Hardening Your Brand for Hard Times

By Robert Quashie

…Just read a New York Times report saying that in yet another sign of a struggling economy, the Consumer Price Index, a key measure of how much Americans are spending on groceries, clothing, entertainment and other goods and services, fell by 1 percent in October compared to September.

The Times reports it was the steepest single-month decline in the 61-year history of the survey, raising concerns of deflation.

Here in Chicago another troubling report stated that in last quarter, only 160 new contracts were signed for condominiums downtown in The Loop, a seven-year low – or as low as they’ve been since 9/11.

After a gulp, I a snapped back into creative mode (survival mode!) and started thinking about what clients and partners can do to harden their brands against these hard times.

I came up with a list of six points for consideration:

1) Lose Fat by Building Muscle. Fad diets, liposuction, and starvation can yield temporary, even sexy results. But at the end of the day I’m told the fastest and healthiest way to lose weight is to build muscle. Your first reaction these days may be to cut costs by cutting head counts, distribution, inventory or media spending. But remember, a skinny brand may not be an efficient brand. Look at how to make your architecture, initiatives and programs work smarter, not just harder. Get ripped.

2) Go back to brand basics. Quality, superior attributes and a defining experience – that’s it. The basics aren’t going to change, if anything, these fundamentals are likely to become more essential. Resist letting reactive moves inhibit your ability to deliver on your promise. Think about how you are demonstrating lasting quality or consistency over time. Price point is only one attribute, what other tangibles are you, or should you be amplifying right now?

3) Re-connect with your alpha consumers. With so much change and so much at stake in this economy, can you be confident that last year’s data and research still holds true? As the Price Index shows, consumer behavior is changing drastically. Now is the time to revisit your core customers through the networking and feedback tools you should already have in place, as well as through a fresh round of focus groups and/or ethnographies. Keep in mind your alpha consumers may be the first to signal challenges and opportunities, or point out your exposures – and if treated well, the most likely to stick by you through down cycles.


4) Teach your brand to multi-task. Conventional wisdom right now is to focus on what you do best. But you and your brand are going to have to figure out how to do what you do best for a broader range of consumers or customers. President-elect Obama is right, we’re not two Americas, but don’t be fooled, we are not one consumer market. If anything, Obama’s campaign proved the power of well-organized and orchestrated target marketing. How can you make what you do best more relevant to the larger number of segments within your reach.


5) Be the Candidate: Yes We Can. Speaking of Obama, his campaign is being widely touted as the most effective and efficient in U. S. history. He did it, and yes, you can too. Take a page from the Axelrod & Co. play book – strengthen your brand through your organizational facilities. Now is the time to remove the impediments to the free flow of information inside your organization, and between you and your consumer. Make sure the right and left hands can and do talk. Cross-train and cross-hatch between departments and functions as much as possible. This will help close many unnecessary gaps in the experience and the delivery of relevant knowledge to your customers. Consider that efficient and informed workers, service providers and sales teams will make better choices and decisions on behalf of your consumers. Good field work and a tight campaign translate into added value.

6) Expect the Worst. Identify, practice and prepare for your worst case scenario. I don’t want to get into asking how an entire industry got caught flat-footed by a $700 billion sucker punch. But champion fighters don’t train hard because they might get hit – they train hard because they know they will. In this economy, you will too. If you’re an ad man or woman now might be a good time to do a few training rounds with your PR, HR and customer service teams. Crisis planning is built in to what they do. They should already have much of the research in hand regarding some of your worst-case scenarios, as well as the tools in place to take the temperature of your customers, suppliers, government and the media.

What do you think?

Robert Quashie

robertquashie@gmail.com

P.S., for a take on really hard times, check out a recent podcast from This American Life featuring the voice and stories from the late Studs Terkel.