Is your brand experiencing a midlife crisis?

If your brand is lucky enough to live a long life, you’re likely to experience feelings of stagnation and a desire to feel unencumbered again. However, a midlife crisis doesn’t have to signal the beginning of the end for a brand. Think of it as a turning point to refocus your energy and reinvent your brand story.

Are you unclear about your priorities?
Heritage brands are often trying to reconcile two positions – changing your marketing to appeal to a new audience while maintaining your appeal with your existing customers. You accomplish both by using the provenance of your company’s story as the compelling proof of why consumers should trust your brand.

“People think of innovation and heritage as opposed ideas but I disagree. If we are heritage brands, we stood the test of time because we have [a] tradition of successfully innovating. Innovative companies should aspire to become heritage brands.” – Alex Bolden, CEO Oscar de la Renta

Is your marketing program on autopilot?
Your brand is your prized asset, but if the focus becomes the brand and not the customer, you are doomed to fail. Stop looking in the mirror at what you’ve achieved, and set your sights on the changing landscape and customer desires. Spend time talking with your customers and prospects to discover new common ground.

Are you feeling like your brand is no longer relevant?
40 is the new 20. As direct to consumer brands create disruption, heritage brands must use the power of their history and background to explain their relevance. Achieving this relevance requires keeping the customer at the center of your story. You have to update your storytelling for the modern age and adapt your processes and teams around creating the best experiences.

You’re worried about new market entrants
With advancements in digital capabilities, new companies can appear and compete with your brands faster and easier than ever. Remember what you lose in speed, you make up in wisdom. To compete, use what you know about the industry and connect the brand’s heritage with its commitment to innovation.

Are you worried about the health of your KPIs?
Investing in relationships and experiences are the things that drive value and lifetime profitability for a brand. And understanding customer acquisition and retention costs are critical to sustainable growth.

Behavioral metrics that evaluate how employees are impacting the brand experience, awareness metrics that identify how customers and stakeholders view the brand, and performance metrics that determine if the brand is achieving financial and business goals.

Spil© specializes in creative design strategies that help organizations unlock the power of brand equity. We believe that the only way to grow our business is to first grow yours.