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You need to get this right because your company’s success, or even its very survival, could depend on it. As times change, some brands lose relevance and position within their markets, and ultimately fall by the wayside. Think of brands such as Blockbuster or Palm. Palm once had two-thirds of the global PDA market but didn’t survive the onset of smartphones. Blockbuster was slow to see the threat of streaming services. Neither exist anymore.
however, manage to successfully reinvent themselves, to keep themselves relevant as society changes. Look at the way that Disney embraced new film-production technology, or how Western Union transformed itself from being an old-fashioned sender of telegraphs to the world’s largest money transfer service.
What can we learn from companies like these, which have successfully reinvented themselves time and time again? Here at Spark, we believe that there are some simple lessons here that all brands can learn from.
Disney and Western Union. Two very different brands, two very different products. However, what brands like these share is an absolute refusal to stand still. They saw technological change not as a threat, but as an opportunity. They anticipated the future and prepared themselves to meet it head on. That is how they stayed ahead of the competition. We help our clients to do the same.
Future-proofed brands like these understand the importance of connectivity. In particular, successful brands do not just connect a business to its customers, they also connect those customers back to the business.
In the past, many brands were one-dimensional, – it was a way in which a company told something to the world. However, in a world of increased connectivity, brands become part of an ongoing conversation that you have with your customers.
Remember, just because you paid for the brand and designed the logo does not mean that you own it. It is shaped not just by you, but by every individual interaction that your customers have with it, both positive and negative.
Future-proofed brands like these understand the importance of connectivity. In particular, successful brands do not just connect a business to its customers, they also connect those customers back to the business.
In the past, many brands were one-dimensional, – it was a way in which a company told something to the world. However, in a world of increased connectivity, brands become part of an ongoing conversation that you have with your customers.
Remember, just because you paid for the brand and designed the logo does not mean that you own it. It is shaped not just by you, but by every individual interaction that your customers have with it, both positive and negative.
Customers are no longer satisfied to simply know ‘what you do.’ They are increasingly interested in ‘how you act’, the values that you hold as a company. People know what values underpin Disney as a brand and expect them to demonstrate those values in how they act.
You need to do the same. Every time a gap appears between words and actions, it undermines your authenticity and that undermines trust with your customers.
One key feature you see in brands that successfully navigate changing times, is that they are organic, shifting and evolving. They are living breathing things.
Enduring brands recognize that they are not static. Brands are not monuments set in stone. If you do not change, then it is too easy for the world around you to change, leaving you looking out of place. Disney is a great example of a brand that stayed relevant – developing new markets, new heroines, acquiring cutting edge competitors, and embracing diversity as society’s values shifted. Your own brand also needs to remain relevant to its customers. You need to understand the customer journey that they are on, and tailor your offer to meet their needs at every point.
SPARK specializes in helping companies create tomorrow’s brand experiences today. We cannot predict the future, but we can help you develop a brand which is ready to enter it.
To achieve this, we specialize in using design and innovation to generate customer experiences that are ahead of future trends, not frantically trying to catch up with a world that has already changed.
We already have helped companies such as ADD REFERENCE to create future-proofed brand experiences.
Get in touch today to discover how we can help you to do the same.
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