Your brand is your greatest asset or “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” (which I borrowed from Mr Jeff Bezos) are the two leads I use to get the audience to consider how powerful their brand is. If a typical SME took the time to consider them, I imagine the smart ones in the room might decide to take some time to review their approach to brand or their current brand position.
I recently found this article by Blair Brady by chance. It shares much of the content I would cover. It says it doesn’t matter your industry, product, services, customer or size; we all share the fact that our brands are so important to us. And because of this fact, we should protect and grow them.
But do businesses give their brand time and consideration? In company and board meetings, we discuss everything else but do we provide the brand with a voice? It’s easy to discuss historical accounts, management accounts, balance sheets and P&L, isn’t it? You can implement change and strategies to improve numbers. But it is far more difficult to recover a brand once it begins its decline. Whether due to issues missed or things not discussed at a management level, especially when you haven’t audited, reviewed or given it a voice at a critical time. Imagine what your brand would say if it could have a seat at the boardroom table. If your brand is your most important asset, how many businesses take time to review it and its effectiveness – to treat it correctly?
Successful businesses invest in their brand and the related design that supports it. Charles Darwin said, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” I think we can think of our brands in a similar way. If you don’t evolve, adapt and change in a positive sense, you’ll get left behind. Your competition will get the better of you, and before you know it, you might be extinct.
To protect and grow, we must first have systems to check in and confirm everything is as it should be. Blair outlines theirs in the above document, but you could create your own as long as you have a way of reviewing. Combine these with physical results from activities, and you’ll have a fantastic way to measure your brand performance. Review, and you’ll have results – Hopefully it’ll be a positive thumbs up, may be a thumbs down or not conclusive. Either way, it’ll give you facts to consider and act upon.
So, your brand is your greatest asset – What will you do for it moving forward?
Get in touch with Mark