Often considered additional bureaucracy from the marketing department, brand is now more important than ever.
Rewind to days gone by where businesses were only competing with businesses on the same street, and all socio-economic issues were hyper-localised, and brand wasn't much more than a logo, and therefore not a big priority. Now, with everyone on social media, and same day and next day delivery services, businesses are competing with the world. As a result, consumers are spoilt for choice.
Brand is not only a logo, it's the feeling that your product and/or service gives to customers.
Brand is like a magnet. It's important to know who/what you want to attract and who/what you want to repel.
The Super League Debacle
Chances are, even if you aren't into sports, you heard something about the uproar and subsequent U-turn related to the Europe Super League in the past week.
In case you've been on holiday in a tent in the middle of nowhere with no signal, the richest clubs in European football covertly banded together to create an additional league backed by JP Morgan that would see them increase their revenues at the expense of a meritocratic football pyramid. The pyramid ensures that the best teams get promoted and rewarded, and the worst teams get relegated, irrespective of their bank balance or history - a pure meritocracy (albeit skewed by large variances in bank balances).
For those familiar with the sports franchise model in the US, it's an attempt at a similar construct in European football. Gary Neville, in one of several passionate rants, said it was 'pure greed' driving the decision. I've yet to hear a football fan disagree with this verdict. Everyone from Boris Johnson to Prince William spoke out against the proposal.
This is a great example of brand gone wrong. Your company has a brand, and you personally have a brand. It's important to know what it is, the values you want to promote and to avoid acting like the 12 initial 'Super League' clubs, who have now lost the support of their fans.
Why Brand Matters
To be clear, brand isn't only a logo and a colour scheme. Sure, that's part of the formula, but here we're really talking about brand in terms of the feelings that the product or service provoke in the consumer. How do you want your customer to feel about your brand? What words should you therefore use?
You can see this distinction clearly in the neobank space. Revolut are looking to appeal to those who want to stand out, be a bit of a peacock, and even a bit of a 'finance bro'. Metal card? Check. Glow in the dark card? Questionable release, but check nonetheless. Want to trade crypto? Check. Their brand is outspoken, bold and in your face, as that's the type of person they want to attract to be their customer. Not to mention their company culture as I touched upon in a previous newsletter.
One of Revolut's competitors, Starling, have taken a very different approach. Other than the standard teal card, there are no flashy options here. Just a digital bank for individuals and businesses getting on with things. They clearly do not try to distance themselves from the label 'bank' as Revolut does, and presumably attract a more reserved clientele as a result (which is no bad thing for a bank!).
Monzo, splits the difference as they are aiming to be the 'hipster millennial' bank. Coral cards are the standard, with metal cards being released to try to get some market share from Revolut. They try to be playful and engaging on social media as a result.
Whilst there will be some who don't care about brand until it goes wrong, others do care about a company's brand. Whether that is the rise of environmentally conscious individuals wanting companies to do better (and trying to encourage this via their wallet), or people wanting to feel part of something bigger, as mentioned in my previous article on Community.
Everything you do as a business should tie back to your brand. Brand attracts and retains your best customers.
How Brand Can Go Wrong
Brand is a double-edged sword. Get it right, and you will have a loyal customer base and an organic referral scheme. Get it wrong, and you'll get crucified. Sometimes this is temporary, sometimes it is permanent.
An example of brand backfiring temporarily is the Peloton advert during the holiday season in 2019. The advert depicted a husband buying his wife a bike for Christmas and was branded all sorts, from 'out of touch' to outright 'sexist. Whilst this saw some bad publicity for Peloton, it hasn't stopped their share price from quadrupling since then amid a bulging order book.
Another corporate example in recent times would be Coinbase, where CEO Brian Armstrong wrote a blog post that asked employees to not discuss politics in the office, essentially banning employee activism. Armstrong went one step further and offered generous severance packages to any employees who wanted to quit as a result. Whilst this decision may not sit well with employees and certain members of the public, it didn't stop Coinbase from hitting a valuation of $76bn and entering the stock market via direct listing.
The recent Super League debacle is more damaging. Admittedly, it's early days, but the concept goes against the core principles of football and has already seen protests at the clubs in question, fighting for new ownership. The 12 clubs who signed up to the Super League were valuing profits over the fans, and the history of the game. In any business, as soon as you de-prioritise, and lose touch with, customers, your days are numbered.
Whilst there were some clubs fanbase, like Manchester United, who have been protesting against their owners for some time now due to the mounting debt levels and number of dividends being paid out, other clubs did not seem to have much issue with their ownership. For United, the Super League has poured gasoline on the fire, and for other clubs, it's started a fire.
Parting Shot
Knowing what your brand values are, and embedding this throughout your organisational culture, is crucial as it will ensure you are attracting and retaining the right staff members. It will also provoke a better reaction when suggestions are made to divert from your core values.
Whilst in some cases this won't be a major issue, in others, it could result in disaster for the company and burnt bridges with your customers, just like the 12 Super League clubs have done.