Is your brand a service?
Everyone wants to be someone else. This 6 word sentence props up billion-dollar industries, creates unrelenting waves of consumer demand, provides employment to millions and always keeps us wanting for the next best thing. Consider the scenario of you getting a radically different haircut — going from long to ultra-short, shaving your head off or getting a style you never had before.
There are two possible outcomes playing out of this scenario:
- You get both praise and brickbats but your self decides to stick with the new style
- You get both praise and brickbats but your self can’t handle the brickbats and you revert back to your previous hairstyle
Brands do not have it this easy, which means there are less opportunities for flip-flops. The disasters on trying to ride purpose, social action, sustainability and more recently, BLM, are all around you. In short, brands do not have the option of wearing the “Emperor’s New Clothes” because they will be called out almost immediately.
Brands evolve gradually, and when they are in the hands of the right custodians, they do so cautiously. As they evolve, the perceptions they create, the images they build and their definition also evolve. You have the choice of positioning your brand as a problem solver or as an allure in this journey.
