Why Your Brand Strategy Needs To Grow With Your Company

What types of corporate growth spark the need for a brand strategy refresh?

If the foundational tenets of what your brand stands for, internally and externally, have changed over time and are no longer relevant – it’s likely you’ve outgrown your original brand strategy. Now is the perfect time to evaluate and refresh the way your brand is communicating.

Every company is unique and follows a different path – therefore, a change in brand and communication strategy can occur at any point in a company’s life cycle. For instance, a startup might be in need of a brand strategy refresh after being in the market for a few years – having passed the time for building credibility, its work can now speak for itself. On the other hand, a well-established company would benefit from refreshing its brand strategy after acquiring another brand, with its own brand and employees – resulting in converging brand strategies that may be similar, but leaving audiences asking questions rather than finding answers.

Internal benefits of unified brand strategy development

A consistent brand strategy gives internal teams a position to rally around, supporting their company as well as each other in reaching a common goal. In today’s work culture, employees desire an environment where they feel valued and have purpose. Clear brand strengths and an authentic brand positioning are imperative for cultivating a culture that is differentiated – one that welcomes talent. I for one, have an affinity for brands where employees feel more like extended family than just a cube-mate. Where people are more than just employees – they’re collaborators, mentors and partners. If you’ve recently been through a M&A, are you communicating a cohesive brand vision? Do your internal teams have a unified brand goal they’re working toward?

External benefits of unified brand strategy development

A unified brand strategy not only helps a company truly identify its internal voice – but externally, in a crowded landscape where every company is vying for a differentiated voice. Customer and client audiences change over time as new offerings are created or acquired – it’s imperative to ensure your company’s messaging is speaking to these new audiences. Do clients know what your brand stands for? Can they clearly identify how your brand is different from competitors? Do they even know you’re speaking to them?

In relationships, we know communication is imperative to making things work – we should communicate to our customers just as succinctly.

Brand positioning backed by research

Sometimes it’s difficult to identify the need for a new, fresh strategy. Ideally, we want to live and breathe our company’s brand and culture – it’s difficult to view it from an outside perspective.

Research with key audiences is vital to examining how your brand is performing with external audiences and among competitors. Thoughtful, strategically designed brand assessment research can produce insights to help support a brand refresh, new brand strategy and may identify unmet needs with target audiences.

This brand assessment research will also provide necessary benchmarks for future brand tracking.

Once you’ve identified that it’s time for a brand strategy update, a brand tracking plan will be essential in assessing changes/habits with your target audiences and competitive landscape. Data can tell a very compelling, unbiased story of how a company is perceived today, and comparatively in the future.

The truth about corporate growth

We’re all in relationships – with spouses, friends, family, colleagues – and we’re ever-changing. We understand that for these relationships be healthy and thrive, we must invest time; intentionally seek out resources for advice and possibly, re-adjust our ideals. We do this because we see something in the other person that is worth investing in for the future. Some of our most enduring, well-loved brands have had to face uncertainty or chaos among a competitive, ever-changing market. SPANX didn’t want to just offer footless pantyhose; Netflix wasn’t satisfied providing customers with rentable DVDs. Companies like SPANX, Netflix, Nike, Amazon (the list could go on) understand the importance of brand growth strategies. These companies do not exist today as they once were – they’ve evolved their positions, target audiences and communication strategies to meet market and consumer demands. They continuously invest – in their brand, their customers, their employees – and it shows.

To learn more about our branding services, visit our consumer branding page. To speak with one of our experts for more branding insights, contact us.