Client Kudos to Kennan Burch of Brand Catalyst Partners for recently being featured in I-4 Business Magazine’s December 2015. More than kudos, we’ve included below some thoughts from Kennan, a friend, client and 20-year brand building executive with Darden. Check out the article: I4Business: Your Business – More than a Name (http://www.brandcatalystpartners.com/about-bcp/i4-business-magazine-featuring-kennan-burch.html) – and Kennan’s comments below as you think about your 2016 branding efforts.
Strombeck News: Marketing – Investment or Expense in 2016? We continued the march through the end of the year of another year, 2015. If we take the high school graduation model, we’ll really call this “commencement” — a look forward. After all, that year’s done. You hopefully spent it continuing to define and build your brand. Have you committed to an assessment of 2015 and plan for 2016?
Looking back, some of you may need to revisit your brand strategy and ensure alignment due to changes in 2015: * New leadership — are our new key people bleeding and breathing the brand? As compass setters, they can have a huge impact on where we end up in 2016. * New team members — was our on-boarding effective in building brand buy-in and understanding? * Market shifts — have we taken into account the changes in the who/what/where/why of the need we look to fill? * New circumstances — do we have any non-market changes in our context? * Lack of focus — have we ourselves chased shiny objects for fear of missing that ‘golden opportunity” that can define us?
Looking forward at your 2016 marketing budget, you’ll want to make sure you’re investing in what’s necessary to reach your destination. Some things you should consider planning for/spending money include:
- Customer research – how are we doing from our customer perspective?
- Employee engagement research – how are we doing from our employee perspective?
- Visual brand identity upgrade (colors, fonts, website, logo, etc).
- Culture Guide & culture development
- Creating your brand essence video
- Making sure our marking dollars are actually communicating our intended message
- Coaching and mentoring your team
- Adding a board member with brand strategy experience
Best brands don’t just happen. Don’t fail to plan for the needed investment of quality thought, intentional time, and the financial support those require.