With so much change, especially these last 2 years of the pandemic, it’s important to revisit your brand’s relevance for your customers and determine if there is a need for a refresh in its positioning.
Harvard Business Review (HBR) advises brand reinvention focus on 4 areas (with examples of Apple, Gucci, McDonalds in their Dec'21 report)
“Start with the Product
A signature brand aesthetic is crucial to a brand recovery. The more defined the aesthetic, the more curatorial rigor it offers to design, merchandising, and styling, and the more it allows these functions to align in delivering a new, shared brand experience. A signature brand aesthetic translates into core products, which are the purest distillation of what a brand is.
“Refine Your Brand Story
A clear and compelling brand story gives products context and narrative, which can help increase their desirability. When a brand sells products, it’s selling a story. When consumers buy products, they are buying into this story. In addition to being a valuable brand currency, brand storytelling is also critical for customer acquisition and loyalty.
“Connect with Pop Culture
Cultural hooks reflect a brand’s role in the world and ensure its credibility with its target audiences. Brands must transport that heritage to new customers and modern values” (e.g., diversity, gender neutrality, and sustainability)
“Know Your Customer
Companies have plenty of customer data, but they often lack customer insight. Brands should create a customer framework that is directional, actionable, and speaks to multiple internal stakeholders at once. Focus on the core customer targets, and go in-depth on their motivations and interests, media habits and key influences, core purchase points, and barriers to purchase. This will be different for every brand …conduct this research before making critical planning decisions.”
So, does your brand need reinvention?