How's your brand holding up?

Evolving companies are under constant pressures as they adapt to shrinking budgets, restructuring, new markets, or developing new products. With these changes, it's easy for a company to lose sight of its original vision often resulting in failing quality standards, customer dissatisfaction and brand confusion.

Building and maintaining brand equity over time is a challenging endeavour, and developing businesses often face the risk of losing focus and purpose. Regularly reviewing a company's public touchpoints can help ensure that the business and its team remain on the right track.

Both positive and negative experiences, accumulated over time, significantly influence how the brand is perceived. Measuring brand strength, though inherently abstract, is crucial. While it's challenging to quantitatively measure brand strength, there are identifiable brand variables that can be assessed through surveys, direct observation, and customer interactions.

Brand Strength

Objective measurements offer the opportunity for companies to proactively address issues that could undermine their brand before they escalate. Typical variables used to gauge brand strength encompass:

• Awareness and recognition
• Company and product distinctiveness
• Messaging
• Communications
• Company's tone and voice
• Consistency (messaging, products, service)
• Reputation
• Quality & reliability
• Brand preference
• Service
• Loyalty

Strong brands share these common characteristics:

• Consistent, clear, engaging, unique, and resonant messaging and identity that aligns with all stakeholders.
• Messaging that reflects the company's positioning strategy and is consistent with the brand's core values.
• Building brand strength through effective communication tactics and collateral.
• Reinforcing the brand's image both internally and externally.
• Strong internal communication ensures everyone understands the mission and values statement.
• Consistent delivery of promises.
• Adherence to a comprehensive graphic standard.

Weak brands may exhibit the following characteristics:

• General helplessness as the company adapts to market changes, restructuring, leadership transitions, and evolving strategies.
• Inconsistent identity and messaging undermining the brand's unique position in stakeholders' minds.
• Complicated brand architecture due to mergers and acquisitions.
• Messaging that no longer makes sense and may confuse stakeholders regarding the brand's position, mission, and value.
• A lack of clarity about the vision of the future.
• Competing primarily on price rather than value.
• A lack of internal pride or understanding.
• Decreased stakeholder enthusiasm, potentially leading to cynicism.
• A lack of self-worth and an acceptance of failure.
• Difficulty retaining top talent.
• Growth without a well-defined plan is often driven by short-term market demands.

In conclusion, the journey of brand equity is an ongoing process that demands vigilance, consistency, and an acute understanding of the brand's identity and values. By assessing key brand variables and embracing the characteristics of strong brands, businesses can chart a course for success.

A strong brand, built on clarity, resonance, and consistency, is a valuable asset that can weather market shifts and inspire loyalty among stakeholders. In contrast, a weak brand may find itself adrift, struggling to retain talent, customers, and purpose.

The path to brand strength is a strategic one, defined by a clear mission and unwavering commitment to delivering on promises.