Up your brand game: How often should you reassess and revamp?
Before we dive in let me ask you this - how often do you go to the gym?
Your answer is going to be different from the person next to you, because of your individual circumstances, goals and needs. It’s the same when it comes to evaluating the effectiveness of your company’s brand. There’s no ‘right’ answer to when startups and high-growth companies should take a step back to ensure they’re on track.
First, let’s align on what we mean by brand. At its core, your brand is your promise to customers. It defines who you are, what sets you apart and how you want to be perceived. It plays a vital role in attracting prospects, building trust and differentiating yourself from the competition.
It’s easy for startups to get caught up in the day-to-day tasks of building and scaling their business; evaluating their brand strategy and assessing whether it's working hard for them isn’t always at the top of the priority list. While I’m not suggesting you dive into a complete rebrand or refresh right now, in today's rapidly changing environment, it’s crucial to ensure that your brand remains relevant and aligned with your business objectives.
Let’s delve into some scenarios where assessing your brand could be a critical step in achieving your goals for growth.
Your existing brand is incomplete
A common misconception is that a company’s brand is simply its logo, with some colors and fonts thrown in for good measure. Many startups jump right to the creative process of developing a visual identity, and sure, it might look pretty, but how much of an impact will that identity have on its own? If you haven’t spent the time defining the foundational elements of a brand strategy - audience, purpose/mission, personality, positioning, etc - now is the time. Think of it this way, your identity is the visual representation of your brand, without a solid foundation there’s no substance.
It focuses on today, not tomorrow
A brand strategy that only covers what you do today will quickly become outdated as the market and your customers’ needs evolve. Of course, you can’t predict the future but having a clear north star for where your business is heading and aligning your brand around that vision will limit the need to constantly re-evaluate your approach as new products and services are introduced. You’ll stay ahead of the competition and be able to quickly seize new opportunities as they emerge.
You’re experiencing change
Inflection points in your business could be a product launch, an upcoming merger or acquisition, an audience expansion, new competitors entering the market, a successful round of funding, or perhaps you’re growing at a rapid pace. It’s important to stay relevant, cohesive and competitive, especially during times of change. Do you need to look at your overall brand architecture and product hierarchy? Or think about new audience personas and messaging that targets new segments? Evaluating your brand strategy will ensure the company’s growth plans are well-positioned to attract new customers and investors.
The macro environment is evolving
We’re experiencing a post-pandemic downturn, where economic conditions, consumer behavior and market trends are shifting. A look at your brand strategy will ensure it remains relevant to your audience. Perhaps their pain points and goals have adjusted - is your business well-positioned to cater to those needs? While this might not lead to an entire brand overhaul, it’s a good time to reassess your target audience and how your product or service fits into their life.
Your brand isn’t performing
There are many ways to measure the effectiveness of your brand. You might track brand awareness and sentiment through surveys and market studies, or customer satisfaction and loyalty through a net promoter score (NPS), or monitor online engagement, market share and key financial metrics. If results aren’t meeting expectations, one lever to consider pulling is your brand strategy. Your visual identity could be outdated, you may need to establish a clearer point of view, or perhaps your messaging is inconsistent and needs to rally around a more defined idea.
While these are common scenarios that could drive a revisit of your brand strategy, there are also a few to avoid.
Brand fatigue. It’s easy to become tired of how you look or what you’re saying, but remember that what you see every day your audience only sees occasionally.
Leadership change. Often a new leader can be hired whose first reaction is to start fresh and “make their mark”. Be sure their personal preferences aren’t driving that decision.
Keep in mind that a rebrand or refresh is an investment of time, resources and money - updating for the sake of updating can confuse customers and damage any established brand equity.
While too many changes to your brand can hurt your business in the long term, the same can be said for doing nothing.
As a consultant I work with startups and innovative companies to help them gain clarity on where improvements need to be made so they’re well-positioned to attract the right customers and investors, navigate change, and achieve their next level of growth.
