Risky Business: How to Safe Guard Your Brand

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Over 80% of the Fortune 500 Company CEO’s identified ‘their brand’ as their company’s number one asset. Their brand was valued as being what defined their business and what made them unique in their market.

 

Your brand is what sets you apart from your competition. It is the differentiating factor used by your consumer’s in their decision making process.

 

In our home lives we tend to take great care of our valuable assets. We try to preempt things that can go wrong and insure against them. Not only is your car insured against any potential accidents, you also wear your seat belt, maintain the speed limits, drive with care. You try to identify and reduce potential risks before they occur. If your brand is the greatest asset to your business then what measures have you put in place to protect it from potential risks?

 

 

Brand Risks

Brands face exposure to a huge amount of risk (product or service), many of which will be specific to each individual brand, not to mention industry categories or specific sectors, be they B2B or B2C. In addition to the obvious risks faced from product liability lawsuits or adverse regulatory decisions, other risks your brand could face include:

 

Costa Concordia Runs Aground 600px

 

Structural Risk

These are risks where exposure might affect an entire industry or market segment. The sinking of the luxury cruise liner Costa Concordia may have destroyed the reputation of its parent brand Carnival Corporation but it also damaged the entire industry with numerous cruise liner brands suffering the effects

 

Brand Equity Risk

Brand Equity risks undermine your brand’s ability to maintain desired differentiation and competitive advantage. If your brand identity is the only thing that differs your offering from that of your competitors then the loss of brand affinity by consumers will affect your entire business.

 

Reputational Risk

These risks arise from failure to meet basic expectations that apply to the market in which your company operates.

 

The famous case of Tylenol is a textbook example of how brand risk management can save the reputation of a company and lead to stronger brand loyalty. When faced with a case of product tampering that would de-rail most brands, Tylenol’s excellent foresight about risk enabled them to rapidly implement pre-planned re-packaging that preserved the company’s reputation.

  

 Tylenol 600px

  

Why Brand Risk Management is Important

 

A brand is so much more than a name. The value of a brand lies in the unique emotional and functional benefits it offers its target audience. Often the biggest brand risk is not about new competitors coming to the market, it is about loosing the trust and connection it has with its consumers.

 

Strong well-known brands that are poorly managed can lose their distinction in the market place. Their products or services simply become commodities distinguished only by price. The brand name might prevail but the value of the brand erodes; market share, profit margins, and loyalty all decline. In essence, the power of the brand is lost.

 

The risk of a damaged brand is far more dangerous and costly to a business than risks to tangible assets. A factory destroyed by fire can be replaced with financial investment. A brand with a damaged reputation takes far more investment to repair and in some cases is too damaged and needs complete rebranding. It also becomes a lasting case study in how “not-to-do-it” with is an irreparable legacy association.

 

Rebuilding a brand’s reputation takes much more than just money. Changes in stakeholder perceptions can threaten the sustainability of current and future demand for a company’s product or services.  A risk to brand equity is a risk to a brand’s ability to create value or influence in its market, in short its ability to generate a profitable return.

 

 

Are You Brand Risk Aware?

Managing brand risk is really about running the business effectively and understanding, at the core, the fundamental risks facing the business.

 

Safe guarding your brand from potential risks must begin by developing a clear understanding of the value of the brand to the business. By clearly illustrating the brand’s contribution to earnings, you can gain perspective and properly assess the scale and nature of the risks attached to the brand. 

 

When unanticipated change occurs brands can be hit hard because typical crisis management does not include appropriate brand risk management strategies too. If you have spent time and resources to shape and build strong brand equity then you need to protect your investment and manage your brand’s future. Your brand strategy should also include mitigating potential risks to your brand too. Be proactive, preempt, plan, and safe guard your company’s revenue stream.

 

• Identifying and evaluating the existing practices and procedures that are used to develop, support and track brand performance will help identify potential risks that may contribute to brand erosion. Have you undertaken a brand audit?

 

• Have you identified the risks faced by your brand?

 

• Do you know what your stakeholders expect from you?

 

• Have you a contingency plan in place to protect your brand?

 

 

Brand Awareness or Audience Annoyance? Context is King!

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One of the biggest brand marketing challenges for companies is to try and increase consumer recognition and recall of their brand.

 

The ability of a brand to capture the audiences’ attention, and quickly communicate its message is key to shaping the brand’s identity within its  target market.

 

We talked about reducing consumer confusion to ease the purchasing decision making process. A brand that has a strong identity makes it easy for a consumer to understand where the brand fits within its market, and why they should choose it over its competitors.

 

 

Don’t Confuse Your Audience, Help Them Choose: Why Context is Important

The ‘how’ and ‘where’ of communicating with your target audience should not just be dictated by maximum reach but by selecting what would best help the consumer develop a greater understanding of your brand identity.

 

In other words, the channels you choose should be congruent with your brands positioning strategy. A consumer who understands the brand’s identity is far more likely to recall the brand and recognize it during the decision making process.

 

Context is important for the brand and consumer alike. The choice of where to place your brand should help to convince your audience to choose your brand above competitors, not confuse them. Brand familiarity is key to strong sales, increased market share and growing brand profitability.

 

Jumping on the Live Brand Wagon

The explosion of product placement in film and television is a testament to the difficulty of grabbing audiences’ attention through traditional advertising. With multiple channels available to an audience, as well as the ability to record and skip over advertisements, big brands have started looking elsewhere to gain brand exposure to a captive audience.  Live broadcasts are the latest space being targeted in an effort to get the attention of a focused audience.

 

Inappropriate Exposure: Where Brands Go Wrong

Live broadcasts of sporting occasions or awards shows have typically been top of the highest TV viewing figure polls. The 2012 Superbowl attracted a staggering 111 million viewers. This year’s Oscars was viewed by 39.3 million people, and In Ireland over 2 million Irish fans tuned in to cheer on the boys in green in their clash against Spain during Euro 2012, that’s nearly half the population of the country!

 

While advertising around these types of events has always attracted huge brand buy-ins, a new trend is emerging which see’s brands targeting the live shows themselves. While live events offer the potential of huge exposure for brands, exposure without context begs the question are these brand attention seekers creating awareness or just annoyance?

 

The Tony Awards 2012

The biggest award night for the world of theatre took place last week in New York with the live broadcast of the show attracting a TV audience of over 6 million.

 

Not content with just a 30 second slot during the ad break, Royal Caribbean Cruise Liner also paid for a 4 minute infomercial during the ceremony, featuring singers and dancers from their cruise line entertainment, performing songs from the musical Hairspray, with explicit mentions of the brand by the award presenter.

 

Audiences of the show were certainly made aware of the brand, but this attempt of such an obvious sell in the middle of what is deemed a prestigious award ceremony might lead to more annoyance than awareness.

 

For a brand that is trying to attract an audience and strengthen brand identity, annoying audiences can lead to negative brand associations and ultimately do more harm than good.

 

 

AMA 2011

Even more bizarre than Royal Caribbean cruise’s Tony appearance, was the use of a FIAT 500 on stage at last year’s American Music Awards during Jennifer Lopez’s performance.

 

Although the singer was paid to endorse the brand, it’s lack of relevance in the setting of the AMA stage made the brand stand out but not necessarily for the right reasons.

 

 

Irish Brand’s Stunt Gets it Right with Relevancy at Euro 2012

It may have been cheeky but at least Irish brand Paddy Power picked a relevant event for their latest branding stunt that saw them send branded boxers to various players in Euro 2012.

 

The stunt paid off with millions around the world getting a glimpse of the brand when a Danish player lifted his shirt as part of his goal celebrations. While the player may be penalized for the stunt that infringed on the strict brand restrictions in place for Euro 2012, Paddy Power received valuable brand exposure with their target audience.

 

 

Use Relevant Channels to Help Your Audience Understand Your Brand

Integrating a brand into a live broadcast is not just about gaining brand exposure but should be treated as another congruent touch point in which you can reinforce the brand identity with your target audience. 

 

The ability for a consumer to recall a brand is influenced by all their interactions with that brand. The context in which the audience sees the brand helps them to understand the brand’s message, arming them with the information they need during a purchasing decision process.

 

For a company, this means that you should be looking to create a synergy within your brand marketing strategy where by each brand communication strengthens and reinforces the message of the others.

 

Remember, your brand is looking to convince, not confuse, and build strong relationships.  Strengthen your brand identity by picking the channel that best suits your brand and your audience. 

 

• Are you picking the communication channels most relevant to your audience?

 

• Where are you marketing your brand?

 

• Is this strengthening your brand identity or just causing confusion?

 

What do you think of the contexts of the brand placements mentioned?

 

Can You Streamline and Simplify to Increase Your Brand Profitability?

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Tea or Coffee? When restricted to two options, choosing your preference is simple. However, standing at a supermarket shelf faced with several brands and multiple varieties the choice can be overwhelming.

 

Supermarket Shelf Overwhelm

 Supermarket shelf choice overwhelm!

 

When it comes to building a strong profitable brand sometimes less is more. If your brand aims to deliver then it must make the decision making process as easy as possible for the consumer.

 

Is it Time for Your Brand to Streamline and Simplify?

Sometimes you might feel you are offering the market everything you can: offering multiple products to multiple market segments, and communicating through all the marketing touch points at your disposal.  However, if you are not seeing the returns to match this level of offering perhaps it is time to simplify your marketing strategy.

 

Ford Any Colour As Long As Its Black

Ford: Any colour as long as it’s black!

 

4 Ways to Streamline Your Brand Strategy and Strengthen Your Brand Equity

 

1. Focus

Offering everything to everyone rarely works. Different markets have different needs.  Reassessing and refocusing your brand marketing strategy can help your company identify who your consumers really are, what that market wants, and how best to target them. A highly targeted brand experience offers greater value to the consumer which in turn can lead to greater brand affinity and a more lasting profitable relationship between the brand and consumer.

 

2. Be Selective

Just because you can use multiple channels to communicate with your market doesn’t mean you should. Using multiple channels can lead to noise and increased consumer confusion rather than creating a strong brand message. Being selective with your touch points makes it easier to monitor the consumer’s reaction and responses to your brand, thereby making it easier to structure your brand message to best influence your target market.

 

Being selective should also extend to the marketing message itself. Keep the message clear and concise. You should be able to communicate your brand message in a few short sentences.

 

3. Streamline Product Offering

Streamlining your brand offering can actually lead to increased sales. Eliminating certain brand offerings can also eliminate consumer confusion. A simpler more focused brand strategy can be more appealing to consumers and makes their decision to purchase an easier one. If 30% of your products generate 70% of your sales then reducing your product offering can actually boost sales.

 

Ronseal Wood Stain

 

4. Simplify Who You Are & What You Do

A focused brand strategy starts from the inside. If you cannot articulate who you are and what you sell as a company in a few short minutes then you need to look at streamlining your internal strategy. Analyze why you ‘do what you do’, outline core values, set goals, and perhaps redefine your product offering. Reassessing your original corporate strategy can help focus your brand strategy moving forward. When you started in business what were you selling? Who was your target market? What was your original brand identity?

 

Why it Can Work – The Jam Effect

Columbia University conducted a consumer study offering an array of brands of jam and chocolate for consumers to choose from. Consumers who were given a choice of 6 brands were 30% more likely to make a purchase than those given a choice of 24-30 brands.

 

Toothpast Choice Paralysis

Toothpaste choice paralysis!

 

Decision Simplicity in the purchase process is the number 1 reason why consumers 
are likely to buy your brand, do so repeatedly, and recommend it to others.

 

One of the fundamental roles of a brand is to positively influence purchase behavior. Having a focused streamlined brand offering with a clear brand message that simplifies the decision making process at the point of purchase can be a winning strategy.

 

Consumers faced with multiple brand variations can be overwhelmed. Offering consumers a refined selection can give your brand a point of differentiation within your market.

 

A brand that tries to offer everything to everyone will satisfy some but wow few. Being selective and focused with your product offering, your marketing channels, and your brand message can lead to expanding profits. It’s that simple.

 

 

• Is your level of commercial returns relative to the size of your brand offering?

 

• Do you need to refocus your brand positioning?

 

• Is your brand strategy in need of simplification?

 

• Do you need to eliminate consumer brand confusion?

 

What’s your view on implementing a simpler decision making process for your customer through a streamlined brand offering? 

 

TLTR: Why streamlining your brand strategy can strengthen your brand profitability. Decision simplicity in the purchase process is the number 1 reason why consumer s
are likely to buy your brand, do so repeatedly, and recommend it to others. Sometimes the brand with the smallest market offering presents the greatest brand value to the consumer.