Moving Through Brand Uncertainty

?Bienvenidos! Welcome! Brand Forward is a bi-weekly newsletter where you'll learn how to use empathy-driven strategies and color psychology to invigorate, evolve and amplify your unique brand position. 

Do you find your business changing and wondering if your branding needs to change too?

Do you have so many ideas but aren’t always sure how to best put them into cohesive communication?

Do you have bouts of impostor syndrome that paralyzes you and your brand?

Being pulled in so many directions can make it difficult to set focus and produce results. And that constant hustle mode is disconnecting your ideas from your brand essence… and can lead to those days where you feel like you’re failing.

Then, the overwhelm hits, and you feel stuck. Not because you don’t know what to say — you don’t know what direction to go in as your brand (and likely your life) pivoted.

Hang tight! I call these growth chapters. I have seen many waves of them through my company’s 10 years in business. And we’ve helped many of our clients navigate similar changes through their rebrand.

So, how do we move past brand uncertainty?

You start branding forward.

Not backward or sideways. Forward. 

Communication is hard. That’s why we’ve always been in awe of great speakers, writers, actors, musicians, artists, and teachers. Those people can capture abstract ideas and concepts and deliver them in a meaningful way that sparks a connection. But the more we feel stuck in captivating a perfect brand message, we start to sound robotic, our visuals feel disconnected, we end up losing focus, and we start to doubt.

Here are three ways you can brand forward:

We can always learn from others and pull inspiration, but if you catch yourself comparing and even doubting your brand, STOP. Every brand will have its own path of growth. Write your own story of success! That won't happen until you let go of the comparison mode.

What exactly have you learned since your brand’s birth about your customers and their needs and crucial ingredients for successful outcomes? What motivates you/your team?

Before you share new designs, social media posts, or company-wide messages, build a communication list. Here are some questions to ask:

• Is this relevant to our mission and goals?
• Does this reflect our vision and support our efforts to achieve it?
• Is this written in our brand voice, with a tone appropriate for our intended audience and format?

Even if you are really clear on your why, it's always helpful to evaluate this on a quarterly basis as a team and organization.

As you market your brand, you may find out that not all things work — that’s okay. Don’t avoid taking action because you fear judgment or failure.

All brands grow. Not all campaigns may be successful. And sometimes we make mistakes. What matters is how you take these lessons to help your brand grow! If something doesn't work out, figure out what could have been improved upon for next time. When you have a deeper sense of clarity about your why and how that connects to your communication goals, go brand forward!

Have you or your company experienced brand uncertainty? What did you do to move forward? I want to know in the comments below.

Nicte Cuevas (owner of Nicte Creative Design) is an award-winning brand strategist and graphic designer who uses empathy-driven methods to help evolve, invigorate, and amplify businesses’ unique brand positions. Nicte translates the complexities of color into purpose-driven stories using color psychology and intentional messaging tools, ultimately facilitating positive and profitable outcomes. She’s proudly partnered with multiple brands such as Adobe Creative Cloud, Adobe Spark with Twitter Business, LinkedIn, Dogs on Deployment (a Purina partnership), and The Houston Zoo. As a LinkedIn Learning instructor, Nicte has taught thousands across the world with courses on branding, color psychology, and design.