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Brand Protection: What it means and why it’s the most important investment in your brand…

Imagine this…

You roll into the office on a crisp Monday morning to find a cease and desist in your inbox. It’s unannounced, unwelcome and shot over by some random second rate programmers on the west coast.

You’ve got prior use, but launching a new business was exciting. There were many things to do and registering your trademark was at the top of the boring list. Some dodgy consultants trademarked in your sector well after you launched and now you’re sitting smack bang in the middle of a rock and a hard place.

It happens, and it happened to us.

Business owners rarely get a day off.

I walked into the office a little later in the morning the Monday after my wedding to get back into it (much to my wife’s dismay) and there it was…a bullshit cease and desist claiming that we were allegedly infringing on a registered trademark. I took a long walk, made a few phone calls and thought about everything I’d just learnt.

We’d been trading under our new name for a little over 12 months at that point (This was before Maker Street Studios) and I had no idea how we’d let this happen. We’re in branding, and the crew who issued the notice were programmers, software, doing totally different things on what felt like the other side of the world. We had no idea they existed – why would we? They wouldn’t know a quality logo if it slapped them in the rear end. The problem was about 8 months earlier (3 months after we started trading under the ‘alleged’ infringed name) they’d applied to register a trademark in class 35 and 42 (graphic design, logos, branding, etc). They did none of this work, never had and haven’t since (yes, they’re still making software). They did it purely to f*ck with us.

 

We had three options.

1. Fight them. We were confident we had a case!
2. Carry on, sweep it under the rug and try to trade around it.
3. Rebrand.

We decided to fight and we fought. For a while. And it cost a tonne of money.

We decided to throw the towel in after they had reported and had all our social media accounts closed down, sent threats to our clients, and even sent quite an unpalatable email to our lawyer under the guise of someone else (though it was hilarious in hindsight and we laugh about it now).
This went back and forth for months.

We had a case! But it would have cost a bomb to continue fighting it in court. It was when our lawyer enlightened us with that fact that indeed we did work in branding and it was probably more commercially viable to simply rebrand. At the time it felt equally deflating and invigorating.

But it was rough and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. In hindsight we made the right decision. Maker Street’s killing it. We’ve got some fantastic clients and some wonderful humans we work with… but at the time…well I’d be lying if I didn’t call it out – the tunnel felt pretty dark.

I’m not dropping this to call them out. Honestly, I wish them all the best! It was our fault. We screwed up. We failed to protect the only thing our clients could associate with us. We lost access to our marketing and communication tools overnight. It was like one day we had a business, and the next day – nothing.

It was shit!

From that day on, we made sure we baked some high-level advice and recommendations around trademarking and how to go about it directly into our service offering.

We helped our clients navigate the broad world of brand protection at a high level and with their eyes wide open. We worked hard to put a strong partnership in place with our lawyers at Redchip (one of Brisbane’s leading commercial legal firms), to give our clients the expert backing they deserve when protecting their brands.

At the end of the day, Branding is not (and never has been) all about logos, colours and pretty pictures. It’s about helping you craft a unique and ownable space in the world. It’s tough to find your place in a customer’s mind at the best of times so when you finally do, it’s critical to protect it.

Well built brands are investments and assets, and the right advice around how to protect that asset is crucial in future-proofing it.

For those of you who are more interested in how to go about brand protection than learning about all my mistakes…read on…
Also, this seems like a pretty good opportunity to bring up the fact that I’m not a lawyer. Maker Street does not provide legal advice or services. The ideas and concepts in this piece are loosely based on a basic understanding of law and trademark law and reflect my personal opinions and experiences.

 

That being said…

If you’re launching a new brand…

The last thing you want is to come up with the perfect name and find out someones already registered it.

At that point you can either give it a crack and see what happens or you can head back to the drawing board. Both options suck. If you decide to crack on and risk it – you’re setting yourself up for hours of legal disputes, fees and heartache (been there, done that!). Our advice is to always play it safe and sit your butt back down at that drawing board. It’s just not commercially worth it.

One of the easiest ways to make sure you’re good to go is by doing some simple online searches through IP Australia or if you’re launching a global brand, through WIPO. This will give you a rather elementary indication of whether there’s an active trademark against your brand name.

But unless you know what you’re looking for, the red flags can be hard to spot.

It’s not always obvious that you’re likely to infringe on another’s trademark by a visual search alone. Phonetics can play a big part, as do classification and classes among other things only great lawyers know to look for.
In a rather bizarre (totally made up) example.

Let’s say your business is called Nespresso and you sell motorbikes (weird), you’ll probably be okay if the coffee giant hasn’t trademarked in your class or classification. The question here is whether or not your brand name could cause confusion in the market and if it does it’s likely you’ll be infringing on a trademark – regardless of what you happen to sell.

If it doesn’t infringe but raises questions (like why on earth in a strange twist of events would a coffee manufacturer suddenly start selling motorbikes), then you’re probably better off settling on a brand name you can undoubtedly own in your sector – without ruffling the feathers.

Protecting your brand means ensuring that your intellectual property rights are safe. This includes your brand’s name, logo, and any other unique identifiers that make your brand distinctive. Protecting your intellectual property rights from a trademarking perspective can prevent others from using your brand’s name or logo without your permission, which could damage your brand’s reputation and value.

There’s more subject matter here regarding patents and product design protection that I won’t get into right now – just know it’s something to consider when you’re looking at registering a trademark for your brand name.

Trademarking is boring, but it’s worth it and you get to put a cool little ® next to your logo.

It’s a fairly cost-effective credibility exercise and it can make your customers feel a little more at ease when dealing with you. Most importantly, it acts like an insurance policy against your brand name for the future. It helps protect the asset you’ve worked (or are about to work) so hard to build and nurture. And for that, it’s an incredibly small price to pay.

If you’d like to learn more about trademarking, trademark protection, brand protection, rebranding yourself out of a possible infringement, or you’re just keen for a general chat about how to safeguard your interests. You can get in touch with us at studio@mkrst.co or reach out to Redchip Lawyers directly and ask to chat with Thomas Bevitt…

Branding for Startups: Everything you need to know about branding your new startup

Branding your startup? Is it important?

Over the last few weeks I’ve read a few LinkedIn posts/articles stating (more or less) that startup branding in some form or another is a complete waste of time, resources and energy for most startup businesses.

This type of unsolicited advice sends the message that branding is a simple cost of doing business. A means to an end. This is the completely wrong way of looking at it.

Branding has the power to build value, credibility and a meaningful connection before you’ve even entered the room. It helps your customers align with you and what you bring to the table. It gives you the control to influence how your customers compare you, and your products with other products and services that fulfil their need.

See, most people don’t need (or care about) what you’re selling. It’s a hard truth. And it doesn’t matter what you do or what you’re selling. Unless it’s toilet paper, I’d argue that no one really gives a shit. If there’s a broad and unlimited need for what you do, you’ll be fine. But if there’s not (which is most businesses in this world) you’re going to need to do some selling. And a sale only happens when both parties see value in the transaction.

So, you need to build a perception of value, quickly.

When you’re starting out, you need to quickly figure out where you bring value. What makes you so unique and distinct that your audience will understand, identify and relate with you? How will they align themselves with you?

Understanding where you bring value gives you something to talk about beyond an exchange of goods for money. This understanding is critical to fast-track a startups early growth stages.

Luckily, you can lean on your brand to build those perceptions for you. And the best way to influence your brand, is by investing in building strong foundations that signify that value.

Strong brand foundations help a startup to dial in on where they bring the most value and communicate that value with clarity, relevancy and authenticity.

Getting it right, frees up your team to focus on what matters most – launching and growing your new startup. It gives you a system and foundation to work from, to ensure all communications are cohesive, targeted and hit right, right from the start.

Good branding can help align potential investors with your brand and allow them to easily understand where you bring value and for who. It removes the variables, puts everyone on the same page, positions you away from competitors and most importantly… lends a helping hand to your customers to finally realise why you’re such a perfect match.

In essence…

Branding allows you to create an experience worth talking about.

It helps you articulate what makes you different, special and unique. It encourages your customers to come along for the ride. It helps you build values and morals for people to associate and align with. It gives you the power to build a community around what you do. It’s incredibly powerful.

Which is why it really pisses me off when people devalue it’s usefulness and brush it off as an unworthy investment in the early days of a business. Sure, I agree (and endorse) that a startup should be spending their money where they’ll see traction and results quickly… but it’s costly going down the wrong path and if you’re misaligned from the start, you could get too far down the road before you realise. And it’s a hell of a lot more difficult (and expensive) to change existing perceptions once the worlds made up their mind about you.

Launching a Startup right now?

Our Innovation Grants are NOW OPEN.

Every quarter Maker Street Studios runs an Innovation Grant to help innovative startups and new small businesses access professional branding services at a fraction of the cost. You can learn more about our grants and apply here

How to identify, evaluate and strengthen your brand from the inside out

As a business owner, you would know just how necessary it is to stand out in a crowded, noisy and competitive market. Your brand needs to be strong, consistent and working at its absolute best. All makes sense, common (business) knowledge right?

But how often do you assess this? And we mean really assess this…for example, is your brand connecting with your customers on a deeper level and is it showcasing everything that makes you awesome?

Well, this is where a Brand Audit comes in. But what is it exactly and why is it a super important tool to take the time to invest in?

A Brand Audit is an in-depth review of where your brand is currently at, where you are nailing it and where there might be some room for improvement. It’s a super important step in ensuring that your brand is aligned with your business goals and is effectively communicating your message to your target audience.

Here are the things that should be considered…

 

Your Brand Foundations

The core of your brand. It’s the framework everything is built from.

Great brand’s are not defined by their logo, rather it’s the intrinsic characteristics, the personality, the nuances that make a brand distinctive, relatable, memorable. We call this Brand DNA and it’s what separates you from the pack. It brings context to your brand assets, to your collateral, to your logo.

Without a true purpose, a clearly defined vision and a motivating reason for existence, it’s difficult for consumers to find a compelling reason to buy from you.

Strong brand foundations give you the edge over competitors and your customers, something to align to, something to identify themselves with that positions your brand as the only viable solution to meet their needs, wants and desires.

Clarity around your brand is the secret. Consistency is the tool.

 

Your Verbal Identity

Most brands don’t treat their words with the same respect they do their visual identity.

Brands built with clarity are better placed to build more meaningful relationships with their clients and the right tone helps them have difficult conversations (shout out to KFC and the FCK IT Bucket).

Brands who understand the importance of language can build more thoughtful and meaningful dialogues with their customers.

 

Your Visual Identity

A strong visual identity enables you to shape perception. It allows you to build an impression that openly represents you and the value you bring as a business.

Your identity guides communication and should connect with your audience on an emotional and primal level.

But how do you get it right?

Brand building is hard and expensive when it goes wrong. The failsafe to ensure you’re on the right track is having an innate understanding of your audience, who they are, what they like, where they hang out.

With a strong understanding of your audience, you can carve out a desirable place for them in your story. Let them play their part, stay true to your cause and build alignment with their desires directly into your brand’s DNA.

Once you understand that, you can craft your visual identity with purpose to build associations with more alignment and relatability.

Sounds like a lot to think about?

Well, it is and we admit, this isn’t exactly an easy task that should be approached lightly nor should it be avoided. So where do you start? As it so happens, we have created a no-nonsense, self-guided assessment that gives you everything you need to assess where your brand is currently at, identify gaps and hopefully help you figure out exactly where you want to be…which is circling well above those angry birds (hopefully!).

Get your copy here and if you get stuck…we are only a phone call away.

A Crash Course in Brand Journalism

Every year, marketers have a new buzzword that they’ll throw around to prove they are more in the know than any other marketer. The new terminology tends to die out as quick as it erupts, but brand journalism has stuck around – and for good reason.

The phrase ‘Brand Journalism’ first came into popular use in 2004, when McDonald’s Chief Marketing Officer, Larry Light, said that “no single ad tells the whole story”. Instead, Light said that McDonald’s had employed a new marketing tactic called ‘brand journalism’. In 2020, Forbes Magazine published an article by Light explaining how the once-controversial tactic is still alive and well in 2023.

Brand Journalism, Defined

Brand journalism is a technique that employs the tools, tactics, and strategies of traditional journalism to sell a brand’s story. It takes the fundamentals of journalism and places it into a corporate setting (which is why it’s sometimes referred to as corporate journalism).

Instead of advertising a product or service with a single (and repetitive) creative message, brand journalism allows a company to position and highlight its value from a different angle. It creates a channel for companies to tell stories that share the brand without rubbing it in the face of a consumer. Brand journalism should embody these characteristics:

1. Timely and compelling storytelling;
2. Balanced, well-investigated, fact-based findings that meet journalistic standards;
3. Relevant to the reader’s world and clarifies complicated matters;
4. Encourages discussion

Over the years, customers have wisened up to the realities of advertising and its constant intrusion. The second a product advertisement is seen online, instinct will reflexively scroll to the next post or video.

What makes brand journalism different is its approach to storytelling. At the very core of communication is the desire to tell and listen to stories. Brand journalism uses this understanding to engage readers by using their own interests and concerns to create articles that foster emotional connections to the brand. Solid storytelling through brand journalism means people can satisfy their appetites for self-directed research and information gathering.

Content Marketing vs Brand Journalism

Brand journalism is often confused with content marketing. Some marketers have tried to draw a hard line between the two but in all honesty, it isn’t so dry cut. The two techniques borrow from each other quite a lot. The difference lies in the outcomes.

Brand journalisms goal is to:

Build awareness and affinity for the brand;
Create context for subsequent brand messaging;
Organically acquire relevant audience

Content marketing aims to:

Capture and nurture interest;
Generate leads and conversions;
Build loyalty with the existing audience

Maker Street’s 4 Step Guide to Brand Journalism

Narrow down your audience

It’s the first step to pretty much every type of advertising: find out exactly who you’re talking to. It’s always tempting to stay somewhat vague so your article appeals to as wide of an audience as possible. We aren’t broadcasting this writing on national television, though, we’re publishing it to the internet where everything is targeted, traced, and tailored. Narrowing it down to a single person or the idea of that person makes for a far more compelling piece while also giving you a clear foundation to start writing from.

Identify their concerns

Now that we’ve narrowed down the audience to a specific type of person, we need to work out what makes them move. What problem are they facing that your business can help fix? Identifying this problem will give your business a purpose and create an underlying sense of understanding and compassion with your reader. In 2021, if we have a problem, we’re likely to ask google as the first port of call.

So, what is the query that would bring your audience to the article?

Focus on language

When you’re talking about a variety of topics, it’s important to make sure you have a consistent tone of voice across all outlets. As the old adage goes, consistency is key. Though it is important to keep reflecting on your tone of voice as your brand evolves. Who is your audience and how does your business engage them? What do they best respond to? It’s imperative that you find the tone for your brand that levels with the audience and encourages them to give you their business.

Now write your story

Once you’ve done your homework (and the previous steps), this is where you get the ball rolling. You know who you’re talking to, why you’re talking to them, and how you’ll speak with them. Now is the time to grab their attention and work out what you want to say to them.

It’s important to remember to focus on their points and how you can help them without the upsell. This isn’t an ad, it’s a beautifully crafted piece of the bigger story – your story. Expand your brand beyond product placement

Brand Journalism, Summarised

Brand journalism is a way of ushering customers towards your brand and not about selling your product – done correctly and the sales will come. In fact, you aren’t selling your product, instead you are selling the idea of what your product can bring to your customer. Brand journalism allows a business to acquire relevant audiences with potential interest in the offering. It sets up the pretext for subsequent brand messaging that can build trust and investment in your brand to forge long-lasting relationships with your customers.

Brand journalism addresses the realities of the audience. A brand can mean different things to different customers based on location, age, work, etc. In a world of hyper-segmentation thanks to mobile media, one-size-fits-all advertising rarely works, if ever. Brand journalism is a fantastic way to add a multi-dimensional layer to your business while simultaneously circumventing the advertising burn-out of a post-digital world.

Take this article as an example. We’ve centred this piece around the prospects of brand journalism and how it can help businesses forge long-lasting relationships with their customers. We aren’t selling a product, but we are highlighting the value that a product we create can bring to our clients.

So, forgive us for the upsell but if you’d like to chat about all things branding, drop us a line. studio@mkrst.co

When is the ideal time to do a brand refresh?

Have your sales plateaued? Are you finding it harder to attract new customers? Are you launching new products or services? Have you recently gone through a merger or acquisition? Does your brand feel inconsistent across different touch points?

These are just a few questions you can ask yourself to self-assess whether a brand refresh might be on the cards for you. For every business, brand is the heart of their identity. It is what customers recognise and trust. Ultimately, it’s the brand (not the product) that plays a crucial role in consumers’ decision-making processes when selecting one product, or service, over another.

But, even the most established brands can become stale, outdated, or out of touch with changing times and consumer expectations, leaving you at the bottom of the list or resulting in endless abandoned shopping carts.

So, is this where a brand refresh should be planned? Well yes, but there’s other key indicators to also consider in order to determine exactly what is required and when…

Some key considerations

Staying relevant

Markets are continually evolving. We’ve all heard and probably witnessed scenarios where companies have not kept up with changing landscapes and start to look and feel a little less relevant. Consumer behaviours and preferences change, and brands need to adapt to remain competitive e.g needing to shift from a bricks and mortar store to an online shopping experience.

New competition or competitors stepping up their game

As new competitors enter your market, established brands may need to differentiate themselves to better resonate with customers. This can involve updating or better articulating your brand’s messaging, visual identity, (along with a potential update to product offerings and prices) to stay competitive.

You look at your brand and it simply “feels” outdated

When you know, you know. A brand that has not been updated or tweaked in a while may begin to feel a little off the mark, outdated and irrelevant to consumers. A refresher, even an uplift can help bring the brand into the current age whilst ensuring it is still aligning and connecting with customers desires.

Your company has had a strategic change in direction

As a company’s business objectives and goals change over time, so does its brand identity. For example, a need to secure higher margins and appeal to a new/growing market segment could mean shifting focus from affordability to quality and luxury. This type of shift may result in a change to how the brand communicates and an uplift in the way it does this (the identity and brand systems).

If you’re finding negative feedback in how consumers respond and interact with you, it’s probably time to take a look internally at what might be driving that. When a brand lands a negative reputation, a refresh is almost always on the cards. It goes a long way in helping the business reposition itself in the market to regain customer trust and credibility. A rebrand can help distance a company from the past and refocus their efforts on aligning with their customers morals, values and beliefs.

Establishing a foothold in a new target market

As brands seek to expand their customer base, they may need to refresh their existing brand identity or introduce a new brand to appeal to the new target market/demographics. This can involve updating visual elements, messaging, or product offerings to better resonate with the new target audience.

So what does this actually look like?

Let’s explore these signals a tad more with some examples of brands that have refreshed their identity over the years. And before you say it, yes, most of these are well known. However, it just goes to show that no matter how large a brand you are, no matter how much of a market share you have, it’s important to keep your brand fresh and relevant with your audience.

Staying relevant:

Remember Blockbuster? Blockbuster was pretty much THE video rental store to go to… but they didn’t adapt to the shift towards online streaming and were eventually replaced by companies like Netflix, Stan and Hulu. And let’s not forget Kodak, a massive camera and film company, really missed the market signals and failed to adapt to the shift towards digital photography.

New competition or competitors stepping up their game:

Pepsi underwent a massive rebranding effort in 2008 to differentiate itself from Coca-Cola and appeal to younger consumers. The updated brand identity included a new logo and updated packaging design. Pepsi’s rebranding effort had a positive impact on the company, helping to revitalise its brand and appeal to a younger generation of consumers.

Outdated:

Qantas had been using the same logo for almost 20 years and was seen as outdated and lacking by many consumers, young and old. In 2007 they unveiled a new brand identity, which included a new logo, aircraft livery, and brand positioning. They also launched a new brand positioning campaign, which focused on the airline’s heritage and reputation for safety and reliability: “Spirit of Australia”.

 

Strategic change in direction:

Apple shifted its focus from computers to personal electronics in the early 2000s, prompting a refresh of its brand identity and marketing campaigns.

A few years later in 2015 McDonald’s refreshed its brand identity to reflect a shift towards healthier menu options and a more modern restaurant design. This came as they recognised their audience and primary consumer was growing up forcing them to do the same in order to maintain a monopoly in the market.

Negative brand reputation:

Yep… we’re digging up Volkswagen and their diesel scam! Come on… it was a massive “faux pas” and yet look at them go now! Volkswagen underwent a realignment effort in 2016 following the “Dieselgate” scandal. (Remember… where they installed illegal software on diesel vehicles to deceive us all about their high emissions?) The company updated its brand to distance itself from the scandal and shift consumer perceptions toward their new stance on sustainability.

In the early 2000s, KFC faced criticism over the health implications of its menu, which was high in calories, fat, and sodium. In addition to introducing healthier menu options, they rebranded, dropping “Kentucky Fried Chicken” to a simple “KFC”. The company believed that the word “fried” had negative connotations and wanted to distance itself from that image. While KFC still offers its classic fried chicken, the company’s efforts to offer healthier options and rebrand itself as KFC have helped to keep the brand relevant and appeal to a broader range of consumers in an ever-changing market.

Establishing a foothold in a new target market:

Long before “woke” was a “thing” Mattel faced criticism over Barbie’s representation of beauty standards and its impact on young girls’ self-esteem. In 2016 Barbie underwent a major rebranding exercise in an effort to make the brand more inclusive and diverse. The new Barbie line included dolls of different body types, skin tones, and hairstyles, as well as new careers and interests. The new dolls also featured more realistic proportions and facial features, aimed at promoting a healthier and more positive body image which helped to emphasise Barbie’s commitment in promoting diversity and inclusivity.

The new line of Barbie dolls and the rebranding effort were well-received by consumers and were seen as a positive step forward for the brand.Mattel was able to create a more positive and inclusive brand image for Barbie and to a larger, more diverse audience.

So where does this lead us?

We started with what seemed like a simple enough question: “When is the ideal time to do a brand refresh?”

And our thoughts are this; established brands need to consider how a brand refresh could help them grow, influence and build positive associations with their brand. This could be after a merger or acquisition, when sales are declining, or when launching new products or services. Sometimes it’s about building relevance, other times it’s about attracting new customers and re-engaging existing ones. And sometimes, it’s just about changing the conversation.

In conclusion, if you are experiencing declining sales, finding it hard to attract new customers, and struggling to re-engage with your existing customers, it may be time to consider investing in brand refresh.

Need help?

You don’t have to navigate this challenge alone! We help existing businesses, startup ventures, spaces and places shape bold brands worth talking about. Our focus is on helping brands communicate with more clarity to bring purpose and meaning to the forefront of the conversation.

We have developed a tried and tested 12 week Brand Delivery System to make this happen. So if you’d like to learn more, email us, phone us (+61 7 3556 5329), send us a message via LinkedIn or download our free Brand Audit Workbook.

Branding in a Recession: How to get through it and come out on top

Are we in a downturn? I think that’s the biggest question to start with…remembering that in a ‘typical’ downturn some businesses struggle to attract new business while others seem to thrive in what the media broadly labels as ‘challenging times’…

But we’ve been here before…

Ref: Graph showing average of the ANZ-Roy Morgan and Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment measure of respondents’ perceptions of their personal finances relative to the previous year; ANZ-Roy Morgan index rescaled to have the same average of the Westpac-Melbourne Institute index since 1996. Sources: ANZ-Roy Morgan; RBA; Westpac and Melbourne Institute.

Consumer sentiment is a good indicator of what’s coming in respect to economy and property markets. Today, sentiment is historically low – lower than the peak of the pandemic and the 2008 GFC. Ultimately, this means consumers are spending less and stashing their cash. This is one of the driving factors in inflation and you guessed it – an economic downturn.

What this means for brands…

Brands have more pressure than ever to ‘recession-proof’ themselves at all costs. To change business models, practices and how they go about growth while some feel stuck, helpless and struggle to get by. But not every business can be so immune to the effects of a recession. They’re tough times and for some, they’re just not setup to weather them.

We saw this a number of times throughout COVID – admittedly when a government forces you to shut your doors, it can feel like your hands have been tied behind your back. But this time, when we’re not facing a superbug. We’re hoping things will be a little different.

The good news is, it’s not our first ticket to the rodeo. We’ve got countless stories, case studies, tools and systems used in the past to help us get through it in one piece – and for some of us, continue to build. And we believe, the secret is in timing and preparation.

RECESSIONS KILL BRANDS

Businesses who bring little value to the kitchen table just wont cut it. To make it through the other side you’ll have to rethink how you approach new businesses but most importantly, take a strong look at your retention strategies and ensuring your current customers keep coming back for as long as they can. If you take a ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ approach to a downturn, you’re setting yourself up for a rather shaky and challenging time. Remember, it’s hard to fight for survival when you’re already standing on the battlefield with no weapons. Preparation is key – and now is the time to do it.

Brands who get in early, restructure early and batten down earlier will have more resources to fight the good fight as a recession comes into play. Armed with a strong brand as you move into a recession and with cash in the bank puts you at an advantage to capitalise on available market share as competition falls from the cliff.

HOW YOU CAN THRIVE

Here’s 6 ideas to get you thinking about how to weather the storm (and come out stronger on the other side).

1. Take a look around

During a recession, customers behaviours and habits change. Most often, without notice. There’s no warning and it can feel like your business has been bit hit by a truck. Spending is reigned in, new experiences are thrown out the window and trialing new ideas or ventures…just…doesn’t…happen. Understanding how this affects you, your industry and your livelihood is key to survival.

2. Dial up the value you bring to the table

Look closely at where you bring value and dial it up where you can. If you can balance perceived value with internal efficiencies you’re onto a winner. Working through a recession is about reducing cost and stabilising revenue (or if you can – growing it). This comes from both sides of the coin as consumers look for better deals and savings with your competitors. Instead of fighting at the bottom of the barrel. Take a hard look at where you can bring additional value without extra costs and differentiate yourself that way.

3. Invest internally

Look inward before you look outward. Take a close look at your customer base and identify your truly valuable customers and invest in them. In a thriving economy, the quickest and cheapest way to increase revenue is to increase your current customers spend. It’s a volume and frequency game – increase the price, or increase the number of times they spend. Because in a downturn, these customers are not only harder to find, they’re sometimes not even there. Focus in on your great-fit customers and bend over backwards to build their loyalty. This goes for your employee’s too – the best ones are generally the first to go, make them feel safe, secure and don’t give them a reason to jump ship.

4. Open yourself up to new opportunities

We love a contrarian mindset and believe a downturn is the absolute best time to launch a new business or venture. New businesses and brands are nimble. They can move quickly, slowly or at whichever pace they need to make it work where others are stalled and held back by people, processes and liabilities. Competition is less intense. You can acquire and build on market share quicker and with less invested capital than almost any other time. Advertising is cheaper and mutually beneficial partnerships are easier to make a reality. Existing businesses who can introduce new lines, new products and/or a new offering to new segments quickly can build and nurture these lines through the recession to come out on the other side with an incredibly profitable and stable extension of their existing brand. If you’d like to learn more about how to do that – you can chat with us here: studio@mkrst.co

5. Use the extra space to innovate

When business is good and you’re run off your feet it leaves little time to innovate. If you’ve been sitting on an idea just waiting for the chance to run with it – now’s the time to take action. This could be experimentation with product packaging, delivery methods, sales tactics and tools, creative exploration or even an entirely new product. Look for opportunities to quickly test and iterate on your ideas to test and gauge how consumers respond. Try to prioritise ideas that can break even quickly, and provide the learnings you need to make informed, viable decisions as we exit the recession. Whether your goal is to grow market share immediately or stabilise, build and grow later, taking a long-term view toward innovation is essential.

6. Eat the competition

Businesses struggling to make it through can be snapped up quickly and for quite cheap. Look for businesses with lower cash reserves, bad debt or financial mismanagement. These types of businesses can be highly lucrative purchases providing there’s still value to be gained in the transaction. By buying another business, their IP can give you access to competitive secrets, new technology/patents or market segments you’ve previously never ventured into. Acquisitions can be one of the most sustainable and efficient ways to grow during a downturn. If you can’t beat them, buy them (and their customers). Win-Win.

How branding can help…

Most high-impact business decisions involve some level of work on your brand – from a brand uplift and refresh, to full-scale re-brands. If you’re looking to grow, differentiate, extend or redefine – you have to take a long hard look at how you represent yourself to your audience, and whether or not that aligns with who you are, your strategic goals and objectives and what the future for your company looks like.
Regardless of whether you’ve been in business for 5 years, 5 decades or 5 minutes. A Brand development project can help you:

Double down on differentiation

When times are tough (like a recession), consumers are more price-aware and sensitive to their back pockets. A brand refresh can help you stand strong in a wake of vultures. It can help you get noticed. It can help you dial in on your strengths and re-articulate the value you bring to your customer. A brand refresh can influence your customers to feel a certain way about you, reinforcing your position in their lives.

Increase Brand Recognition

A brand refresh most commonly includes an uplift of your brand signifier’s. This includes your visual identity, your logo, your approach to colour and how you use it, your typography, messaging and the language you use to communicate. It can help you beecome more distinctive and memorable in your market. This is important in growing market share at any time and even more essential in a declining market.

Revitalise brand perceptions

Pivot – the buzzword of 2020. But it’s more true now than ever. Your ability to move, adapt and re-evaluate where you sit in the market can help you gain access to untapped revenue sources and customers. If your brand’s not perceived correctly, customers are harder to win and struggle to find relevance and value in what you bring to the table. This can cause trust and credibility issues. A brand refresh can help you re-frame your position in market and bring assurance that the perception your customers hold of you is aligned to how you want to be seen.

We have created a no-nonsense workbook to help you assess where your brand is currently at, identify gaps and hopefully help you plan for what’s next. This guide should help you figure out exactly where you want to be and give you everything you need to lay out a roadmap on how to get there. You can grab yourself a copy of our Brand Audit Workbook here or you can always chat to us via studio@mkrst.co