A civil engineer recently remarked that nobody wants to pay for the upkeep of roads, public transit systems, or other infrastructure. After all, he quipped, "people get credit for building the new school, not maintaining what we already have."
His comment got me thinking that the same mindset often holds true for brands and the messages that express them. When companies and organizations decide it's necessary to brand or rebrand, they invest the time and dollars to do it. Once created, brand guidelines might be distributed and some message training might occur initially to allow the brand to take root. Over time, efforts to maintain or refresh the branding typically become less frequent. Only when customers and donors start to defect--the infrastructure equivalent of the bridge collapse or train derailment -- do we take notice and realize that something must be done.
Sometimes the product or service offering just isn't compelling any longer. And sometimes companies and organizations have lost touch with their own brand and its meaning. They may even have lost sight -- literally -- of the people who matter most. As a result, they could be sending conflicting and confusing messages that don't reflect the brand or reinforce the positive experience they want customers to have.
Let's face it -- the shiny new object is always much more interesting than what we already have and know. It is always tempting to quick-start new features or jump on the latest social media trend. You might think about refreshing an identity with new colors or grasping at a new catch-phrase to inject into your key messages -- all without taking stock of what your brand means, or should mean, to key stakeholders. We fail to recognize that maintaining and nurturing that meaning is critical. Maintenance doesn't have to mean standing still or shying away from innovation. Maintenance, instead, should be about investing the time, passion, and resources to reinforce your brand position and experience, externally and internally.
What does it take to properly maintain your brand?
1. Stay close to your stakeholders. Your brand lives in their minds and hearts. Make sure you take the time to find out what they like and don't like. Understand the relationship of their aspirations and desires to whatever it is you offer. One company that has done this well is Dominos, whose original unique selling proposition used to be delivering pizza in 30 minutes. Over time, however, the differentiator faded, as competitors became just as fast at delivering hot pies (and some of those pies tasted better). A series of focus groups opened the eyes of the CEO and senior leadership to the fact that the product quality needed attention -- and repairs.
2. Don't wait until the bottom falls out. Too often companies and organizations watch a declining customer or donor base and don't act until reputations or viability are damaged beyond repair. As with Dominos' example, where the company publicly owned customer feedback, a product was reinvigorated, with the customer base and the public invited to watch the whole process.as documented on YouTube. This was the equivalent of rebuilding a bridge before chunks of concrete started falling on cars.
3. Communicate clearly, often, and with purpose inside your own organization. Your employees, contractors, franchisees, or volunteers must understand and operate with the same principals as executive leadership. They are the keepers and engines of your brand. Just as you seek out customer feedback, make sure you do the same with internal teams. It's not enough to hand someone the employee handbook or a list of talking points. Make sure your teams understand and believe in what you are doing and that they can carry forth your messages both in word and deed.
Revisiting the Dominos scenario, two bored employees one afternoon made a video where they were NOT making quality pizza -- putting cheese up their nose and then on to pies. The video went viral and Dominos was forced into crisis mode. While everyone now talks about the company's deft handling of the crisis, perhaps had there been better understanding and communication of what it means to be working at Dominos, through better training and engagement, the crisis might not have happened at all.
In this age of choice and message overload, creating powerful brands is more important than ever. But creation is just the beginning. Maintaining and nurturing that brand involves equal measures of intentional magic. The work is hard and not always sexy, but the rewards are worth it. Just ask Dominos, now termed a "climbing success" with double digit earnings growth this year.
Please share your stories of reinvigorating your brand and the infrastructure to support it.
Follow me on twitter @lizwainger.
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His comment got me thinking that the same mindset often holds true for brands and the messages that express them. When companies and organizations decide it's necessary to brand or rebrand, they invest the time and dollars to do it. Once created, brand guidelines might be distributed and some message training might occur initially to allow the brand to take root. Over time, efforts to maintain or refresh the branding typically become less frequent. Only when customers and donors start to defect--the infrastructure equivalent of the bridge collapse or train derailment -- do we take notice and realize that something must be done.
Sometimes the product or service offering just isn't compelling any longer. And sometimes companies and organizations have lost touch with their own brand and its meaning. They may even have lost sight -- literally -- of the people who matter most. As a result, they could be sending conflicting and confusing messages that don't reflect the brand or reinforce the positive experience they want customers to have.
Let's face it -- the shiny new object is always much more interesting than what we already have and know. It is always tempting to quick-start new features or jump on the latest social media trend. You might think about refreshing an identity with new colors or grasping at a new catch-phrase to inject into your key messages -- all without taking stock of what your brand means, or should mean, to key stakeholders. We fail to recognize that maintaining and nurturing that meaning is critical. Maintenance doesn't have to mean standing still or shying away from innovation. Maintenance, instead, should be about investing the time, passion, and resources to reinforce your brand position and experience, externally and internally.
What does it take to properly maintain your brand?
1. Stay close to your stakeholders. Your brand lives in their minds and hearts. Make sure you take the time to find out what they like and don't like. Understand the relationship of their aspirations and desires to whatever it is you offer. One company that has done this well is Dominos, whose original unique selling proposition used to be delivering pizza in 30 minutes. Over time, however, the differentiator faded, as competitors became just as fast at delivering hot pies (and some of those pies tasted better). A series of focus groups opened the eyes of the CEO and senior leadership to the fact that the product quality needed attention -- and repairs.
2. Don't wait until the bottom falls out. Too often companies and organizations watch a declining customer or donor base and don't act until reputations or viability are damaged beyond repair. As with Dominos' example, where the company publicly owned customer feedback, a product was reinvigorated, with the customer base and the public invited to watch the whole process.as documented on YouTube. This was the equivalent of rebuilding a bridge before chunks of concrete started falling on cars.
3. Communicate clearly, often, and with purpose inside your own organization. Your employees, contractors, franchisees, or volunteers must understand and operate with the same principals as executive leadership. They are the keepers and engines of your brand. Just as you seek out customer feedback, make sure you do the same with internal teams. It's not enough to hand someone the employee handbook or a list of talking points. Make sure your teams understand and believe in what you are doing and that they can carry forth your messages both in word and deed.
Revisiting the Dominos scenario, two bored employees one afternoon made a video where they were NOT making quality pizza -- putting cheese up their nose and then on to pies. The video went viral and Dominos was forced into crisis mode. While everyone now talks about the company's deft handling of the crisis, perhaps had there been better understanding and communication of what it means to be working at Dominos, through better training and engagement, the crisis might not have happened at all.
In this age of choice and message overload, creating powerful brands is more important than ever. But creation is just the beginning. Maintaining and nurturing that brand involves equal measures of intentional magic. The work is hard and not always sexy, but the rewards are worth it. Just ask Dominos, now termed a "climbing success" with double digit earnings growth this year.
Please share your stories of reinvigorating your brand and the infrastructure to support it.
Follow me on twitter @lizwainger.
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