Is Your Brand Proactive Or Reactive?

By Raya Drenski, Brand Strategist at Smartset GmbH

Amidst a plethora of urgent daily tasks, concerning various aspects of responding to the pandemic outbreak and its business implications, could it be that your brand lags?

Where do you stand in your brand communication? Are you confident that your messages still trigger your target audience? Is your solution still relevant to their problem?

The harsh evolution principle says: Evolve or die.

This quote applies to brands, too.

• Have you taken a critical look into your brand appearance?
• Are all your current actions aligned with your values?
• Is your Brand proactive or reactive?

Creating timely and relevant brand communication, stemming from the core of your brand positioning & values, is a breakthrough approach amidst stuck brands which fail to adapt.

Let’s admit it, adding a hashtag #stayhome or #thankshealthheroes doesn’t do the job.

So, I invite you to revisit your Brand’s core and redefine why you wake up every day and get out of bed with excitement.

If you are a business owner, contemplating on whether and how your Brand should communicate these days, cross-check these insights:

• Before thinking about your message, go back to your reason WHY, and revisit your values and your positioning.

• Above all, take care of your employees, as they are your asset and brand ambassadors and can help with solutions and opportunities.
• Don’t communicate coronavirus-related content just because it’s hype.
• Communicate if you have something meaningful to say (WHAT) to your target audience (to WHOM), engage them in the relevant media channels (WHERE) and put things into context (HOW).

• Be authentic, real and honest. We are all in this together. If you feel like being silent, that is OK (but not for too long).
• If you want a more reliable, relatable and trusted brand for the next chapter of our new normal, use the more ‘quiet time’ to work intentionally on strengthening it.

By integrating engaging and authentic customer stories throughout your entire customer journey, you can:

• Humanise your brand story
• Create authentic and consistent brand experiences
• Strengthen customer trust
• Drive broad customer engagement
• Decrease the cost of content creation
• Build a library of unique customer content
• Set yourself apart from your competition
• Increase sales

As Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna once framed it: ‘You cannot overtake 15 cars in sunny weather…but you can when it’s raining.’

There has been a dramatic shift in the way people discover, research and interact with brands. By brand strategy, I mean a comprehensive and adequate response to the current challenge. Business ‘as usual’ does not exist. Now is the time to revisit your brand positioning, values and promises. Your Brand is still your most significant leverage. It’s the asset that helps your company indisputably, products and services stand out.