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The Fallacy of “Re-Branding”

April 11, 2013 By Suzanne Tulien

Debunking the ‘external’ effort to re-position the brand.

“Oh, you’re a brand consultant? Our company just went through a re-branding effort 6 months ago. We’ve all got new business cards, a new logo, and new ad campaigns coming out.”

I cannot tell you how many times I hear this and like statements from those I meet on a daily basis. And I cannot tell you how frustrating it is to hear how much time and effort is literally wasted in creating new marketing materials, calling it ‘re-branding’, and not doing anything in terms of restructuring the internal architecture of the organization’s brand itself. Call it ‘putting lipstick on the pig’ if you will.

In fact, David Barrows, of the Design Agency says…

“40% of marketing is wasted, due to ill-informed, demotivated staff undermining the promotional promise.”

That statistic doesn’t have to be that high!

More sad news from The Chartered Institute of Marketing:

  • 69% of CMOs believe investing in the customer experience is the best way to build their brand, (however,…)
  • Only 31% of CMOs believe their leaders understand what brand means for their own part of the organization.
  • Only 22% of CMOs believe their employees understand their role in delivering a branded customer experience.

It just proves the continued disconnect with the true understanding between the function of marketing vs. the function of branding. So let’s get clear.

Marketing (simplistically speaking) is the act of communicating and disseminating information about the brand (what it stands for, promises, and ultimately delivers to its customers and stakeholders).

Brand-“ing” is the process of identifying, defining, and becoming a specific perception in the minds of your audiences (employees, customers, vendors, community). When you brand a company, you’ve done the due diligence in defining the core attributes (values, style, differentiators, and standards of performance) associated with how you want to show up and be perceived by your audience.

Unfortunately, when all we do to “re-brand” is re-design the logo, create new messaging, and hope our customers and employees ‘buy into’ the difference, without re-inventing the Brand DNA architecture, our customer experience, or our employee engagement, etc., then congratulations, all you’ve done is create a new marketing campaign. And research shows a full 40% of your efforts (if not more) may go right down the drain.

Recently, I heard a news report that the COS Airport was looking to attract more traveler traffic to fly out of the Colorado Springs and were seeking proposals from advertising agencies to rethink their messaging and other visual communication pieces (as a re-branding effort). I am, once again, cringing at that short-term thought process. The worst thing you can do, in my opinion is to “continue to apply new lipstick on the same pig” through a marketing campaign. Travelers are smarter than that. What happens to the customer’s perception when the overall experience remains the same, and just the messaging changes? It creates cognitive dissonance, discontent, and indifference. Not something CMOs wish for as their overall ROI.

Identify, Define, Become

True re-branding efforts start deep inside the organization at the DNA level for transformation to be sustainable to REDIRECT the VALUE POSITION, the PRODUCT FOCUS, and/or THE MARKETS YOU SERVE. Here are the steps:

  1. The re-branding effort should to come from a core brand task team made up of people representing all areas of the organization.
  2. The team should flesh out key attributes and desired perceptions as well as unique differentiators that can be authentically expressed through the actions & behaviors of the entire organization.
  3. Compose a powerful brand promise that positions the brand in a new light, puts a new stake in the ground to live up to as a re-branded company.
  4. Then, all the attribute outputs must be defined, and then communicated, consistently and distinctively and enlist, equip and empower the entire employee culture. Tangible actions like rolling out a new company-wide brand vocabulary, a redefined brand story, re-tooled processes that enable the brand attributes to be affirmed, and countless other internal architectural and behavioral tweaks make up a highly effective ‘re-branding effort.’

This is a continuous internal process. Not an external marketing event.

Now, once all the internal repositioning work is done, assess if you are ready to go to market with the new brand position, have effectively engaged employees, elevated customer experience, and promise. Are you able to truly walk your talk? Once agreed, go to town on the marketing. Then and only then, have you truly done the due diligence of ‘re-branding’ your organization and grow your business brand exponentially, by walking your talk, and building trust.

Who’s ready to dive in?

 

Filed Under: Brand Culture, Brand Definition, Brand Strategy, Branded Customer Experience, Cognitive Dissonance, Internal Branding, Living the Brand Tagged With: brand culture, Brand Definition, Brand DNA, brand experience, Brand Strategy, Internal Branding, re-brand, re-branding

Testimonials

“When I first came into the Personal Brand Mastermind program, I felt like my business was in a good place (just landed my biggest client to date) and wasn’t sure if it was for me. After JUST Module 1, I realized how much MORE my business can be and everything I have missed or currently am missing. What a powerful program by Suzanne and the Brand Ascension Group! Can’t wait for Module 2! Check her out if you are looking to take your business to another level and find YOUR BRAND DNA!” … Read more
Nathan Darrington, CEO, ND Total Web Design
“I highly recommend Suzanne for website, branding, and any and all creative work. She is excellent to work with: fast, on-time, full of fresh ideas, offers solutions, great attitude, multi-talented…and also fun! Suzanne has been a tremendous asset to Grizzard and our marketing program. She is an integral part of our team and success.”
Stacy Guidice, Marketing Dir., Grizzard Communications
VW-Round-BW“I’m more clear and consistent in my actions and communication across the board. I’m more mindful about what I do – and even more importantly, how I think – and have more clear direction of what actions to take next and why. Identifying, defining, and stepping into my authentic self was exactly what I was looking for and needing to kick-start my next level of success! Because I am “Uniquely Wise, Deliciously Inspired!” Thank you Suzanne!”
Veronica WirthOwner + Creative DirectorDesign BistroVermont
“Suzanne is a fantastic brand expert who makes an immediate impact to the bottom line. Her efforts helped me successfully launch a small business venture (fitness gym: dynamic-gyms.com) into a very competitive market achieving break even revenue goals within three weeks of opening! Simply unheard of in this market segment. This would not have been possible without her direct efforts to help us succeed.”
Larry Solecki, CEO, Dynamic Training & Fitness Gyms
“Suzanne is personable, precise in her communications, and extremely professional. Her concept and methodology of brand development is simple and powerful, and it’s already reaping great results! Her vast experience and impeccable integrity make her a powerful member of my business team. I highly recommend Suzanne to any business owner seeking greater impact and a bigger bottom line! Great Results, Expert, High Integrity!”
Chevy Chevallard, CEO, Conduct Your Life!
Tonya-round-BW-web“Building on a lot of prior soul-searching and “inside work,” the Personal Brand Presence DNA process has helped me to step into an image that is consistent with who I know myself to be. It helped me to articulate what it really means to walk my talk in a way that’s visible and tangible, not just to me but also to others, and I will forever be grateful for that.”
Tonya Henderson, Ph.D, Gly Solutions
“Suzanne is a subject matter expert and superb facilitator for building a dynamic culture and brand. I have been in two organizations that immersed themselves in her engaging and powerful Brand DNA process. Her process fully enrolls everyone from customer facing staff to senior executives so that all conclusions are readily embraced and instantly internalized by all stakeholders. If your enterprise wants to experience immediate and lasting transformation, engage Suzanne.”
Robert Todd, Operations & Finance Expert
DeniseWhitaker-BW-Round“Taking the Personal Brand Presence course was like going through a re-birthing process for myself. It was truly enlightening to have that alone time with ME, and rediscover who I was. The course and consulting sessions were empowering, and added so much confidence to my state of being!”
Denise Whitaker, Realtor
“By participating in Suzanne’s Personal Brand Mastermind Group I revealed my true, distinctive brand attributes which has allowed me to actively live my true brand self. It has been a tremendous value for my networking and branding of my consulting practice. Her program was professionally crafted and delivered with personal support and guidance. I would recommend Brand Ascension’s programs for any person or organization looking to elevate their brand presence.”
Mark ShadlePresidentSpeed2ResultsColorado Springs
SuzanneKladder-BW-Round“Suzanne and her Personal Brand program are amazing. She really gets you to take an honest, in-depth look at who you really are at your core and get past what you or others think you are. She helped me abandoned the idea that I needed to be perfect and to realize that perfection is me being me. The work I did with Suzanne continues to help me behave in a consistent, authentic way and it has had a positive impact on my business.”
Suzanne Kladder, Sales Whisperer

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