How are sales going? Are they sluggish? Slow? Does one product seem to soar while the other lag behind? Have you ever stopped long enough to wonder why?
I’ll tell you why. Your brand’s growth ALWAYS depends on a few things:
1. Clarity
Close your eyes and imagine that this is the first time that you are seeing your brand. Whether it’s a beautiful lotion, or skin care line or an amazing mineral make up line. Imagine that you are walking past the product and you are seeing it for the first time.
What do you see? Do you see the beautiful packaging? Do you see how it’s going to help you fix some problem (wrinkles, crows feet, clogged pores, dry skin?) How does the lotion look compared to other lotions around it? Does it stand out? Do you want to walk up and touch? Or does it make you want to not pick it up?
The question to ask is this: Does the brand speak the same message that it’s intended to? Does it communicate your vision or does it say something else?
After completing this exercise, if there is a disconnect than this is a good place to start for brand clarity. Write down what you see and see if it lines up with your VISION of the brand.
Spend a few minutes and write down your products in your line. Write down their size, packaging, price and number them in order of best sellers.
2. Connectedness
How do other people connect with your brand? Do they see what you see?
Does your brand connect with people? What is the story of your brand? Have you shared why you created the brand? If not, take a few moments to write down why you created your brand and the story behind it is the why you created it.
People connect with people, period. People don’t connect with logos, you don’t leave QVC on because of some unknown product and spokesperson, heck no! You connect with QVC because they make you feel special.
They connect with each and every viewer and they have 1 single goal: to bring Quality, Value and Convenience to their customers and make them feel important and special while they do it to the tune of $9 Billion in sales in USA alone.
Action step: Ask 3 people (who are truth tellers) to write down how they see the brand. The goal is to find out how you are perceived in the marketplace – what your brand is known for. Also, compare your brand to others’ in the same retail space….is it priced correctly? Does the packaging look nice? Does it look unique? Is it touchable?
3. Cohesiveness
Let’s put it all together. Tell your brand’s story, identify how you are perceived in the market place and what you are know for and what you do well. If you discover that you have a line of 15 different scented lotions but only 3 sell, it’s time to cut back and make the best selling ones your “star” or “hero” product and add on to that.
Action Steps to refine your brand and achieve brand clarity:
1. Spend a few minutes and write down your products in your line. Write down their size, packaging, price and number them in order of best sellers.
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