As we all pivot, should you stretch outside of your regular expertise to build your brand?
Business – will a pivot cause us to lose focus on our purpose or help us survive the pandemic?
Personal – should I focus on key strengths or invest in learning something new to find my next career move?
On both a business and personal level, many of us are rethinking where we need to focus over the next year. It’s clear the way we work has changed and brands – both personal and organizational – will have to step up their game to reaffirm their value. The pandemic forced us to narrow in on short-term tactics and cost-cutting measures, but as we reflect on the first half of 2020, we feel brand is perhaps more important than ever.
Organizations and individuals that had a results-oriented approach to building long-term brand equity have been able to leverage the brand loyalty it created. They had already seen that the demand for purposeful brands was rising. They were able to develop a business case to pivot due to the pandemic and remain focused on the specific impact that would create success and be measurable. Yes, some of these changes were reactive to the fast-paced changes in the use of technology. But the brands that were already fully conversant with how their brands needed to adapt to digital marketing trends were ready to be agile and make informed decisions.
Others who focused too much on the short-term and ignored key investments in brand building often paid the price. They lacked the trust, loyalty and authentic relationships needed to continue to cut through the noise and disruptions. A lack of brand vision and values I suspect sometimes also amplified marketing errors and further alienated key stakeholders. It affected the cohesiveness of team decisions and alignment on the changes needed to adapt.
As we look forward to 2021 the building blocks of brand awareness will look markedly different. It used to be our organizational brand investments were largely defined by amplifying external communications and advertising. In 2020 it has quickly focused on the ad-free experiences people have had with brands. Brand associations such as partnerships, collaborations, influencers and editorial elements have all come under the microscope. As the pandemic continues, the new year will bring new challenges to balance value-creating vs. cost-cutting conversations. But today’s savvy customers will no longer put up with a brand that doesn’t consider profit, people, planet and purpose. Only those customers (and employees) who see value in a business relationship will remain.
And isn’t that also where you’d like a personal career path to take you? A team that shares your values and wants to change for the better. What would you tell this team about your long-term brand aspirations? How your brand creates value?