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Brand strategy can be a mysterious discipline, especially when the answer to almost any brand question you ask seems to be: ‘well it depends…’. But let’s not get too precious about this. Good brand decisions are based on past experience and a healthy dose of common sense, as well as the creative magic which really brings them to life.

There are some clear ‘rules of thumb’ you can apply to different brand situations, which are relatively consistent. They may just help you to check whether your brand is on track, and aligned with your business strategy and market position.

How the brand check works

Read through the six scenarios described below to see which one fits best with your current market position. Then check out the likely solution to see whether it tallies with your own brand positioning, identity and communications package. If everything lines up, then you are in reasonable shape, or at least at the right point in the brand development cycle. But if not, then you could be in trouble…

Scenario 1 – Expansion or turnaround

Organisation experiences major structural or organisational change, caused by either a significant expansion in their business or the turnaround of a negative situation.
 
Likely solution – This would possibly include a new name, probably a completely new logo and certainly a new identity. These changes should be used to generate as much publicity as possible and signal to the market the need to look again at the organisation and its offer.
                     
Examples:  Diageo, Aviva, Consignia, Skoda
 
Note: This approach is quite high risk and also expensive; can easily backfire and may cause lasting damage if mishandled (e.g., Consignia). However, it can also be very successful when accompanied by a long term commitment to real and substantive change (e.g. Skoda). 
 
Scenario 2 – Growing business, static brand

Organisation experiences an upturn in business or gradual improvement in circumstances, but the image being projected remains largely the same, no longer reflecting current reality
 
Likely solution -  Keep the name the same (or repackage it), update the logo – though make sure it is still clearly identifiable as the same organisation – and refresh all aspects of the identity, to bring it into line with current reality and likely future direction for the business.
 
Examples:, BT, National Portrait Gallery, Marks & Spencer/ M&S
 
Note: This approach is probably most common in the field of brand development, where organisations want to show they are moving forward in a credible and coherent way, shaping up for the future, but still in touch with where they have come from. It tends to apply when the identity has remained fairly static for a long period of time.

Scenario 3 – Shrinkage

Organisation contracts in size or experiences negative publicity with no immediate prospect of turnaround.
 
Likely solution – do nothing on the brand front and concentrate on sorting out your business problems first. Expenditure on brand at this point is likely to be seen as frivolous and trigger negative reactions from the market and from investors. Make changes only if and when things improve – in other words, wait until you have a positive story to tell.
 
Examples:  Marks & Spencer, until recent turnaround; Vodafone currently

Scenario 4 – Solid and ticking over

Organisation ticks over in its market, doing reasonably well, but essentially providing the same range of services, to the same market, with similar resources. Communications and messaging gradually start to look a little tired, but not in a dramatic way. The market tends to see the company as solid and reliable, but not that exciting.
 
Likely solution – maybe no change at all, depending on the appetite of the management team, there may be some scope for modest updating of key messages, look and feel and tone of voice. The name must definitely stay the same, the logo should probably stay the same or undergo a minor tweak. The identity could be refreshed, but in a modest way with clear links back to where you have come from.
 
Examples:  quite a few public sector organisations and professional/ business services firms, plus plenty of other companies in mature/ low growth markets.

Note: Lots of organisations go through periods where things look like this. It can be a tough call to work out what to do on the brand front - whether the market and prospects are on the turn, or whether you are better off waiting for circumstances to improve before acting.

Scenario 5  – Agreed takeover

Organisation merges with or acquires another by agreement and wishes to bring the two organisations together in a coherent way. It needs to incorporate the best of both teams, while also reassuring existing customers that they are still valued.
 
Likely solution – Combined name or possibly a new name to bring everyone under the same umbrella. A new logo, which combines elements from both organisations and an identity combining heritage components from both brands, but probably with new elements to emphasise the message that ‘we are stronger together’.
 
Examples:  Lloyds TSB, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein
 
Note: There are lots of variants on this model depending on the relative strengths and market presence of the organisations involved.
 
Scenario 6 – Hostile takeover

Aggressive takeover of one organisation by another, sometimes with immediate replacement of the management team, in order to refocus strategy and achieve economies of scale.

Likely solution – Acquirer applies their own name, logo and identity to the new business to signal change of ownership, bringing the new business into the parent brand family. This can cause some fallout, particularly if lay-offs are involved, and definitely needs to be sensitively handled.
 
Examples: Vodafone/ Mannesmann / SpeedyHire plc
 
Note: This is a key area where brand considerations are often undervalued – particularly by the City and the financial community. The brand becomes a proxy for the emotional attachment customers and employees feel for the acquired company. This scenario requires very careful planning and sensitive handling to avoid damaging consequences.

Finally, the mega-brand scenario

There is one more scenario not covered above, which you might describe as the mega-brand or Tesco scenario. Some organisations go through purple patches where seemingly they can do no wrong. Market profile and customer perceptions are riding high. Financial results and share price are impressive. Their brand becomes a benchmark for quality, and an insurance policy against occasional slip-ups in service.

So what to do with a brand like this? The emphasis here shifts from transformation or re-positioning to high quality care and maintenance – essentially brand guardianship. One mistake can cause lasting damage to the brand and its reputation, so you need to be obsessive about brand integrity, protective of brand assets, and confident about leveraging your brand’s strengths.

Fortunately for the rest of the market, these purple patches rarely last, and eventually these mega-brands rejoin the rest of the pack. But in the meantime, there can be little that is more rewarding or satisfying than riding the wave and really making the most of a dominant market position.

What kind of brand are you?

So, how did you do? What kind of brand are you? If you are in good shape, then congratulations, but don’t be complacent. Things can change rapidly. If your brand and business strategy are out of whack, then you need to act fast. You know who to call.

 

 

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