Hard Times No matter how great your service/product my be, chances are that you will go through a period of time when business in your type of market is slow. When times get tough, business owners need get creative by looking for opportunities where others see hopelessness and finding the opening where your brand can thrive.
Popular belief suggests that in hard times it’s best to tighten your belt and cut marketing and branding expenditures, this is when most businesses owners all too often turn their approach away from brand-centric being to price-centric thinking. And so it begins, the vicious downward spiral where brand value erodes, in turn reducing revenues, which further tightens belts and brand value continues to erode. When businesses cut their outreach, they also begin to cut the ties that bond consumers to those brands, leaving some customers stranded. Marketing to such potential customers enables you to seize market share. As competitors scale back their activities and weaker brands die off, opportunity beckons—providing no better time for your business to achieve marketing success.
Businesses who maintain a strategic perspective through hard times and invest in their brands become stronger. Only the best positioned players will survive and thrive. It’s important to stress that investing and spending are not one in the same. Branding shouldn’t be seen as another cost counted against your marketing budget. Branding is an investment—one that, if done properly, will yield exponential returns over the life of your business.
Brand Maintenance
Maintenance of your brand is a never-ending task. It ensures your brand promise is; clear, simple direct, and last but never least, consistent. When you look at your branding as an investment, rather than a cost, the benefits are clear. Brand maintenance pays out over the lifetime of your company, enabling you to attract better customers, with more authority, while commanding higher prices for your products or services. Furthermore, customer loyalty, stealing market share from the weaker brands, and brand equity position you for an exponential return on investment. If ever there were a no-brainer investment for your company’s future, brand maintenance is it.
Keeping your brand in a thriving state through hard times, can be hard work. That’s the nature of it. Every brand is different but if you tend your brand, it will grow, word will spread, customer numbers will increase, and so will your profits. This might sound salesy, invest in your brand and your brand will take care of you. Neglect it and you’ll get buried by your competitors’. When you consider the benefits of a well positioned, well maintained brand it’s hard to argue.
Are you using a clear strategy? Are you prepared to pounce quickly on opportunities as they arise?
Need to rejuvenate your brand strategy? That’s just what I do. When you’re ready to take the next step and start building and maintaining your brand awareness, I’ll help you do that too. I love helping our clients succeed with their business!