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Why do brands fail?

February 15, 2012

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Lack of conviction and commitment. What a waste!

I am continuously surprised at the large list of companies who realize and identify the supreme importance of developing their brands. Engage the process, identify the USP's necessary to deliver the company’s brand promise and provide the evidence needed to support the delivery of that promise internally and internally

And then, don’t do anything with it.

They fail to properly budget for the implementation.

They fail to properly direct and support it and flaunt it from the top.

Heck…they even forget to live the brand promise internally especially at the ‘c’ level. They say one thing, then do another or do nothing and let the implementation fall to the middle of the company where it is lost in the impotency of middle management and their inability to get anything done…all the while the competition’s eating the company’s lunch, the share price is falling, the number one position they held for so many years is in jeopardy.

Wake up management!

The brand – all good brands anyway – start inside the company with the company president, the company vision and the company culture. A great brand is built from the inside out. And, it’s hard work…are you up to the task?

We had an east coast client who imported merchandise from the Pacific Rim and repackaged it, re-branded it and sold it to the big box stores and direct to the educational market. Family held and family run, this company thrived on a proud internal mission and brand promise. To such a degree that every management meeting started with someone citing the company’s mission statement. As a matter of course. The CEO embraced this approach, in fact he lived the brand promise. Very frequently, he would appear on the plant floor (managing by wandering around MBWA) and ask  random associates what the mission statement was. If that employee knew it or was darn close, he’d give the employee a day off – or a nice night on the town for the employee and partner – or something else valuable. Here’s why that was important:

It’s not so much that the employee knew what the mission statement was – the important part was that the employees knew it was important to the senior leaderships. Living the brand promise creates a great brand culture.

So, in order to make your company stronger and more valuable, don't just pay it lip service to your brand…live it every day, become a brand champion and a brand ambassador…and over time you and you company will be the company that you envisioned when you first embraced brand development.
 

By Tom Traynor