Signs That It May Be Time to Change Your
Brand
As you enter the
world of business, you're told time and again that your brand is
essentially everything. It's the first encounter that most customers have
with your organization and it's your connection to those people,
particularly when it comes to establishing the type of meaningful and
long-lasting relationship you need to survive. While all of this and more
is definitely true, there is one important thing that your brand is NOT:
immortal.
Changing your brand may be a difficult decision, but sometimes it is the
best chance you have to re-organize your priorities and start anew. There
are a few key warning signs that it may be time to change your brand that
you should always be on the lookout for.
Time Has Passed and Passed... and Passed...
A lot can happen in a decade. Since 2005 alone, the world saw the rise of
the smartphone, the fall (and arguable recovery) of desktop computing, the
"death" of physical media and more. If the one thing that you
CAN'T say about the last ten years is, "I've updated by brand at least
once, preferably twice during this period of time," then you're
looking at a clear-cut sign that it's time for a change.
So much happens in a decade that without a brand refresh, you run the risk
of developing a reputation for being old and stale. Even if you know that
isn't true, relying on the same logo and marketing approach from President
Bush's second term will land you right back there anyway. A brand change or
upgrade is a perfect way to start fresh with a bold, new (and most
importantly modern) voice.
Your Target Audience is Changing
At some point, any successful business that has operated for an appreciable
amount of time needs to deal with a target audience that "ages
out" of what attracted them to their business in the first place. If
you think of the most successful brands in history, be it Pepsi or
Microsoft or something in between, they've all had to deal with the same
issue at some point in their history.
If despite your best marketing efforts your once steady sales have started
to stagnate, or if you just can't seem to rile up your audience the way you
once did no matter what you try, it may be time to rethink your brand and
who it is geared towards. Remember that a 30-year-old in 2015, and a
30-year-old in 1965, represent two completely different things and barely
resemble one another. If your core audience has gone away, a dramatic
change to your brand (but adherence to the values you established in the
first place) is a great way to attract the attention of a whole new crop of
people in one bold and striking move.
Changing Your Brand Doesn't Mean Changing Your Vision
These are just a few of the many signs that it may be time to change your
brand. Above all else, it's important to remember that a brand realignment
is not an admission of guilt that something went wrong, or defeat in terms
of your business in general. Instead, it's an opportunity. It's a chance to
throw out the old and rise from the ashes like the phoenix, ready to take a
new generation of your target audience by storm and impact their lives with
your products or services in a much more organic and impacting way.
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