A brand is not carved in stone; it's not a physical object in a given time and place. Brands are multi-dimensional entities, integral parts of both physical and psychological spheres. And since the world is constantly evolving, brands need to adapt and develop with time and changing circumstances.

Brand maintenance from here to eternity

As a living business asset, brands are constantly being influenced and are subject to change. That's an intrinsic part of a brand's nature. There may be cultural shifts, the target audience may change, the competitor landscape could be different today from yesterday. At the same time, we know that consumers look for recognition. They want to have something they know and trust.

A well-managed brand creates a strong emotional connection and this will give you loyal customers. Protect and project your brand through every representation of your business in the market. Everything needs to be in balance, also brands. If the mechanisms are not in place to give buyers new things to try once they are familiar with the product or the service, consumers will quickly move on and copiers will just as quickly move in. This should be an essential part of your brand strategy, but it's one that often gets overlooked. Often too much focus invested to launch and establish a brand in a market that you neglect to make sure that the brand has enough resilience and flexibility to cope over time.

Get insight and tips as to how to best position your brand for the future without losing sight of your brand's purpose.
A brand is not carved in stone; it's not a physical object in a given time and place. Brands are multi-dimensional entities, integral parts of both physical and psychological spheres. And since the world is constantly evolving, brands need to adapt and develop with time and changing circumstances.

As a living business asset, brands are constantly being influenced and are subject to change. That's an intrinsic part of a brand's nature. There may be cultural shifts, the target audience may change, the competitor landscape could be different today from yesterday. At the same time, we know that consumers look for recognition. They want to have something they know and trust. When a company goes through a big brand change or update, a lot of focus is put on introducing and rolling it out both internally and externally and making sure everyone – from customers to employees to stakeholders – sees and hears the new company brand. But, if a brand is going to be truly successful and valuable, efforts can’t stop there. You have to continually invest in keeping your brand values at the front of your employees’ and customers’ minds.

Ways to maintain a brand

Where do you turn to for input about how to maintain your brand? My advice would be to check in with your customers. Your customers have always been in the right about your brand whether you like it or not. Customers are the ones deciding what your brand is worth at any time by way of using your services or products. Today, you should also take advantage of the non-stop feedback from customers on social media.

Stay on your toes

Keep an eye on mentions and reviews of your brand on the internet. Google offers an excellent free tracking service in GoogleAlert, and there are many paid ones out there including Trackur.com, Brandseye.com, and Meltwater.com.

Learn from the best

To learn from the best should be a given but sometimes people spend too much time monitoring competitors rather then looking outside their own fish pond. When was the last time you analysed brands that are not in your line of business? Here's a piece of advice: Find 5 brands that you admire for their ability to develop and continuously attract new customers. Find out why that is. Are they widening their product portfolio, or are they instead focusing on what represents the core of the brand? How is their marketing? What are their employer value propositions?

Be curious

If people are talking about your brand, join in. Today, you have to take part in social media; and platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat that are excellent places to drive engagement and to find out what is shared about your brand. Beware, never critisise any negative feedback should you get it. Instead, appreciate that people have made an effort to comment and instead suck it up and learn from it.

Do you have the best people in the PR and in the communication departments? These days brands that have a open-minded attitude to their customers fare better than those that don't. Customers are notoriously illoyal so you'd better be prepared to move quickly.

Be honest

If you make a mistake, own up to it and demonstrate that you are taking steps to resolve the problem once and for all. Remember: Giving customers what they paid for is nice. Demonstrating your commitment to quality and improvement will keep them coming back. And that’s what building a strong brand is all about.

The Swiss chocolate Toblerone recently provoked a lot of unhappiness amongst their fans when they decided to alter the shape of the chocolate triangles to save money.

Don't jump to conclusions

All brands are subject to changes around us and in particular to customers' needs. Some stable brand characters are the basis of your organisation's identity. However, over time these assets will have to be translated to new times. Change is inevitable, but the rate of change for a brand needs to be a strategic choice.

“If it ain't broke, don't fix it.”

Everyone needs to be in balance, and so do brands. If the mechanisms are not in place to give buyers new things to try once they are familiar with the product or the service, consumers will quickly move on, and copiers will just as quickly move in. This should be an essential part of your brand strategy, but it's one that often gets overlooked. Often too much focus invested to launch and establish a brand in a market that you neglect to make sure that the brand has enough resilience and flexibility to cope over time.

In the US, the well-known Tropicana orange juice brand were tired with their own identity and hired a new agency to gain boost. The effect was not what they were after though. In fact, sales went down by some 20 %. Customers did not easily recognise the brand any longer. This is a good example of brand fatigue arising much quicker within a brand organisation than in the marketplace.

Before making major changes to a brand it is important to consider the following:

Does the brand operate in line with its Purpose ? Or has the brand moved away from what used to be the very core of the company?
Has the main target group moved in a different direction since the last time you analyzed the situation?
Is there commitment to protect the brand's uniqueness or is there a need to fine-tune and develop?
Is the brand flexible enough to evolve with the changes in the market?

Striking the right balance

Stewards of brands should take the utmost care when applying changes to brands. The goal is to include new and important nuances and facets, which appeal to the market and at the same time staying true to the original brand. According to Interbrand, Jack Daniel's has topped the agency's Best Global Brands ranking several times. This is due to the brand's achievement of reacting to market changes such as flavours without ever ignoring what consumers love about the product. In Mission, we have previously worked with the Norwegian Automobile Association NAF , and at a time there was a desire at the client's side to alter the yellow in the logo even though this colour helped to make them unique in the marketplace.

Checklist for maintaining your brand

A well-managed brand creates a strong emotional connection, and this will give you loyal customers. Protect and project your brand through every representation of your business in the market.

Stick with your brand. Only try to change if you’re certain that it’s no longer appropriate for the market. We have previously worked with realtor Krogsveen , whose brand identity is still going strong after more than 15 years in the market.
What do you want people to think when they hear your name? What do you want current and prospective employees to think about your business? What do you want prospects, customers, suppliers, associates, competitors and friends to think?
You can’t be different things to each of these different groups and still, have a well-managed brand. The brand image held by each of these groups has to synch into one identity — one brand — that people will trust and believe in.
Think about the words you want people to use when defining your business.
Ask your employees, associates, and customers this question: When people hear your name, what images do you think come into their minds?
If everyone is saying the same thing — and if those words are the words you want associated with your name — you have a well-managed brand. If gaps occur, you have your brand-management work cut out for you.
Pinpoint the advantages you want people to associate with your business. Figuring out these benefits helps you land on the advantages you want to communicate in your marketing communication. It also leads to your definition of the position you want to own in the consumer’s mind.
Build your brand through every impression that you make, remembering all the touch-points your customers meet your brand, be it your homepage, social media, apps, billboard, ads right down to your product and services.