How to ruin your brand identity

You’ve worked hard to grow your brand from concept to something with tangible value; you don’t just have customers, you have fans. The long nights and weekends working are finally paying off!

Wrapped around it all is your brand identity, it’s the conduit between your brand and it’s public. Here’s how to completely undermine it:

Use your identity inconsistently

Initially, you got a fantastic identity designed for your brand. It lent it a real feel of quality and stood out in the marketplace like a beacon of Apple-esque chic.

You didn’t get any brand guidelines produced though, so every time it’s been used since you’ve just supplied the last piece of collateral as a reference. 

It now looks a bit like you’ve paid someone to bootleg your brand.

For some reason, your brand doesn’t look quite as refined as it used to. Bit by bit, it seems to have become removed from the original brand identity. It now looks a bit like you’ve paid someone to bootleg your brand.

Oh well, perhaps time for a branding refresh.

Change your brand identity regularly

Day in, day out you have to look at your brand identity, and you’re sure it’s starting to look a bit dated or has lost its sparkle, or maybe you’re just bored with it.

Despite the fact it’s only 18-months since your last rebrand, it must be time to rebrand again; your customers will be just excited as you by your new look. Perhaps you’ll even change your name this time. Agile!

One of your competitors has rebranded, and their new identity looks impressive, so do something like theirs.

Stretch it beyond relevance

Your quest for global domination means sub-brands and brand extensions a-plenty.

Just because you’re a recruiter, it doesn’t mean you can’t launch a range of athleisure wear or a restaurant chain. Your reputation for filling vacant IT positions will translate easily across countless products and services.

Make sure they all carry the same brand name too, so when one brand extension goes awry, it reflects poorly on them all.

Jump on the bandwagon

You want your brand out there, and a structured social responsibility programme is too restrictive. Instead, hitch your brand to every cause, movement, issue or sponsorship opportunity that comes along, big or small.

Don’t appoint one person or team to manage it

Brand management is a company-wide responsibility, so get everyone to use, deploy and manage your brand identity without anyone overseeing it or controlling quality.

Conclusion

By following these easy steps, you’ll achieve maximum cost and effort for minimum return. You’ll also be sure to confuse anyone that comes into contact with your brand, and maybe even yourself.

If you want to avoid these pitfalls, drop us a line and let’s talk about your brand.

Photo by explorenation # on Unsplash