"Our brand is strong, and our company is growing. We don't need branding work ... do we?"
Recently, I chatted with a staffer of a local company ... and heard that last final twinge of doubt and hesitation.
Our conversation moved on to explore how their business was really a bit of a commodity, and how, in reality, they were just like everybody else in their category.
Fortunately for them, they were doing great - right now.
But the industry was growing, evolving, changing - would they be able to keep up? How would their brand positioning do in the future?
Those were questions he raised, not me. I could tell they had thought about them, and while he initially said they would never really think about "branding," linking those growth questions to the concept of Brand began to pose some curiosity.
You would never look at them from the outside and say, "Their brand is broken." They wouldn't even consider it a broken brand from the INSIDE, from their current situation.
But what about the future?
Could it survive? Was it positioned to morph with the market, and with their customer's evolving demands? Stronger brands than theirs have succumbed in harsh times.
Their key alert: "We're really just like everybody else in our category."
This points to one of the most important aspects of brand strategy: Positioning.
Staking a claim in your market space that allows you to dominate and become the clear and only choice.
What about you? Are you positioned as the only choice in your space? Have you carved out exactly who you ARE, who you are FOR, and who you are NOT for? Is your organization's brand set up to GROW and not die off or be overtaken by your competitors?
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