How do you secure your brand equity from risks?

3 Manage your brand portfolio and architecture

The third step to securing your brand equity is to manage your brand portfolio and architecture. This means having a clear and consistent structure for your brand and its sub-brands, extensions, or variants. You need to decide how to name, design, and communicate your different offerings and how they relate to each other and to your overall brand. You need to balance the benefits of leveraging your brand equity across multiple products or markets with the risks of overstretching, confusing, or cannibalizing your brand. You also need to ensure that your brand portfolio and architecture are aligned with your business goals and customer segments.

4 Protect your brand identity and assets

The fourth step to securing your brand equity is to protect your brand identity and assets. This means having a strong and distinctive visual identity, such as a logo, color scheme, typography, imagery, and style guide. You also need to register and trademark your brand name, slogan, and other elements that identify your brand. You need to enforce your brand guidelines and standards across all touchpoints and channels, such as your website, social media, packaging, advertising, and customer service. You also need to defend your brand from any unauthorized or fraudulent use, such as counterfeiting, copying, or infringement.

5 Respond to brand crises and challenges

The fifth step to securing your brand equity is to respond to any brand crises or challenges that may arise. These can be internal or external, such as product defects, recalls, scandals, lawsuits, negative publicity, customer complaints, or competitive attacks. You need to have a crisis management plan and team in place to handle any potential threats to your brand reputation and trust. You need to act quickly, transparently, and responsibly to address the issue, communicate with your stakeholders, and mitigate the damage. You also need to learn from the experience and take corrective actions to prevent or reduce the likelihood of recurrence.

6 Innovate and adapt your brand strategy

The sixth and final step to securing your brand equity is to innovate and adapt your brand strategy. This means being proactive and flexible in responding to changing customer needs, preferences, and behaviors. You need to keep your brand relevant, fresh, and appealing by offering new or improved products or services, entering new markets or segments, or creating new experiences or value propositions. You also need to keep your brand consistent, authentic, and meaningful by staying true to your brand purpose, vision, and values. You need to balance the need for change with the need for continuity in your brand strategy.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?