Branding in a Troubled Economy -

Branding in a Troubled Economy

Tomesia 1 Comment Brand Management Brand Strategy

A good business brand is one that can withstand an ailing economy. In today’s times wherein the majority of the world is suffering from financial crisis, small to big-time businesses are feeling the impact of this downturn.

This is when your branding campaign is most put to the test. Indeed, when businesses are competing for what remains of the market, you have to double your efforts at making sure your brand enables your business to thrive. What is also essential in these times is to never discount the impact of quality and improving value statements. These are important factors that hold promise to deliver more to the clients and keep your business afloat.

Are You Recession-Proof?

Branding seems to lose its vigor during recession. People tend to buy based on logic and needs, rather than impulse or perceptions. Therefore, you have to maintain or improve the kind of value, property, and benefits that your service or product promises its consumers. This is something that you must not lose focus on in your branding and marketing efforts, but its significance becomes more evident during times of recession.

If you want to add more value to your brand to make it better able to withstand the challenges of a suffering economy, here are areas of your branding system that must be given focus on:

During a recession, most businesses would tend to cut back on their marketing efforts and investments. On the contrary, this is the time wherein you need to strengthen your marketing efforts.
Create more aggressive marketing programs to be able to capture a bigger share of the market.
Assert yourself on consumers largely affected by the recession by offering better value on your products.
Your advertising campaign must highlight quality, economic benefits, and real benefits as opposed to simply appealing to their superficial concerns.

Helping Your Brand Survive The Recession

When recession hits the consumer, buying becomes a less desirable practice. This will largely impact your business’ efforts and this is made worse by the intensity of competition amongst various similar businesses.

Try using the following practices to keep your business thriving:

Never change your brand identity. Doing so will reduce the trust you have established with your clients and will also ruin your reputation. Merely restructure the messages you are delivering but make sure they stay within the context of your basic brand identity.
Utilize this time to appeal to your client’s needs by performing more thorough market research. This will give the impression that you are concerned about their needs and you are seeking ways to deliver on those needs.
If your business’ products are mostly high-end, do not simply revert to reducing prices. Instead, work on improving the value and quality of your products so your clients will develop a better quality spending habit.
Be open to potential new clients. In times of recession, people are in the process of re-evaluating their spending habits. This is your opportunity to come into the picture and offer your service or product as a possible solution.

Ensuring Brand Stability

People tend to change their buying patterns during a recession, but business owners must remain committed to their branding strategies. However, you do have to make slight and appropriate changes though, such as increased sensitivity to this new buying attitude exhibited by consumers. During times of recession, you have to stay committed to helping your clients attain quality service and products that add more value to their money. This is your winning formula.

And with increased dedication to your business brand, you will also increase the loyalty of your clients.