We’re witnessing a year that puts pressure on businesses’ lifeblood, and as a result, some are pivoting their brand strategies in the face of this to meet the wants of their consumers. And it can be a complicated process that, when done wrong, is openly resulting in desperation to capture market share at all costs in the short term even if it affects brands’ future bottom lines.
So what does it mean for smaller businesses that have shied away from the limelight, whether by choice or because word mouth mainly fed the revenue stream for their businesses in more “normal” times? It means businesses are finding it necessary to market themselves. And it can be awkward; some companies are up to the task, and others find themselves feeling like they are peddling water in a sinking ship. How do we adapt? And how can your brand strategy meet your consumer’s needs while consumers face new insecurities and financial uncertainty?
One way to do so is to reassess your brand’s value proposition & your brand’s value vs. cost positioning. Reassessing may help you determine where your brand fits in this constantly changing marketplace. A lot of brands are making news faster ever before in many different industries all at once. Whether it’s localized or national, brands are being forced into uncomfortable situations of reacting when it doesn’t help their long term bottom line. And when brands act more desperate, including changing costs, availability, shipping if applicable, and quality of service value, it will impact where your brand exists within that marketplace.
We highlighted a few examples of brand value re-positioning to help you better understand how this may impact your business and brand strategy:
1. a sales offer that is out of schedule by a competitor’s brand may make you consider to match their offer to adjust and pivot. And in some cases, it may become an opportunity to highly a brand quality difference in the products/services you offer instead of matching their strategy.
2. A program, service, product, class, or event has “gone virtual” you may have heard this term several times over this year, and while it may be the current lexicon its definitely apart of a business and brand’s strategy to reach consumers where they are and not where they used to be.
3. A business closes nearby, impacting your brick and mortars potential audience growth because their draw has been removed and your revenue is declining as a direct result.
These are just some of the multitude of examples that are playing out across the world right now and its requiring businesses and brands to look at their value ever more closely to reach new customers and keep existing ones coming back in 2020 and 2021 and beyond.
As audiences continue to get divergent it may be required to compare cost, value, consumer engagement value, brand messaging, in separate pools to better understand the market demographics of your brand’s consumer base. We do not live in a one shoe fits all society currently, and as much as I hate to say that I truly believe localized marketing strategies, and specific targeted strategies deployed by social media analytics allows us to reach consumers in a more cost-effective manner than a broad-based campaign strategy. And it deeply impacts how value changes from one group of people to another based upon where the product is manufactured as well as what communications or spokespeople that a brand has previously deployed.
For small businesses and large businesses alike knowing what your brand’s value is the key to being able to adapt your brand strategy to meet your business’s strategies goals and objectives.
In 2020 ElephantMark will be listed in one of the Top Branding Agencies of 2020, Top Digital Marketing Agencies of 2020, and one of the Best Logo Design Companies all according to DesignRush & BestDesigns. We hope we can be of assistance to you in 2020 as we help tackle the toughest branding, creative, and marketing challenges for small and large businesses alike. We also love what we do so that helps a bit to keep calm and design on 🙂.
And on another more important note as a small business owner navigating these own critical times ourselves, I will say I give huge support to the industries that are the most impacted: travel, entertainment, events, restaurants, musicians, education, and more. We’re with you and we hope 2020 ends with a whimper, and 2021 roars us back to a full recovery.
