What do you do if your brand strategy is leading to repeated failures and increased risks?

Sounds like your brand strategy needs a serious reboot. Start by analyzing failures, find patterns, then pivot. Involve your team for fresh insights. Focus on what sets you apart, and communicate it clearly. Sometimes risks signal growth; manage, don't avoid. Adapt fast or get left behind.

When the strategy isn’t singing the right tune, it’s time for a remix: 1. Root Cause Analysis: Dig deep to uncover the underlying issues causing failures. Is it a flawed strategy, executional missteps, or external factors? 2. Adapt and Pivot: Be flexible in your approach. If the strategy isn’t yielding results, pivot to alternative approaches based on lessons learned. 3. Iterative Approach: Embrace a test-and-learn mindset. Break down the strategy into smaller experiments, allowing for rapid iteration and refinement. 4. Cross-Functional Collaboration: Involve stakeholders from different departments to gain diverse perspectives and identify blind spots in the strategy.

In reflecting on the challenges faced by brands, it’s crucial to learn from past missteps. Take, for instance, the American beer brand Bud Light. In an effort to innovate, they took a direction that unfortunately alienated their core customer base, resulting in significant financial loss and lasting damage to their brand reputation. This serves as a powerful reminder that understanding the root causes of business downturns is essential. It’s not just about recognizing what went wrong, but also about being agile enough to pivot and refresh one’s strategy. Let’s engage in proactive change, not reactive repair. By doing so, we safeguard our brand’s legacy while steering it towards a prosperous future.

Audit your brand or hire an experienced brand manager to audit your brand. Hire a new brand manager with case studies and result-oriented strategies. Get a refresher course on branding.

A re-look at the strategy is required. If everything seems fine, most likely the contents are not engaging enough. Develop relevant contents and push thru relevant platforms.

If you have repeated failures it may not be just about rethinking your goals. The issue may be that your brand is not connecting and resonating with it's intended target. You need to go back to the basics to assess what is the disconnect. Why the failure? Is it situational? timing? delivery? or way deeper.

There is need to always be agile. Strategies shouldn't be cast in stone. Stopping to reevaluate the strategy and conducting market research is crucial ...Competitor analysis might also give insight

Immediately fire your agency and blame it all on them ?or... Meet up with your Insights & Media Team preferably in the hills with spotty cell phone coverage. Book 2 days for the huddle.

Taking Mark Ritson's view that 5% of a general marketing budget should be used on market research, we have a strong argument for a "stop and get the homework done", eg do the brand research work, reach out to customers, understand their expectations and adjust your brand parameters to meet the needs of your customers.

1. Repositioning. 2. Define or expand new audience/target market. 3. New communication proposition. 4. Take a break, do nothing but research and learn the trend, get findings. 5. Exercise the new findings and fit them into the brand. 6. Trial to a small group or through FGD. See what their feedbacks. 7. Create a limited campaign. If successful, expand to the bigger one.