No strategy and brand development practice improves quality, builds awareness or reveals the best a brand can offer like a brand review. It’s a critical process to determine your brand’s true market valuation in order to fix mistakes or find gaps that have been overlooked. It is a necessary, albeit a painstaking activity for some who are hardened in their belief that their 'brand' has been tinkered with enough. But left alone without reviews places the brand in jeopardy of falling behind its competition and losing market mindshare.
The brand review, or in marketer’s parlance, the audit review, is the number one way to set the correct style, tone, messaging, and related communications expectations for the organization. Small tweaks are far less costly to make than complete overhauls, and the faster they are made the more in touch your brand can remain with its market.
Although big data is an awesome tool to harness while forming judgments about a brand, the brand review process should not be automated. Rather, individuals who have access to the big data who know how to harness its insights and power should be in charge.
We have identified seven ways to review your brand like a pro.
1.) Keep it Distinctive
There’s always a temptation to be all things to all people but nothing will water your brand down into nothingness faster than being like every other brand in your marketplace.
2.) Keep it Interactive
You’ve been living with your brand for a long time but most of your new customers have not been, unless you’re leading a Fortune 500. So feel free to experiment with different branding approaches to see what sticks with your audience.
3.) Keep it Simple
Far too many brands try to be clever to stand out but often trendy themes are selected which when they go out of vogue, so does your brand. What’s cool today probably will be dull tomorrow. A much more effective approach is to find the center of your brand’s purpose and a unique way to present it. This will capture your market’s attention and bring value back to your primary brand versus leading them away from it with a trendy approach.
Making the brand review an ongoing practice of your organization will ensure it stays current and relevant in the market—not something you have to do, but something you want to do. That’s how the pros think about brand reviews and how they keep their brands in leadership positions.
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Tom Wants To Hear Your Branding Issues:
Tom Marin, Managing Partner of MarketCues, wants to hear from you! Follow MarketCues on Twitter for branding and social media tips, as well as the latest trends. Tom also welcomes emails, new LinkedIn connections, calls to (407) 330-7708 or visit www.marketcues.com. How can he help solve your branding issues?
Note: If you are a printing company or product/services company serving the print-media market, and would like to be considered for a feature in this blog, please contact Tom Marin for an interview.
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Tom Marin is the Founder and President of MarketCues, Inc., a national consulting firm. He has worked for some of the world’s largest corporations and middle-market firms. Tom’s focus is to help CEOs drive their strategy shifts and strategic growth programs. Follow MarketCues on Twitter. Tom also welcomes emails new LinkedIn connections or calls to (919) 908-6145.