The final installment of re-branding cautions and corrections.

11. Putting the wrong person in charge: Now, I’m assuming that you’ve hired capable-to-outstanding branding consultants (or dedicated completely capable internal resources to this project), the quality of work delivered depends on sound, knowledgeable project management.  Plus, it takes UNEMOTIONAL detachment to properly assess your company.  Make sure your internal point person has the skills, time and resources to drive the agency to its most effective work.

12. Strategy by committee: I’ve already reference this before.  Too many opinions not only delay the re-branding process, they also diffuse the focus needed to achieve ROI.  Keep those with critical approval to an efficient shortlist (ideally, don’t even include them until close to the end of the process), and assemble the smallest, most essential project team possible.  The key is to include a real mix of all levels of the company… not just executive.  You want your brand ambassadors to weigh in, but not weigh the process down.

13.  Re-branding without research: There’s a lot of lip service about customers/customer satisfaction/customer service/customer-centric operations/etc., but in brand strategy sessions they’re often forgotten.  Current customers and desired customers should be front and center when creating new brand messages and images.  After all, the customer will be your ultimate success test.  That’s why I’m asking for your feedback NOW while I’m in the middle of moving through this process.  Who do YOU think Wendistry is?  Let me know…  much appreciation!!!

14.  Basing a re-brand on advertising: An ad campaign and a slogan do not equal brand positioning. Brand strategy should lead advertising… not the other way around.  In fact, with the rise of social media platforms and strategies, sometimes the most effective re-brands don’t include traditional advertising at all.

15.   Tunnel focus: Focusing exclusively on your own industry and market category can be limiting.  When re-branding, try cross-pollinating your thinking and consider what leaders in other industries are doing in regard to customer experience.  Consider Alan M. Webber’s Rule #24:  If you want to change the game, change the economics of how the game is played. Mr. Webber was co-founder of Fast Company magazine and former editorial director of the Harvard Business Review so you want to listen to him.

BONUS: Believing you’re too small to re-brand: Again, every brand needs refreshing to stay relevant as markets evolve.  Smaller companies and non-profits are not immune from this requirement… nor is Wendistry, and I’m very aware that I am extremely overdue.  Like larger brands, if you’re in business, you have a brand position that needs to be enhanced, refined and renewed.  Define your brand or you’ll be defined… and, chances are, you won’t like what you get back.

Re-branding mistakes to avoid continued.

6.  The re-brand lacks credibility or is a superficial facelift: The re-brand’s story must be believable given the existing brand experience and customer perception.  So, don’t be afraid to push the envelope.  However, it must also hold credibility internally with you, your employees, and your partners.  If employees who live the brand day-to-day don’t believe the new story, your target audience won’t either.

7.  Limiting the influence of branding partners: Good branding consultants are more than graphic designers and image strategists.  The best ones help develop messaging and platforms that launch new products, expand demographic focuses and even streamline business operations.  Rein them in when it’s necessary, but don’t limit their areas of influence, either.

8.  Believing that re-branding costs too much: In either time or money, good thinking doesn’t have to come with a multi-million dollar price tag.  You can get access to amazing thinking and solid strategy from small and talented branding agencies, consultants and in-house talent.  Especially if your brand targets the younger age groups, consider university students or tap into the experience and wisdom of retired professionals for cost-effective and accurate results.

9.  Bypassing the basics: The value of perfecting your physical environment, marketing materials, web site, etc. is drastically decreased if your customers languish in line for inordinate amounts of time while your employees take their smoke breaks.  Or, if your invoices and contracts are written in 7-point legal jargon.  Or, if someone has to hit “3″… then “7″… then “6″… then “2″… on and on before they finally get to talk to a person.  Keep all customer touchpoints in mind when you are re-branding your company.

10.  Forgetting that people don’t do what they say… They do what they do: Use extreme caution when basing your re-branding strategies on focus group-type research.  Unless you’re physically in the customer’s environment observing them using your product or service, you’re not getting the full (and sometimes real) story.  Actual observation, while not perfect, will get you so much closer to the right brand.

Here at Wendistry, I’ve grown tired.  It’s more than Dallas Summer Heat exhaustion.  I’m tired of myself… over it all.  I want to start anew.  A new look; a chic image; a fresh brand.

Having just celebrated a milestone birthday, I no longer feel the need try and prove to others that I am qualified to know and execute good marketing.  I have the 20 years experience, scars, and moxie.  I have created and I build beautiful businesses and brands.  Because I’m launching two more companies this Fall 2009 outside of CityCrush Media, I want Wendistry to represent the overarching identity of ME behind all of them.

Smart marketers evolve their brands over time to keep them relevant and appropriate.  Some do it well, while others become the target of cynical bloggers and commentators.

Essentially, I’m in the process of the Re-Brand… which is torturous for me because I’ve never had any patience and I want the perfect words that describe me, the oh-so-stunning images that represent me, and the witty/intelligent/creative/aesthetic/cosmopolitan/striking/sumptuous/powerful content that conveys exactly who I am in a nanosecond glance.  Yea… not a lot to ask, eh?

So, while I know what to do and I know it takes time, I also (thankfully) know what activities to avoid.  Listing a few of them here, I’ll continue this thought process on for the rest of this week.

1. Clinging to history: Rebranding is change, but it also means staying relevant.  Assumptions made when the brand was initially established may no longer hold true.  Wendistry in it’s original form was established in 1990… almost 20 years ago.  It was under a different name and had a different mission, but provided the same marketing, business building, media and promotions management consulting services that Wendistry provides now.  Today, I want to analyze the changes in my target markets (and in me) when I’m exploring opportunities for brand expansion, repositioning and revitalization.
2. Thinking the brand is the logo, stationery, or corporate colors: Brands encompass EVERYTHING about your company (and YOU if you’re the owner)… from customer perception and experience to quality, look and feel, customer care, retail and web environments, the tone and voice of communications, and more.  In fact, I have argued that customer perception IS your brand… no matter what you think it is (another reason why I’m re-branding Wendistry).
3. Navigating without a plan: Effective brands rely on a creative brief (this is the patience-testing process I’m working through right now) to keep everyone focused as the project progresses.  I’m including sections for a Situation Analysis (how does the brand act when???), Objectives (what is the new purpose and message?), Target Markets (who do I want to reach?  what are they interested in?), Budget and Resources, Time-frame, Point Person, Known Parameters, Approval Structure, Stakeholders and Metrics for assessing results.
4. Not leveraging existing brand equity and goodwill: Dismissing brand equity when re-branding alienates established customers, while unnecessary overhauls can irreparably damage a brand’s perception.  Consider the needs and mindset of your target market carefully before digging into this process.  Sometimes a small evolution- or a new coat of paint- is all you need to rejuvenate and make a brand relevant.  Believe me, I have been torn back and forth on this one for the past 3 months… move to where I want to be or stay with what’s there and comfortable?  I know it isn’t easy, but I also know that anything that scares me, THAT’S what I need to do.
5. Not trying on your customers’ shoes: Simply calling your own 800-number or receptionist may reveal a few of the challenges your customers face and may drive a couple of re-branding strategies, but, better yet, ask your friends, family and best customers to do the same and see what you learn.  Have your 70-year-old aunt navigate your web site, buy a product and try to return it.  Experience the other side of the fence for a while and see what you can do to REALLY upgrade your re-branding efforts.

You come to a Cold Stone Creamery ice cream shop for the first time, not because you’ve seen any advertising, but because you’ve heard by word of mouth.  When you walk in, you walk right into a Brand Experience.  You see unexpected, appealing product differences all around that are thematically consistent and uniquely “Cold Stone.”

On top of the quality benchmarks for any ice cream store (clean, bright surroundings, ice cream on display, colorful promotional pieces, and friendly staff behind the counter), there are some Cold Stone bonuses:  only a few base flavors are displayed next to countless mix-ins… some predictable like crushed Heath Bars, chopped Reeses’s Peanut Butter cups,fruits, nuts, and sprinkles.  Some are completely unexpected like apple pie pieces and cheesecake crusts.

Right away it’s different.  As you get close to the counter, you see the big frozen stone where all the mixing is done.  So, instead of being bored in line, you get to watch all the outrageous flavors created fresh by skilled employees for the folks in front of you, and you get to see if theirs is better than yours or really yucky.

The decor is full of whacky flavor suggestions and ice cream photos.  The staff refer to themselves as Ice Cream Consultants.  There is no walking out of Cold Stone without perceiving a wonderful, unique brand experience that you or anyone else can articulate enthusiastically to the uninitiated whom you’ll inevitably tell, “What, you’ve never been to Cold Stone?  It’s this ice cream place where they mix any flavor of ice cream you want on a frozen counter, right in front of you.”

Custom crafted creamy goodness.  It’s product and performance rolled into one.  Yummers!

Denny’s tries night-owl vibe.  Courting rockers, chain seek post-party young adults.

Denny’s Corp. is trying to restake its claim as a nocturnal hot spot for young adults.  The restaurant chain, which conjures images of seniors and families digging into morning pancake platters, has been trying to set a different scene for night owls.  Between the hours of 10pm and 5am, it pipes in rock and country music and it is scheduling after-concert parties for up-and-coming bands.  It has added late-night menu items fashioned by well-known musicians including Rascal Flatts, Good Charlotte and Jewel.

Good Charlotte band members Joel, left, and Benji Madden with the Denny's burritos they created

Denny’s, based in Spartanburg, S. C., has offered 24-hour restaurant service since its inception in 1953.  But, the chain has suffered in recent years as rival chains such as McDonald’s and Burger King started staying open later and attracting young adults in the process.  Taco Bell, a subsidiary of Yum Brands Inc., two years ago coined the term “fourthmeal” to describe the meal between dinner and breakfast served at many of its stores open until 1am or later.

To stem the loss of customers, Denny’s last year created the “Allnighter” program, which includes adopting emerging musicians and offering a “rockstar” menu for night patrons.  It gives adoptees $1,000 in Denny’s gift cards so they can eat while touring.  Then, Denny’s uses Twitter and MySpace to inform its target market of 18- to 24-year-olds when and where the adopted bands’ after-parties will be held and when new menu items are added.

Excerpted from June 30, 2009 article in WSJ.com, by Julie Jargon

Now, to me, this article is extremely important for every business to take note.  Stop fighting it… your brand isn’t who you think you are.  It’s who the audience thinks you are.  Relax and go with it.