According to Henry Ford’s famous nugget of wisdom, “Failure doesn’t mean it’s already the end of the world. It’s simply the opportunity to begin again, more intelligently.” This adage is a perfect enlightenment for marketers and business owners who face a significant backlash in their branding strategy.
Let’s say you hit a painful realization that your brand, in all honesty, is all over the place and is not generating the engagements that you expect. Or worse, you have a well-defined brand, but you notice that it just doesn’t fit the ethics of your business.
When the Plague Strikes
According to the study conducted by netimperative, about half of consumers will end up liking a brand more after an unpleasant experience, provided that it’s well-handled and in the right way. Apologizing and admission to mistakes can be a difficult thing to do. Notwithstanding, brands who refuse to take accountability will face serious consequences.
Brands sometimes get it wrong and fall flat in marketing department despite having the best intentions. But it shouldn’t compromise the loyalty of the customer. The best thing to do when your mess up is to get on your feet and take charge, the sooner, the better.
Look for Customer Engagements in Different Perspectives
For the sake of your brand, be creative about how you engage with consumers and stop doing what everyone else is doing. There are unique mediums that you can use such as guest posting services, content marketing, influencer marketing, etc.
You should learn by now that there’s no such thing as one-size-fits-all when it comes to marketing. Don’t grow complacent, but learn to mix up and experiment. Don’t be too predictable, instead, think out of the box. Every brand is vulnerable so don’t take your audience for granted.
You need to remember that consumers re-evaluate their needs more often than not. Be on the front end and guide the consumers as they reinvent themselves instead of just being reactive to their needs. You need to manage your customer engagement strategy on a higher level if you don’t want others to do it better than you.
Establish a Relatable Identity
It’s puzzling to see how brands muddle their unique value proposition (UVP) to get the attention of people. In their efforts to renew and reinvent, they complicate things which only frustrates the consumers. Thus, the branding campaign fails.
The identity of a brand is most powerful when its value proposition strengthens and evolves in alignment with the ever-changing lifestyle demands of the audience. Make it simple since people don’t have the time to decipher what your brand is trying to solve. Consumers want brands to be straightforward while at the same time forward-thinking. In short, deliberate with their identity.
Develop a Lifestyle Platform for Your Brand
Business owners and marketers need to remember that the influence of brand can reach one’s state of mind and lifestyle. If your brand isn’t a way-of-life platform that communicates hope and inspires people, the influence and impact of its message will quickly evaporate into thin air.
Consumers want the value proposition of your brand to come to life and affect their lifestyle through messaging that’s not only educational but also applicable to them. A comprehensive branding approach gives people hope, which increases your chance to earn the trust and loyalty of the consumers. It also creates a more precise feedback and dialogue to keep your brand operating in continuous innovation mode.
Continue to Innovate With a Flawless Execution and Timing
Innovation may be an obvious strategy, yet many companies are too late or fall short in their branding efforts. Just like Blockbuster and Blackberry, all of which failed to innovate in go with the digital flow in branding arena.
Nowadays, markets demand flawless execution and perfect timing for every new strategy that you implement. It’s more than just cultivating your brand in blogger outreach platforms, print ads, and web. You should be all set when the consumers are ready, which means that your timing must sync with the demands of your audience.
And please, don’t launch a new packaging, product, service, strategy or logo if your audience is not yet ready or you are not prepared to bring the requirements for sustainable success till the end. There are no shortcuts to success. It’s a form of slow death in a marketplace where consumers anticipate brands to over-deliver before they buy.
Promote the Spirit of Giving
The majority of marketers fail to realize that generosity is an integral part of every brand’s DNA. Being a great brand is about genuinely sharing the success with others whether they have purchased your product or not. It’s not just about profitability and market share gains.
Make it a point to show your gratitude and respect to the people and communities who support your brand. Grant sponsorships, support charitable organizations and events and be consistent with your community outreach efforts.
If you just want to keep it simple or have insufficient resources, be sure to at least show your gratitude and say thank you to those who supported your brand through thick and thin.
Leave a Legacy
What is the product association or experience that you want to leave behind for your brand? What will your audience remember most about how it affects their lifestyle or business?
The most successful brands don’t experience an identity crisis. These brands understand the responsibilities that they have to their audience. Their innovations are genuine, sincere and consistently delivered. And they focus on the interests of their consumers.
These brands fall flat on the excitement scale sometimes, but their customers remain satisfied. You know that you are creating a robust brand legacy when the loyalty of your client is strong and remains unfazed by strong competitions.
Takeaway
Failure is just a natural part of mastering and learning your craft. It’s just a condiment that makes success more flavorful in the future. The good thing about failing whether at branding, marketing and even in relationships is that you can incorporate the lessons that you learn from your past failures and apply them to your future branding endeavors.
Patrick Panuncillon is an adventurous entrepreneur and the clever mind behind Creative Working Playground, the brainchild of his passion for digital marketing and content management services. He is also a big writing aficionado. He loves to write just about anything related to business and technology as a form of his creative outlet. Patrick is also a jet-setter and goes out on travel escapade whenever his time permits.