Reilly Newman | Brand strategy, rebranding, and even marketing all sound great, but how long can it last?
When you think of your brand, you may be thinking of its current state. Whether this state is healthy or maybe a rebrand is in order to change the current state. This is the “now” but as we have all heard… “what got you here won’t get you there.” Frequently, I’ll say that brand thinking is “long-term” thinking. This means avoiding trends, reactions, and shortcuts. It means to choose not to think in the short term for the immediate return but to zoom out and think down the road. This long-term mindset is akin to focusing on the longevity of a brand.
The Key to Brand Longevity
The point of business is to stay in business. The best way to stay in business is to bring unique value to the marketplace that is then rewarded by the free market with profitable transactions. The point of a brand is to be personal. The best way to be personal is to develop relationships with those who are willing to connect and eventually grant you the privilege of their affection, trust, and identity.
Business is to transactions as brand is to relationships.
Transactions are in the moment; they are the purchase. Sure, a sale may take time, but the transaction is short-term. It fuels the business as the burn rate of expenses devours cash. Relationships take time; they are personal. Sure, you may connect with someone and have similar values, but you’re not going to be instant best friends. It takes time to cultivate relationships and love because it takes trust and trust takes time. The problem here is that business and brand are on polar opposite timelines. Business desires to transact as fast as possible, while brand desires to connect and build relationships over time.
To ensure the longevity of your business you must have profitable transactions. To ensure the longevity of your brand you must build lasting relationships. The key to your long-term success as a business is brand. The key to your brand’s longevity is relationships.
Brand Business Balance
Yes, from a business perspective, we should have a long-term mindset because delaying immediate gratification for future reward is always good and creates healthy systems. This means a business must invest in brand while it makes transactions in the present.
This investment in brand is the deliberate choice to invest in relationships. As it builds these relationships, the brand draws more transactions in the present and future. This actually ensures the longevity of the business because it distances the business from just being about transactions by focusing on the relationships.
As this switch happens over time, the brand is actually changing the business model.
Once dependent on each and every transaction, the business is transforming to not be dependent on each relationship. This makes the business focus on the Lifetime Value (LTV) of each relationship.
Brand transforms your business models.
Believe it or not, this is how all the successful brands see you.
The game isn’t about getting you to spend once, it’s about increasing your lifetime value to them as a customer over time. This is why we have memberships, mailing lists, subscriptions, rewards, loyalty programs, social media, and the list goes on. Each item on that list is strictly focused on the longterm relationship you have with the brand and how they can relate to you on a deeper level. The incentives and rewards are only geared to reward you for the relationship. Yes, it may get you to transact, but ultimately this is adding to your total lifetime value to them.
The longevity of your brand is key to the longevity of your business because the brand is able to build these relationships that not only encourage transactions but actually derive a business model that increases your overall growth as a business and protects your business from competitors.
For your business to survive the long-term and escape the current transactional trap, it needs a strong brand. The longevity of your brand is dependent on creating long-term, lasting relationships that not only provide value, but are personal.
What got you here as a business won’t get you there as a brand.
