We’ve arrived at the end of the A-Z of brand.

Or have we?

Sorry to spoil it for those of you who like a neat and happy ending, but the truth is there’s no real end to the brand lifecycle.

It’s a lot like decorating your house. When it’s finished you can rightly sit back with a cuppa and bask in the joy of your hard work – the smell of fresh paint in the air and shiny pristine walls to admire.

Then life happens and everyday wear and tear kicks in.

The skirting boards start to look a bit scruffy and everything becomes a bit worn and rough around the edges. And let’s face it, that wallpaper you SO loved at the time has definitely had its day. So you nip down to the DIY store to discover the latest paint swatches, scroll through Pinterest for design inspiration, and perhaps buy a few magazines to check out the latest trends. You need to do your research to get it right. And on that subject, Sue down the road has just had her lounge transformed by an amazing decorator. You’re seriously considering getting the professionals in too.

The best brands never settle
Just like interiors trends and consumer tastes, the most memorable, successful brands never stand still. Markets mature, customer needs and perceptions change, new products and services arrive, re-structuring and mergers happen, and organisations evolve in response.

So, your organisation is ready to evolve its brand? The never-ending brand lifecycle will come in useful…

Research
With no real start and finish to the brand lifecycle, it can be difficult to know where to begin. A good place is doing your research, whether that’s on your competitors, talking to your customers and employees, looking at internal data or external market conditions. Research tells you what people are looking for from a brand like yours right now. See our previous blog O is for Opinions.

Define and position
With your research complete, it’s time to look at what’s working well with your current brand and where your organisation sits within the market. Look at the results, data and metrics you collected during your research. Have your company purpose , mission or values shifted as your organisation has developed? See our previous blog V is for Values.

Strategy
This is an exciting, creative stage where you begin to share ideas to craft your brand name, personality and look at how this translates to your tone of voice, key messages and content. You’ll really start to see your brand coming to life. See our previous blog S is for Strategy.

Design
Once you’ve agreed all the elements of your brand, it’s time to design your logo, agree fonts, styling and a set of guidelines so that a designer can easily apply it to different materials. We highly recommend using a skilled designer at this stage! See C for Consistency and L for Logo.

Measurement
When you’re ready to launch your new brand to the world, the important work continues. Monitoring and listening to what people think and say about your brand is a continuous process across every channel. Genuine feedback and statistical data allow you to make informed adjustments to your brand, campaign materials and content.

You know what we’re going to say next! All this information you collect then rolls forward to the Research phase and the process begins all over again. There really is no place for Zzzz in the brand lifecycle.

Ready to get the professionals in?
If, like Sue down the road, you want to hire a professional to look at your décor, ahem, we mean brand, we’re happy to help. Get in touch to arrange a chat with one of our team.

Now where did I put that decorator’s number Sue gave me…