need to be re-framed, but certainly not reinvented.

On the other hand, I have worked with many brands that inherently resist change. I have witnessed brands that are the outcome of solely current consumer sentiment towards the category or existing product. I have worked with brands that are afraid to acknowledge and embrace category evolution. I have observed stubborn legacy-based brands struggle to find relevance in a contemporary context and I have encountered brands that cannot release their dependence on historical target markets. I have seen brands surge ahead into the future and then retreat back to where they came from i.e. the very position from which they were trying to progress in the first place.

Brand evolution is a daunting prospect, I get that, but in most cases, change is inevitable and necessary. Either a brand can anticipate change based on a guaranteed ever-evolving context or the brand will ultimately be forced into some form of retaliatory action or submissive acceptance of a new contextual status quo eventually.

What facilitates the creation of a stable, but enduring brand?

Start with the actual product or service. Go back to the core of what you are selling and what the key attributes and benefits of that are. Sometimes, the secret is no secret at all. For example, the distinctive kick of the flavour your drink is renowned for; the bulkiness and durability of that particular model of car; or the fact that your product is the most premium and sophisticated version on the market of a specific category of products are obvious points of departure.  In a hyper-competitive market though, product distinctiveness can be hard to achieve and defend, so brand longevity may become less reliant on what you sell and more about how you sell it.  This is where the more abstract and ‘feely’ aspects of a brand become valuable assets to build.

First, a distinctive brand personality or tone of voice can go a long way to create a memorable brand and thus help ensure longevity. Kulula.com is still one of the best examples of this in South Africa.

Second, strong core values or principles are resilient and enduring brand assets by nature and can help guide and ground brand behaviour and actions, particularly during turbulent or changing times. The success of the Virgin brand over decades is the product of clear and distinctive brand values that are able to transcend industries and contexts.

Third, brand purpose can be used to guide a brand’s journey in the longer-term. While the idea of brand purpose has been thrown around and applied quite recklessly on scale in recent years, when it is incorporated into a brand’s narrative in a considered and relevant manner, it can be a powerful tool to create consistency and meaning over time. Purpose, by its very nature, is goal-directed and thus future-oriented. The brand works towards change in the future rather than simply reacting to what might be happening right now. For example, Dove’s purpose to champion real, natural beauty is an ideal that has actually helped stimulate and steer the conversation and norms around beauty in general, thus providing Dove with a distinctive competitive advantage while every other brand played catch-up.

As I explained to my client, brands are not simply amusing afterthoughts to an unfolding business strategy. When created and managed with care, they have the potential to simultaneously help define and achieve that business strategy.

Let’s Work Together

TELL ME MORE ABOUT YOUR PROJECT

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.