Branding for the Future - Post Corona

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With the gradual withdrawal of the state corona measures, not only is there a first breath of relief for the economy here in Germany, but the drastic economic consequences are becoming increasingly clear. Especially in this environment, one should put one's own company to the test. A review of your investments is required!

In many countries of the world corona measures are currently being slowly but surely reduced. However, what will certainly remain for a longer period of time is a time of uncertainty and therefore also a time of economic crisis. From a branding and positioning point of view, companies should use this time to put themselves and their brands on the strategic and operational test bench. In particular, the following six points should be kept in mind:

1. Re-think your positioning

Especially in times when companies need quick turnovers to get back on track for success, many try to reach everyone and everything in the short term. At the same time, prices are often massively reduced in this context. Only in the long term this can become very dangerous for a brand or a company, especially if it leads to a dangerous downward price spiral. Advise: Think carefully about what your brand or company should stand for in the future. Let us check Strasser Steiner (Strasser Stones) as a role model. Before the guy called Johannes Artmayr took over this company, it was just another Austrian natural stone supplier among many others and massively in crisis. Instead of relying on lower prices and massive cost-cutting programmes in this situation, Artmayr focused the brand on kitchen worktops made of natural stone. Today, Strasser is the stone specialist in the kitchen and on the road to international success. So it is also interesting that brands like BMW or KTM found their long-term positions for success in a phase of crisis.

2. Re-think the marketing

When companies have to cut costs, one of the first areas for the red pencil is often marketing, especially advertising. That too may instinctively seem right. Only when you analyse long-term studies on this topic does a different picture emerge. They show that the best way to gain market share is in times of crisis. According to a study by GfK/Serviceplan, two factors are particularly important in this respect: anti-cyclical behavior, i.e. investing in marketing when the majority are waiting or saving. Secondly, positioning innovations that strengthen your own brand.

3. Re-think (digital) innovations

From this point of view, one should now actively think about which innovations one has in the pipeline that one could - strategically considered - bring to market. In other words, instead of focusing one-sidedly on price campaigns, you should think about which innovation - whether product or service - you could now score points with customers. At the same time, you should also consider what digital lessons you have learned during the crisis, whether in the area of online shops, video conferencing or the use of social media. The crisis may have opened up completely new strategic and operational opportunities in customer acquisition and customer loyalty, which should be used more intensively in the future. Above all, however, digital deficits that were identified during the crisis should be eliminated as quickly as possible. This gave an advantage to those companies that at least had digital contact with their customers.

4. Re-think the branding

But there is one important point that you should definitely keep in mind when it comes to innovation. From a positioning point of view, there are two types of innovation: On the one hand, there are innovations that fit perfectly with your current brand or company positioning. On the other hand, they are innovations that may not fit your brand or company so perfectly. In the second case you have two options - especially considering the resources of your company: You should not bring the innovation to market, as it could damage the overall position of your brand in the long run. Many brands have been overstretched and de-profiled in the past. The result: short-term growth, long-term problems. However, if you believe that this is really an important innovation, you should launch a new brand or sub-brand with a new independent positioning. A possible sub-brand should be chosen in such a way that it can also function as an independent brand.

5. Re-think globalisation

But there is another, extremely important way out of this crisis, namely the path of internationalisation. If your own domestic market stagnates or even shrinks, you should look at other markets. But what usually does not work is to simply transfer your own strategy in your home market to other markets. The reason: Most brands are "too broadly based" at home to be really successful internationally. In this case you can learn a lot from the so-called "hidden champions". These usually recognized early on that the most important strategy in globalization is "narrowing the focus". This means: You really have to rethink the position of your brands and your company from an international or even global perspective in order to sharpen it in this sense.

6. Re-think "corona advertising"

Today, we do not only live in an over-communicated society, we are currently living primarily in a "corona-communicated" society. The media is literally "virus-infected". Everyone is talking about the corona virus today: politicians, experts, health organisations and many, many more. No matter if television, radio, newspapers, magazines, social media or whatever, the virus has us firmly in its grip. And yet brands still jump on this "corona train" to use it in their own advertising. According to a recent Nielsen study, corona campaigns with a total value of about 100 million Euros were registered in March 2020 alone. Forget Corona as an advertising hanger! It is a waste of money and certainly not an investment in the brand. Think brand positioning and not corona positioning!

The most important year after year

Even if many companies today rightly feel that they are forced into some kind of defensive strategy mode, it is now time to choose the offensive mode, first mentally (thinking) and then actually (acting). But you should always pay attention to a clear long-term positioning, regardless of whether you pursue the offensive strategy regionally, nationally or internationally. This also shows that brands and companies with a clear profile generally make more profit. From this perspective, the year 2020 could be one of the most important years for your company, especially if you look back in 2030 and can then say: "This year we have successfully set a new strategic course for our brands and our company in the long term". In this sense: Positioning: The future of your brand(s), your company depends on it.

All visuals from Pixabay under free license