How do you keep your brand current? Mark Di Somma of Branding Strategy Insider has recently written a pretty tough article “Brands Get What They Deserve.”
His thesis is that a brand decision “is a negotiation between what has worked to date and what is required to succeed going forward.” And he gives short shrift to brands that claim their declining success is due to the economy or some outside factor.
Brands, says Mr. Di Somma, must capitalize on what “rings true with customers.” At the same time, they should be ready to abandon what has overstayed its welcome. He points out that they hold onto an approach because they hope they can squeeze more value out of it or because they’re just not ready with a new alternative. Then, when disaster strikes, they whine. (He didn’t put it this way, but I do.)
He believes that brands must take action to change their circumstances. Equally important, though, “Change alone though is not enough – in the sense that changing in and of itself produces nothing. It is the nature of the change, and more particularly the effects of that change, that decide where your brand goes next.”
He further notes that, while efficiency is important, it’s likely to have negative consequences if “it takes the form of watering down what is offered in the hopes that consumers won’t notice or care.” Mr. Di Somma mentions the example of your favorite chocolate bar becoming unaccountably smaller or airline seats becoming tighter—truly not a fun experience. I’m thinking of the recent PR fracas around United Airline’s economy seating and baggage check provisions, which appears to have been handled somewhat better by American.
But I digress.
The whole point of Mr. Di Somma’s article, I believe, is that brands must be ever-vigilant about what makes them valuable to their customers and also super-smart about the changes they decide to make. As he puts it, “The sticking point I believe is that many brands have not connected the future they want with the brand they need … They have arrived at the numbers. What they have not finalized are the behavioral implications of achieving those numbers and the impacts those behaviors will have.”
Brands, however venerable, are vulnerable. They must change with the times. Yet every change must be balanced against potential consequences.
What are your thoughts?
Mark Di Somma says
Thanks for including me in your article Susan. I appreciate it. regards, Mark