When a Company Loses Brand Relevance in Its Marketplace
January 27, 2022
The greatest danger facing companies today is loss of brand relevance. With constant change and heightened customer expectations, many businesses struggle to keep up. They must stay competitive, adapt quickly, and maintain their position in the marketplace. If they do not, the brand stops being relevant.
Here are some of the reasons a brand loses its relevance:
Losing sight of the company vision
A company needs to be continuously shifting with the ever-changing needs of their customers, trends, and technology to keep them growing and prosperous. But it remains essential that the brand stay true to its identity and how it influences buyers’ behaviors. It is the vision that should guide your company in its decisions. The vision is what connects your customers to you and what you stand for.
Out of touch with customers
Customers are more in control than ever, and their expectations of brands continue to increase. Technology further disrupts those expectations, allowing customers easy ways to perceive and interact with brands in new ways. You must have a clear understanding of who your customer is, what they want and need, and how to give them what they want. The customer has become ultra-connected with their device so if your brand cannot shift to satisfy them and provide exactly what they are looking for, they will easily find it and get it elsewhere. When they go elsewhere, your relevance goes, too.
Lack of consistency
Strong brands are built on trust and loyalty. That can come from consistency in what your customers expect. There was a time when the post office was known for delivering in rain, sleet and snow. The motto was more than literal because many people trusted that they would get your package delivered when it was expected. That trust has been eroded with many inconsistencies leaving many to wonder when their package will arrive. With trust eroded, customers look for other options, such as buying online gift cards for the holidays that by-pass the mail.
Lack of innovation
A big problem with brands that lose relevance is that they fail to innovate. They become complacent with their success, but change is always certain to come. Even the best product will be competing with something better in the future. However, it is not always about being better. Sometimes it is innovative thinking in meeting a demand. Consider how companies pivoted during the pandemic to make products when the demand exceeded supply. Companies saw the means to make the products with what they had, learned the skills to make them, and thrived.
Maintaining Brand Relevance
It’s not easy to maintain brand relevance, but it is essential if you want to remain relevant. Brands need to continuously evolve and engage. They need to surprise in the best ways with delight and delivery. New competitors come or events happen that shake things up. Technology changes.
Brands must be ready to reposition and move forward. Often that requires making bold moves. Either adapt to what customers want or disrupt the market.
At Impact Branding Consulting, we can help you evaluate your brand and find different ways to keep it relevant.