Branding. Life or Death for Businesses.
Part Four: Importance of Updating your Branding the Right Way.
As we know from Madonna vs Cyndi, it is important to roll with the punches and keep your brand looking fresh and up to date. Many companies assume this is business suicide, changing your brand and moving away from what made you a success in the first place. But that’s just it, what made you a success in the ‘first’ place!
When was it? The 1920’s? The 1970’s? Think about your customers then, and your customer’s now, chances are they want different things, look a different way, shop a different way. By not even attempting to keep up with the new social culture, can be almost as fatal to your business.
While it is necessary to keep up, it is also essential to do it the right way. This is what keeps companies like Coca Cola constantly changing but constantly on top of the market, from companies like Pepsi who are constantly changing but constantly heading down hill in the market. Why you ask? Simple. Think about Coca Cola’s brand, their logo and bottle branding over the year’s…
Each bottle and logo is fitting of the decade, but at the same time they all look like they are part of the same family. The core basics that make up the company stays the same, the core visual does not change. This is where Pepsi fails when it comes to their logo and bottle design, it does not stay consistent, each change is dramatic which cause’s their message, their style, their substance to get lost. So which ever logo began your company? Stays with your company. It just grows, that’s it, that’s all.
Some company’s mistake ‘updating your image’ for drastic change, and wonder why half their customer base goes missing and their profit margin starts to decline. The ‘drastic’ change is what cause’s a marketing platform to crack. The more drastic, the bigger the crack.
Your company image is what makes you identifiable to the world, it’s what sets you apart from the rest and is what attracted your customers to you in the beginning. It represents your values, your character, your substance. Customer’s want to know you can evolve with them (which is why those updates are still necessary) but not at the expense of your overall image which is what will be lost if you change it 100%. Doing that? You are once again lost in that sea of competition, your current customer’s can’t find you anymore, and you have to start, all. over. again.
Remember the phone number from Part One? You can change the font and the style of those digits, you cannot however change the numbers all together. How would anyone find you if you changed your phone number without telling them? Evolve, roll with the punches, show your customers you can keep up with the paces, don’t loose them by changing who you are, who your company is, and what your image represents.
Need some advice on your branding? Looking to update your image but are not quite sure how? Pop in to us today from some free advice and a free consultation…
