Has your brand kept up with your business?
A business can change considerably before the way it presents itself catches up.
Growth brings new services, specialist teams and sometimes entire businesses into the organisation. Each addition may make commercial sense, yet the combined offer can become harder to explain.
An acquired business might retain its name and identity. Different teams develop their own descriptions of what they do. A website that once served the business well becomes a collection of additions, each competing for attention.
For people inside the organisation, the connections may seem obvious. Customers and prospective clients have less context. They may know one part of the business well without realising what else it offers, or struggle to see why they should choose it.
Over time, that gap can leave a capable, established business presenting itself in a way that no longer reflects its strengths.
Where the gaps begin to show.
As a business grows, these four situations can reveal where its brand needs attention.
Different versions of the business
Sales teams, specialists and leaders may describe the organisation differently. Some variation is useful, but customers should still be able to recognise the same business, whichever team they speak to.
An offer that is hard to navigate
As services expand, customers can struggle to understand what is available or where to start. The way a business organises its offer internally may not match the way people look for help.
A growing collection of names
Product names, team identities and acquired brands often reflect decisions made at different times. Without reviewing how they work together, the organisation can appear more fragmented than it is.
Acquisitions that need careful handling
An acquired business may bring a respected name and longstanding relationships. Deciding how it fits into the wider brand requires an understanding of what customers value and what the combined business wants to become.
Deciding what comes next.
Before changing how a brand looks or sounds, it helps to understand where it has fallen behind the business.
Sometimes the offer needs a clearer structure. Elsewhere, an established name deserves to stay, or the wider organisation needs to become more visible. Those decisions should reflect how customers choose, what they already value and where the business is heading.
Four questions can help guide that work.
What should we preserve?
Which names, relationships and distinctive qualities do people recognise and value?
What should we bring together?
Where would a shared identity or explanation help people understand how the business fits together?
What should we let go?
Which names, messages or conventions have outlived their purpose?
What should lead?
When someone encounters the business, what do they need to understand first?
Start by asking whether your customers see the business as it is today, or as it used to be.
Is complexity getting in the way of your brand?
Forthbrand helps organisations make sense of how their business has evolved and express it clearly through brand strategy, creative direction and design.