Reilly Newman | We’ve mentioned quite a bit of the positive side of brand where the business owner, staff, and audience all have a sense of pride within the brand. They like to be associated with the brand, it’s a badge of honor. The brand is an extension of them. Of their lifestyle. Of their identity. What happens when there is a lack of this magic? No brand. No belonging. No tribe. No pride.
There seems to be a sense of embarrassment that sets in with these businesses. You’ve witnessed first hand these establishments as a customer and can recognize the symptoms. The owner/management is disconnected from the brand and its customers and the staff seems zombie-like. The droning employees lack energy and you can tell they’d be rather anywhere but there. There’s no “above and beyond” mentality – they simply don’t care and it shows. This lacking reflects directly onto the experience of the customers. Even without this experience, the audience can sense the embarrassment. The audience, not being drawn to the brand, simply float away into the market to be embraced by a competitor. A pretty bleak picture when you really look at it.
The lack of brand clarity creates a void. A vacuum to be filled by the negative feeling and we can sense that is now available. When can assume that the lack of forward momentum of a brand is not due to stagnation, but actually the decaying of a business’ perception. This is the force of embarrassment. Humiliation begets humiliation.
Unfortunately, this a trap many businesses gradually slip into. Just imagine how much better things could be on the other side of the coin. Where brand prevails. Where brand provides clarity and direction. Less stress, more profit.
We talk about the benefits of brand and the importance of the strategy it entails, but we forget to acknowledge the state of businesses who neglect brand. Through brand neglect you will subscribe to the perception that will be forced upon you. This brand could very much be that of embarrassment.
