Is it branding season?
Friday, September 14, 2007
When’s the right time to brand? When it comes to branding, the adage “there’s no time like the present” holds true. Branding should be considered a core business focus. As USA Today columnist Steve Strauss notes “whether you like it or not, whether you know it or not, and whether it is strong or not, you already have a brand.” That said, branding is not an “add-on” activity or something a company can simply put on the backburner to tackle later, it’s happening whether a company is aware of it or not.
If a company doesn’t attempt to influence its image and create an impression, it can be sure that its customers and competitors will do it for them. While complete control over one’s brand is impossible, a company can take the helm and attempt to steer their brand:
A brand is the sum of the good, the bad, the ugly, and the off-strategy. It is defined by your best product as well as your worst product… It is defined by the accomplishments of your best employee - the shining star who can do no wrong - as well as the worst hire you ever made… For every grand and finely worded public statement by the CEO, the brand is also defined by derisory consumer comments overheard in the hallway or in a chat room on the internet… Brands are sponges for content, for images, for fleeting feelings… As such, you can’t entirely control a brand. At best you can only guide and influence it.
~from A New Brand World by Scott Bedbury
There are some key times in the life of a company when branding (or rebranding) takes on greater urgency. These include, but are not limited to:
- After a merger, acquisition, or change in ownership
- When a company’s products and/or services change
- When the way a company’s products and/or services are delivered changes
- When a company begins to lose market share
- When a company wants to regain customers’ trust after a serious misstep such as a product recall or corporate scandal
- When a company’s vision changes
- When the current brand no longer fits the company’s identity
- When a company wants to increase market share and/or expand into new markets
Implementing a branding strategy provides companies with a foundation and direction for future growth. A brand strategy ensures that a company presents a unified, cohesive face to the world and that all elements of the business - from advertising to customer service - are working together to build brand recognition. The longer a company waits to brand, the more difficult it is to control the disparate, and perhaps competing, impressions out there.
It’s important to note that when it comes to branding not every branding element needs to be ‘rolled out’ at the same time. But having a branding strategy that, at minimum, considers key branding components as part of an overall plan will prevent a piecemeal branding approach that may ultimately dilute a company’s brand over the long term.
Branding captures and articulates the essence of an organization. By ignoring branding, a company is simply letting others dictate who they are and what they represent. Think of branding not just as a single event or a one-time effort, but as an ongoing opportunity to create a strong, positive, and lasting impression in the minds of consumers.
