We all know the proverb a rolling stone gathers no moss. Well, there’s a degree of transferability to brand strategy, especially within technology brands.
The rate of change within the industry is accelerating exponentially. New vendors continue to enter the market, innovations are quicker and easier to deploy, and new categories are constantly being created, mapped and ranked.
This begs the question, how are organisations able to create an effective brand strategy in a world of constantly evolving variables?
Change is the only constant
Let’s delve into the murky world of failed brands, one of the highest profile examples in recent times must be Blockbuster. If you are of a certain age, the Friday night trip to the nearest store was an event in its own right. At the time the brand was synonymous with the home video rental market, that was until market challenger Netflix came onto the scene. Before the days of streaming, Netflix offered a mail order service which removed the need for expensive stores, staffing overheads or the need to leave your house. The irony is that in 2000 Netflix co-founders offered to sell the brand to Blockbuster, which they ultimately declined. The rest is history.
Blockbuster clearly failed to evolve with the times, but sometimes a brand can be so entrenched in a particular space that trying to reinvent and reposition itself is incredibly difficult.
Evolve or fail
Moving back into the realms of tech, IBM faced a similar challenge. Their brand was synonymous with mainframe computers. As the market evolved and personal computing, and eventually cloud computing developed, IBM embraced change. Moving away from hardware, IBM focussed on software and services to keep pace with the industry. They are now a major player in AI and cloud. These changes weren’t an overnight decision, and industry perception needed to evolve significantly to be seen as a credible player in the software space.
Below are some of the considerations and strategic steps that need to be embraced when evolving a brand.
- Benchmark industry perceptions: gather insights on how customers currently perceive your brand. Identify commonalities and areas that need improvement/change.
- Redefine your brand identity: rearticulate your brand’s mission, vision and values. Ensure that these elements align with the new perception you want to create.
- Change the narrative: develop a consistent (but progressive) brand message across all channels. Establish the evolved brand, your proposition and USPs to all parties.
- Provide social proof: leverage testimonials and reviews to demonstrate the change in position. User-generated content can prove much more influential than corporate marketing.
- Continuously innovate: stay relevant by adapting to market trends. Position your brand as an innovator and responsive to customer needs.
- With over 25 years of B2B agency experience working within the tech sector we know what it takes to change market perception, refresh a brand and redefine your proposition.
If your brand strategy could use an update, then speak to The Rubicon Agency for a fresh perspective.
