How can you use Brand Management to improve your Brand Health?
Filed Under Strategy
What is Brand Health and How Can Active Brand Management Improve It?
Brand health is more than its buzzword consistency pronounces — it is the bellwether of a successful business. Brand health reflects how well your brand is performing in the minds of your audience, how it resonates with their needs and how it stands up to your competitors. A healthy brand enjoys customer loyalty, strong market share and a positive perception that translates into sustained business growth.
As Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, once said, “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” This underscores the critical importance of brand health to your business – it’s not what you think of your brand but how your audience perceives it. Perception is not reality, it is more important than that.
So, how can brand management help improve your company’s brand health? Let’s dive in.
The Intersection of Brand Health and Brand Management
Brand management is the ongoing process of building, nurturing and evolving your brand to ensure it stays relevant and meaningful. It directly impacts brand health by aligning your brand’s promises with your audience’s expectations. Strong brand management ensures that your brand consistently delivers value, maintains its reputation and remains competitive in the marketplace.
Key elements of brand management that enhance brand health include:
- Clarity of Purpose: A clear vision and mission help define your brand’s role in customers’ lives.
- Consistency Across Touchpoints: Whether it’s your logo, tone of voice, or customer experience, consistency ensures recognition and trust.
- Adaptability: While consistency is crucial, adaptability to market trends and customer preferences keeps your brand relevant.
- Emotional Connection: Strong brand management fosters emotional connections that turn customers into ‘loyal-beyond-reason’ advocates of your brand.
The Importance of Regular Brand Health Checks
A healthy brand doesn’t happen by accident. It requires regular evaluation and course correction. Think of brand health checks as routine maintenance for your brand, ensuring it remains in optimal condition and fit for the fight.
An 8-Step Brand Health Check Process
- Define Your Metrics
Identify what success looks like for your brand. Metrics might include brand awareness, customer satisfaction, market share, or brand equity - Analyse Customer Perception
Conduct surveys, focus groups and social listening to understand how your audience views your brand. Are they satisfied? Do they trust you? Research can be quick and simple. You don’t need to drink the whole ocean to learn that it is salty - Review Competitive Positioning
Assess how your brand stacks up against your key competitors. Are you a leader? Are you a challenger? Are you struggling to stand out? - Evaluate Brand Consistency
Audit your brand touchpoints — online and off — to ensure your being consistent in both messaging and visual presentation - Monitor Emotional Engagement
Measure how well your brand connects emotionally with your audience. Positive sentiment often translates into loyalty - Track Market Trends
Stay informed about industry shifts and cultural trends that could impact your brand’s relevance - Analyse Financial Performance
Examine whether your brand health translates into tangible business results, such as revenue growth or improved ROI on marketing spend - Identify Improvement Opportunities
Based on your findings, create an action plan to address weaknesses and capitalise on strengths – brands must evolve but they need to do it in alignment with their values
How Brand Management Translates Insights Into Action
Insights from brand health checks are only valuable if they lead to action. This is where brand management plays a pivotal role. A skilled brand manager will use these insights to fine-tune strategies, realign messaging and develop initiatives that reinforce your brand’s core strengths.
For instance, if a health check reveals declining customer trust, the solution may involve a campaign that reinforces your commitment to quality or transparency. Make sure you’re authentic in your operations else you will come undone and further erode the remaining trust. Similarly, If brand awareness is lacking, an investment in marketing to expand your reach will heighten visibility and prominence with your consumers.
Some Final Thoughts
Brand health is a dynamic measure of your brand’s strength in the marketplace. By consistently monitoring and managing it, you can ensure your brand survives and thrives. As Jeff Bezos taught us earlier, your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room. By leveraging brand management to align your promises with your audience’s expectations, you can shape that conversation into something authentic and truly remarkable.
Strong brand health is not just a nice-to-have—it’s become a business imperative. With regular brand health checks and strategic brand management, your brand will remain relevant, trusted and admired for years to come.
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Want to elevate your firm by ensuring your brand management is aligned to your brands vision? Let’s review the future of your brand’s management together. Email us today.
Brand health and brand management are enhanced by research. It is important to find out what your customers think about your brand. But always use your research like a drunk man uses a lamppost – for support rather than illumination! 🙂
Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.
