Anyone who’s gone through the process of getting fit or losing weight will know results are never quite as immediate as desired or as instant as dreamt – distant, even non-existent, for too long. But then eventually, the rewards are clear.

It’s not too dissimilar to brand programmes. For today’s Chief Marketing Officer, it can be a big-time challenge to convince a room full of impatient C-suiters that the pay-off to a ‘re-brand’ will not be in the next quarter, but over the course of quarters, and then over years. And with the all-seeing gimlet eye of Chief Finance Officer and their cronies scrutinizing spend and looking for metrics and measures to try and fathom the return on investment, and when patience is in short supply, it helps to have a short game as strong as your long game. Throw them some bones until the big dish is served up.

If the C-suite can accept short term is about six months or so, that gives a workable scenario in which to establish the brand’s foundations, fundamentals, and forward momentum, including some of those lovely ‘proof points’ that turn the suites’ c’s from cynics to converts and gives our ambitious CMO the juice they need to really make a difference.

Identifying the phases

Practically, and very broadly, a brand program can be split into two. The first phase involves figuring out the solution and then activating it. The second involves all that good work being appreciated by the audiences that matter. Said differently, simplify then amplify.

Think of the first phase as getting sorted; clarifying everything the brand needs to be known for and then delivering it. Finding what’s different, relevant, and distinctive, otherwise known as brand strength.

And like our determined fitness-freak/dieter, good things are happening inside, but you can’t quite see what those good things are just yet. In brand world, those good things include engagement of employees, they’ll start to have a clearer understanding of what makes the company they work for special and will become ever-more committed to that. Firming up a great culture.

Gaining a greater understanding of why customers or clients are drawn to you will help everyone focus on those things and not worry about the things they’re not concerned about buying from you, thereby saving time and money. And armed with those learnings the business can be more intentional about the experience of product or service by identifying the signature moments that are those hallmark occasions that create a lasting impression.

And of course, by this time, you’ll likely have a refreshed or a new identity with accompanying systems that enable the brand to tell the story of the business with elegance and simplicity.

The big advantage of the first phase is that it’s under your control – you determine the story, the identity, the experience and the organisation’s commitments to connections, capabilities, and systems. Creating a strong brand is an inside-out thing.

Enacting part two

The next phase goes the other way.

It’s harder because it’s dependent on the appreciation of all that good stuff by other people, the external audiences, customers, clients, users, desired talent, and so on. It takes time, possibly years. It requires consistency, and a business that knows what matters, what doesn’t matter and what counts. It’s dependent on having a clear brand idea that can be actionable, identifiable and memorable. As we know, brand is a memory, refreshed every time that product or service is encountered.

And as the brand experience grows and as the brand is experienced over time, the brand will grow in stature, recognised for having something about it, a point of view and way of delivering which will elicit a feeling of esteem by those that buy from it, work with it or partner with it. Creating committed clients/customers, even fans, the audience will feel good about their relationship with the brand. And the C-suite will feel very good about their early investment and won’t think twice about continuing to re-invest in their brand, seeing the obvious returns.

Think of it like this. Phase one, six months, find relevance. Phase two, ongoing, gain appreciation. Simple.

 

Philip Davies is President, EMEA