Brand Preview 2023: The only way is up
Jonathan Alder
Brand specialist | Author: Brand in the Boardroom | Helping ambitious organisations make an impact | Brand strategy | Brand identity | Brand management | Trustee at CoLab
When you reach the bottom, there’s only one direction to go. Up. In economic terms, we may not have reached the bottom yet, but we will, sometime in the next 12 months. Then it will be time to start the climb. In this newsletter I share some advice on how your brand can help you on that journey.
And it will be a tough journey. In November last year, the Bank of England warned that the UK faces the longest recession for 100 years, potentially stretching into 2024. High inflation, the war in Ukraine, rising costs, high energy prices and the economic fallout of Brexit, have created what the Bank described as a “very challenging outlook” for the UK economy.
Brand can have a significant role to play in driving business success, through recession and into recovery. But you need to understand how to harness its potential. In this newsletter I offer a brand preview, describing three ways your brand can help you to do this.
I begin by exploring how you can compete, when there is more pressure on prices. I've then taken a look at how your customers are changing, and what you can do in response. To finish I've considered whether the role of business is changing and how (and why) you can help, as the UK struggles with the rising cost of living.
2023 will undoubtedly be a year of challenges. But it will also be a year of opportunities. If you harness the potential of your brand, I believe you will create more opportunities, and face fewer challenges. It will put your business in a stronger position to navigate the recession and exploit the recovery, when it comes. Because it will come, and when it does, the only way is up.
You can read the full Brand Preview 2023 below.
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How can you compete?
In a recession customers stop spending. Don’t they? Well, some do - there’s already evidence of that - but others will continue to spend. So, how do you compete and make sure they keep spending with you? Maintaining your marketing activity is a good start.
A recession makes the market more competitive - whichever market you’re in. But if you want to compete, you need to stay visible. To do this you need to take a positive approach and maintain your marketing activity. As your customers become more cautious, it is what you do and what you say that will determine the scale of your success over the next 12 months.
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How are your customers changing?
In a recession customers change, because their circumstances change. This is true whether your customers are businesses or consumers. The important thing is to understand how your customers are changing - so you can stay relevant.
Change is a risk, but it is also an opportunity. Your success in this recession will depend on your ability to seize the opportunities, and reduce the risks.
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How can you help?
A recession is a challenging situation for a company. But it’s also a challenging situation for the people who work for that company, and the people who live in that community. So as a business, in this current climate, there’s an opportunity to consider, how can you help?
Supporting your community may not bring (immediate) financial reward, but it is an opportunity to differentiate your company from your rivals and create a competitive advantage. In an economic environment where people - customers, staff, investors, suppliers - are increasingly cautious about their commitment, that advantage could be very valuable.
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Brand In The Boardroom
If you would like to know more about how your brand can drive your business success, you might be interested in Brand In The Boardroom. It explains how your brand connects the core functions of your business - operations, human resources, marketing, sales and finance - and why that's important.
Brand. Design. Digital. Marketing. Lecturer.
1 年Another great post Jonathan Alder We've since a big drop-off in advert sales. Frozen marketing budgets, under review etc. The pie may be smaller but there's less people at the table. Many businesses miss the opportunity to reposition themselves, with less noise in messages from their competition. It's like those who that panic bought toilet rolls in lockdown. Panic panic panic. Why does marketing budget always get cut first? An audit of waste in other areas could keep things moving forwards.
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1 年2023 is a challenging year and likelihood of a recession (perhaps stagflation?) is very high, obviously some sectors could be already going through it. I would like to comment on similar event - the crisis in 2008/2009. I believe the 'a solution' chosen in that time was to refinance the private entities from public purse and to accrue more debt in order to avoid collapse and turmoil in the society. Certainly UK is a good example, other western societies are similar and USA is a prime example of the event. Obviously the main question now is, whether we are able to find creditors wiling to refinance sectors of the economy, which were not able of prosperous existence in past decade. Clearly such creditors may not exist, so the weight of the task might just be overwhelming for many and that will just trigger a landslide change in the economy. The delay of providing more sensible solutions to our problems in 2008/2009 will just add to the extent of future changes. However the world will not stop and perhaps the orientation on delivering value and customer care will play into favour of smaller organizations, which just may give some answers to the problems outlined.