In the first stage of our workshop with a client, they outline their brand messaging in as much detail as possible. This is perhaps the most crucial step, as it tells us what the client envisions of the brand. Whether these visions are how the brand is received by the audience or not, it is important to strip it back to reconnect with the original messages one had when starting the brand, and analyse whether things need changing.
How to know if you've deviated
A tell-tell sign that your brand has changed, is by paying close attention to the community you are attracting. A brand that successfully completed a community audit before coming to us was Fastic, whose audience were promoting fasting as for weight loss and quick fixes. This was being conveyed by the before and after pictures that their community were posting on Fastic's social media pages. Clearly the followers were engaged, but they were in turn conveying the wrong messages of the brand.
What to do
The worry for brands like these is the fear that their key messages have been diluted beyond repair. So much so, that they'll only attract more and more of the wrong customers. The way around this is to subtly remind them of the key messaging in an unobtrusive and engaging way, such as in a campaign.
Fastic achieved this by collaborating with us to form an engagement strategy, asking their community questions about the non-physical transformations they have experienced.
In framing the campaign, pay close attention to the brand tone of voice and demographic of existing customers. You are, ultimately, aiming to educate your clientele, as opposed to telling them they are wrong about the brand and that they must leave. In the same way, you don't want to completely change their idea of the brand so much that they don't relate and are put off all together. Henceforth, the key is in the wording of the campaign.
For example, we took into account that Fastic's existing community love sharing their transformations. So, we used language associated with physical transformations, but kept the question open. Henceforth, people responded with the other health benefits of fasting, such as the mental benefits.
In doing so, each users that replies, or indeed sees the campaign, will be taught about the brand's core values and what they are truly about. In the case of Fasic, this was helping people become better versions of themselves. This is also clever because you are getting the community to rebrand the brand for them, which is more persuasive and convincing for the other members of the community.
Conclusions
Upon reflection, to rebrand is to remind. And, in reminding, subtlety is integral. Every brand values their community, sometimes they have lost their brand along the way, but that is not to say that they have to start all over again with a fresh user-base. Using what you have is key to running a business, and here at Stitcht we just want to bring that out.
If you want to use Stitcht to help reconnect with your brand's core values, get in touch for a demo today.
Comments