There is more to branding than just attractive designs, catchy phrases, and satisfied customers. While a strong brand is undeniably an asset, the path to building one can be challenging. Like traversing a concealed coral barrier on a vessel, some dangers could derail business growth opportunities and damage an established brand identity.
Ignoring these risks of branding can lead to dire consequences, from a damaged reputation and lost revenue to the need for a complete rebranding.
Here, you’ll look at the top branding risks and understand branding risk management so you may navigate this landscape effectively.
Table Of Contents
Negative Publicity and Brand Damage
In today’s hyper-connected world, news travels fast, and bad news travels even faster. All it takes is a single negative incident, like a frenzy involving a product recall, a displeased client who turns a complaint into news, or a social media misadventure, and your business can end up with severe brand damage.
You might remember the infamous 2017 incident when United Airlines forcibly removed a passenger from an overbooked flight. The event sparked a social media outrage, which the airline was unable to contain, and while it suffered from a negative brand image, it also lost around $1.4 billion in market value in a single day.
This type of negative publicity can tarnish your global, national, regional, and local branding alike. Fortunately, while you can’t always predict negative events, you can prepare for them. Here are some ways to reduce the negative impact on the reputation of a brand.
- Plan for a crisis. It is always better to prepare well ahead than wait for the storm. This requires having designated spokespersons, key messages, and communication channels ready to ensure a swift and coordinated response.
- Convey transparency. When negative publicity arises, you must implement measures to promote positive press relations. Address the situation, accept blame, and be candid with your target audience.
- On-time response. Negative news rarely settles without affirmative action. This requires responding quickly and decisively to address concerns and prevent the spread of misinformation.
- Social media monitoring. Businesses should invest in social listening to identify potential issues early on and address them proactively.
If you ensure following these steps, there are fewer chances of your brand suffering from adverse consequences owing to defamatory comments or actions of others.
Inconsistency in Brand Messaging
Imagine visiting a website with a sleek, modern design and receiving a promotional email with a look and feel completely misaligned with the design. This is hardly the way to create a positive brand experience.
This would also hold true if you come across a salesperson whose communication style clashes with the overall tone of the brand they represent. These inconsistencies create confusion and erode trust in a brand, which is why they’re among the biggest problems in branding.
Communication problems related to brand messaging usually arise because of these reasons.
- Lack of clear brand guidelines. A brand style guide is fundamental in developing a business’s narrative, visuals, and messaging. Errors and inconsistencies are inevitable in the absence of such a guide.
- Poor internal communication. Different departments, divisions, or teams may develop their messages independently, leading to poor communication and an unfavorable brand experience.
- Multiple agencies or freelancers. Employing multiple agencies and freelancers without clear communication and coordination can result in inconsistent branding.
Effective brand risk management in these scenarios requires that you:
- Create in-depth brand guidelines. Create a comprehensive document highlighting your brand identity’s attributes, such as usage of the logo, color, type, style, and voice of the message.
- Centralize brand management. Assign individuals responsible for maintaining and enforcing brand consistency across all available marketing channels, like websites, social media platforms, and emails.
- Encourage staff to communicate with one voice. Integrate brand voice and messaging training into the onboarding process for all new hires. Conduct ongoing workshops and training sessions to reinforce messaging, address common communication challenges, and provide practice opportunities.
- Regularly audit brand communications. Audit marketing communication, including data and boards, and frequently review expectations that you meet or don’t.
By focusing on consistency, a brand can achieve uniformity in perception and establish trust.
Failure to Adapt to Changing Market Trends
Saying that market dynamics remain constant is way off the mark. Consumer behavior and preferences change, modern technologies appear, and market impulses do not last forever. As a result, brands that fail to adapt don’t take long to become irrelevant and lose market share.
You probably know how Blockbuster Video ended up. The company could have adapted to the rise of streaming services like Netflix, but it clung to its outdated business model without understanding the limitations of branding. It ultimately filed for bankruptcy in 2010.
For effective risk mitigation in branding initiatives, you must align your brand with evolving consumer behavior and preferences.
- Conduct regular market research. Keep a close watch on your target audience and its changing needs, preferences, and behaviors.
- Monitor trends across industries. Keep track of what other sectors are doing because trends and advancements in technology spill across markets.
- Embrace new technologies. Give your customers reasons and opportunities to connect with your brand by using new technologies.
- Be willing to evolve. Remember that your brand is not static, and you need to remain open to refreshing visual features, language, product structures, and sequences.
By looking forward to change, tweaking branding strategies, and adapting to market dynamics, you can ensure that your brand remains relevant and competitive.
High Costs Associated with Rebranding
Some businesses have no other option than to go the rebranding way, but it is typically an expensive and time-consuming process. The most common reasons for rebranding exercises include mergers and acquisitions, modernization of products, and negative brand connotations.
No matter what the reason, and in addition to the risks of rebranding, you have to account for the costs you’ll need to incur. These come in the form of:
- Market research. This involves studying market conditions and consumer perceptions.
- Logo and visual identity redesign. This requires coming up with a color scheme, logo, and other visual attributes.
- Website redesign. Your website redesign project should incorporate all the new branding elements.
- Marketing and communication materials. You must replace old promotional materials, packaging, and billboards with the latest ones.
This is what you need to do to control rebranding costs.
- Consider a phased approach. Instead of implementing all changes at once, rebrand by gradually introducing new elements over time.
- Prioritize essential elements. Implement the most effective strategies first, and ensure the logo and website are given priority before pursuing the other less important strategies.
- Reuse of most items and content. Reduce costs by using old materials or content as and when possible.
If you plan and fund the process well, it is possible to successfully manage the overall cost of rebranding and implement changes with minimal disruptions.
Conclusion
Building a solid brand is a journey, not a destination, and like any other journey, it comes with its share of risks. By being aware of these potential pitfalls and taking proactive steps to mitigate them, you can safeguard your brand and pave the way for long-term success.
If you need help to avoid the risks of branding and navigate this landscape smoothly, you should consider using the services of a professional branding agency. Then, you may count on it to understand your business goals, target audience, and competitive landscape, and create a customized branding solution that will set your business up for long-term growth.
