When your business is in the doldrums and you’re listless, chances are something is up. If you look at your competition and you see yourself – not good my friend. If you’re catching yourself looking to the economy as a convenient scapegoat for your business blues, it is a sign that you’re losing confidence in yourself.
If all these “if’s” sound like your day, then your brand is constipated.
There is only one solution, and it’s going to be a little uncomfortable.
Simply put, “Your brand needs an enema.”
Grab the apparatus, this is a brand enema with a 3-step formula:
ONE: Do a survey of your stakeholders (customers, employees and shareholders)
TWO: List and analyze your competition to gage their actions from a brand perspective
THREE: Ask yourself if you’re prepared to act on your conclusions?
After you’ve completed the enema, all the toxins should be clear generally and you’re ready for a fresh start.
If you’ve done your surveys correctly, you should be able to see many short comings of your brand. Your stakeholder’s impression of your business will jump off the pages. In these survey results, are key opportunities that will help to reinvigorate your brand. Chances are that the toxins corrupting your brand were simply your inability to differentiate your business in their minds. You blended in.
Step Two, will demonstrate where you blend in and give you keys to correcting this issue. Using differentiation as a strategy, use what you know about your competition to battle more effectively against them.
And lastly, if you’ve been honest with yourself – you have to lead! Be a powerful inspiration to your stakeholders. If you are low, they will reflect that in their attitude also. They look to you for direction. Without your guidance, a brand enema is a complete waste of time. You might as well just get used to the feeling that the world controls you.
