Established brands are resilient, resourceful, and elastic. However such good health is not a permanent condition. And when brands suffer, there are three key ingredients that can cause this dilution. They are especially lethal when combined.
1. Customers seek meaning in their choices. They need the brands they purchase to enable them to ‘sleep better at night’ and to ‘say something favorable about themselves’ to others. When the emotional benefits are lacking, the customer is forced to expand their consideration set.
2. Customers seek relevancy in their choices. They need the brands they purchase to enable them to solve a problem and to satisfy an immediate need. When the functional benefits are missing, the customer is forced to expand their consideration set.
3. Customers are consistently and relentlessly introduced to new and improved brands. Brands are born from competition and they can also die from it. When new brands reposition or replace existing brands, the customer is forced to expand their consideration set.
Rejuvenating a brand requires new knowledge. The following methodology will provide a three-dimensional understanding of the current equity in the brand.
1. Review the current business strategy: What are the products and/or services the company is offering? How many of these products and/or services are they offering? What are the costs of producing and delivering these products and/or services? And who are the primary customers for these products and/or services?
2. Conduct qualitative research with your current and former customers: How can you refine your definition of your most desirable customer demographically, psycho-graphically and behaviorally? What do they think and feel about your brand today? Why and when do they choose your brand over competing brands? And what are the sources of trust when customers are choosing a brand in your category?
3. Conduct a competitive brand audit with your customers: What is the contemporary consideration set? What is the position each brand owns in the mind of the customer?
4.Conduct a visual and editorial audit of current marketing and communications: What are you
communicating to your customer about your brand?
Introducing a rejuvenated brand is distinct from the introduction of a new brand in three key ways.
1. Brand strategists understand that it is easier to put a new idea into the mind of a customer than it is to change one that is already there. The primary task is to manage the meaning of your brand as you transition it from its current state to the desired future state.
2. Position your rejuvenated brand in the category in which you compete by repositioning the other brands in that category. This ‘rearrangement’ of the brands will impact both the customer’s consideration set and their purchasing behavior.
3. Leverage the heritage of the brand. Remind customers that you have made and kept your promise in the past. Ensure them that you have the skills to do so today.
If the rejuvenated brand exists in a family of brands, its new strong and favorable associations can enhance the equity of the other brands in that family. Finally, while adhering to best brand strategy practices is essential, the ability to imagine the future is most desirable
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