How to stop brand boredom

I see it all the time. Brand boredom syndrome. It drives a huge chunk of “so called” brand work that is done by the creative industry and can be downright deadly to your organisation.

The infection nearly always starts in marketing. After looking at the same ads and collateral materials and using the same messages for awhile, it all starts to feel a bit ho hum. The excitement is gone.

“Well, if we are bored then so must be our customers” goes the thinking. And before you know it a proposal to “rebrand” has landed and the cycle begins all over again (because let’s not kid ourselves – this is a cycle that plays out about every two to three years in most companies).

Let’s ignore for a moment that simply changing your marketing is not going to change your brand one iota (more on that here), and go straight to the heart of what ails you.

The fact is that just when you are getting bored, you’re probably just starting to get traction.

I get asked all the time for the main reason brands fail. The answer is always the same – lack of alignment between what is being promised and what is being delivered. But hot on the heels of alignment is lack of patience. When you are constantly changing how you present your brand to your customers you are just making it harder for them to form a connection with you.

So the next time you feel a case of brand boredom coming on, take a deep breath, go for a walk around the block and then try looking around for something else to focus on for a bit.

Here are a few suggestions that will not only help with the boredom but will also deliver greater brand alignment:

• Take a look at your sales processes – once the customer contacts you, what happens to them and does is support the promises you made in your marketing?
• How about your customer service function – are you making it easy for customers to resolve issues and working to tackle future problems? (Check out this great HBR article).
• What does your culture look like? Does everyone across the organisation understand and believe in your purpose and values?
• Are your billing systems inflexible and undermining all the great work that the organisation is doing to win the hearts and minds of your customers?

A veritable smorgasbord of opportunities awaits your time and attention. There are nooks and crannies all over the organisation where you can trade off your boredom. And once you start exploring, you’ll never be bored again and the really great side benefit will be a stronger, better brand for the company.

So what are you waiting for?

See you next week.

Michel Hogan is a Brand Advocate. Through her work with Brandology here in Australia and in the United States, she helps organisations recognise who they are and align that with what they do and say, to build more authentic and sustainable brands. She also publishes the Brand thought leadership blog – Brand Alignment.