Opinionated Blog

By:  Dann llicic
Going through the rebranding process in your organization can be tough, even if everything goes smoothly. In our experience, there are six things that usually get in the way and we want you to be aware of them.

1- The CEO or leadership team is not involved

Too often we see the rebranding efforts beginning in the marketing department instead of with the CEO. Branding is a CEO level initiative because it deals with the fundamental definition and expression of the business. The brand consultant is the worst person to deliver the brand to the organization. It can ONLY be delivered by the CEO as an expression of their vision for the organization’s future

2- There is no budget allocated

Not having a budget for the rebrand usually means that the project has not been taken seriously yet. Yes, there will be strategy and design fees but the bigger costs come in the implementation and execution. How tragic it is to go through all the work and then to find out that there is no money to execute properly.

3- No internal point person to drive the rebranding implementation from the inside

Most brand consultants and designers are wonderful people but they cannot successfully govern the intricacies and politics of your organization alone. Either the CEO or someone closely linked and authorized by the CEO must drive the process for it to be taken seriously.

4- No visual evidence of change

If you’re going to go through the effort of rebranding then it must be as conspicuous as possible. The brand does not exist in the words in a policy manual (of course you do need one of those too) it must exist where people will notice and feel it. New paint, new logo, rearranging furniture, new signage and a host of other tangible changes let people know that the rebrand is real and alive.

5- Not having a roll-out plan

When will the rebrand be complete? How and when will we tell our staff?How and when will we tell our customers and clients? How will we tell the public? If these questions are not answered from the beginning then all kinds of hell can break loose. If the roll-out needs to happen over time then that must be communicated clearly to all involved. Having a plan and somebody accountable for executing it will give all stakeholders comfort that the rebranding efforts will stick and be meaningful.

6- Not enforcing the company values

If the hiring, firing and overall operations are not rooted in the company’s core values then it is unlikely that anyone inside will take it seriously. The values must be conspicuously displayed for everyone to see (not just in the employee welcome handbook or policy manual). It is not uncommon for some people to quit once the company’s values have clearly been articulated - but in general these people quit a long time ago - they just still happen to be drawing a paycheck though. The best companies make a big deal about their values and look for those traits and evidence in the people that work for them. Remember that it is your people that deliver the brand experience of your company and that experience, if it is to be consistent, must be based on the core values of your organization.

I just had one of those great customer experiences that are worthy of a blog post. The interesting part is that I actually never spoke to a live person at any point and I am still blown away.

I bought a pair of soccer cleats for my ever growing 10yr old son from SoccerPro, an online retailer based in Missouri. The prices were fair and the site was easy to use but that's not what compelled me to write this. This company is full of personality and it is clear to me that they have made a decision to make every possible interaction surprisingly great.

I'm always grateful to get acknowledgement that my order was received and shipped, but check out this order confirmation excerpt:

Dann,

Your order #xxxxx , has been fully shipped. Shout out loud! Give someone a hug! Or, get back to work...your call. Either way, we don't judge.

This gear is important and you probably want an official-sounding shipping summary. Hold onto your mouse pad cause here comes the fancy stuff.

Shipment Details:

Your order is being shipped to:

Dann Ilicic
XXXXXX
XXXXXX

We absolutely love having you as a customer!

Talk Soon,

Sergio

I actually believe that they "love having me as a customer" and I am generally cynical about these types of statements. Even when the package arrived, there was an "unofficial envelope" inside the box with a lollipop and the best "terms and conditions" policy I've ever seen - soccerpro.pdf.



How can you not love a company that has a Department of Surprise and Delight? I've already told everyone on my son's team about how great it is to deal with SoccerPro and I'll definitely be buying there again. 

Sometimes clients think that better branding is the answer to their business problems, but let me say that branding is really about turning your truth (what's already real and great about you) into your competitive advantage. If your service or product sucks, then branding is the last place you should spend your money. 

One of the greatest enjoyments I get out of the work we do for clients is to get their delivery aligned with their brand promise. It is the single biggest impact I think the branding process can have. Do you believe enough in your own brand promise to fully take on the risk of of the promise? Does your brand have a personality that comes through in every interaction? Are you hiring people that "are" that personality? Now, go deliver. 

I am sure all of you have seen the Mac/ PC commercials where you see Mac's point of view: where it's the reliable, cool and hip versus the unreliable, clunky and old school operating system! And I am sure you have to agree that Mac has a much better differentiation strategy than the PC, but why is it still a PC dominated world. Maybe Macs position of pointing out all the pains and frustrations are just not to convert users? Maybe people don’t care for an unreliable operating system - but rather they are scared of change. Or maybe, like the cell phone, people want to upgrade their operating system - so they can get the next cool trend.

Brand evangelists and marketers can all agree that Apple has done a brilliant job of differentiating themselves by merely simplifying an operating system and reinforcing it with great customer service. Although we constantly see Microsoft upgrade their processor - they still don’t change their service model or fix the “buggy, crashing” operating system. Why is that. Do they know they are giving Apple a competitive edge... Do they even care?

One has to wonder who will win and rule the computing world?

Yes Macs are cool and PC’s are more prone to crashes and viruses - but yet there are significantly more PC users than Mac users, at least 70% according to one statistic. So whose brand is stronger? The fact that the PC does very little to defend itself makes me wonder why everyone isn’t on a Mac already... The campaign has been going since 2006. But then I realize that "PC" is not even an actual brand that belongs to one company; therefore it cannot stand up and defend itself against the onslaught of Mac inspired insults. Microsoft occasionally takes the helm, these days with their I'm a PC and I'm 5 years old.

It’s similar to the Volkswagen trend, and the movement that followed when they first made their comeback in the car world. Volkswagen created a Jetta club - the trendy, urbanites drive Jetta's; this was their differentiation strategy to give re-birth to an old, tired brand. We have been witnessing these cool trend setting brands for years - but is it really enough to gain market share over competition or is it merely just a trend that will pass? I mean really - you have to admit - there are way more geeky computer nerds than cool, creative computer guys.

I was a PC user but switched to Mac, and I am happy about it. I mean, the time I save on my Mac versus a PC because of crashing and virus scans, I was able to finally take a vacation!!!

I am young - I am cool... hey! I am a Mac!
Will this message alienate the Old, Traditional, Corporate types that don't consider themselves super cool? i.e. big businesses.  and eventually drive them into the arms of their good old PC.? The devil they know all too well.