
By Amy Derksen on in Branding
Transforming your brand starts way before marketing
When companies talk about rebranding or brand transformation, they’re often talking about logos or taglines or websites. But the hard work starts way deeper. The maxim remains true—your brand isn’t who you say you are, but who people believe you are.
If you want to change your image, it takes more than a surface makeover. It takes a close look at what you want to stand for and whether your company delivers—inside and out.
Your brand doesn’t begin or live in the marketing department. Before you say who you are and who you stand for, make sure it’s true—and that your audiences believe it.
A great place to start is by looking at your company values and making sure your corporate decisions are aligned. You can’t say you prioritize quality and reward only sales or cost savings. Or that you care about service and then refuse to give your reps the time or authority to solve problems. That you are committed to the environment and then spill 200 million gallons of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. Or that you care about diversity when your whole About page looks the same.
People know. In the age of the internet, there are no secrets. And in what I like to imagine looking like a scene from Gremlins, once people sense that you don’t mean what you say, your brand can take on a not-so-appealing life of its own.
Does it matter? Absolutely. 88% of shoppers say “authenticity” is important in a brand and 46% will opt for a brand they trust. Bottom line: Say who you are; Be what you say.
If your organization isn’t aligned with the brand you want to convey, you have two choices:
- Change what you say you stand for.
- Change how you do things.
That second option may sound out of reach, but it’s worth considering. A recent FATFREE employment brand client used research designed to tease out relevant marketing messages to step up internal programs and message against those, too. Word got around and the brand—what people knew and believed about the company—adapted naturally.
Your brand doesn’t begin or live in the marketing department. Before you say who you are and who you stand for, make sure it’s true—and that your audiences believe it. Being honest about your brand and your business, and seeing them from other people’s perspectives, can be risky and messy and emotional. And take the time to fix it, rather than just try to paper over disconnects and dissonance with a new logo or tagline.
Once you’re ready to look at things clearly and objectively, that’s when the transformation can begin.
Need a little help shaping your brand, carving out a unique space in the market, or connecting more meaningfully with your audiences? Let us help. Reach out to FATFREE today.