Reilly Newman | How you do anything is how you do everything. Brand is purposeful in its action, therefore it should be purposeful in the timing of these actions. Deliberateness isn’t just in thought and action, but the timing of the action as well.
Brand is the collective effort and result of many moving parts for your business. From the strategy developed to the brand identity, pricing, and market position. The overall brand experience crafts this perception in the eyes of your audience and that constructs the “brand” of your business. One aspect of brand that is regularly neglected, however, is timing. You have been deliberate in the strategy of your brand, the market you seek, the way your brand looks, and even the offering you provide. Wouldn’t it be wise to consider the timing of such things?
Importance of Timing
Timing can make or break a lot of things. Jokes won’t land if the timing is off. A professional player won’t make a shot with improper timing. An aircraft won’t be able to land if the timing is miscalculated. Poor timing can kill a sale. An engine will seize with the timing chain misaligned and lead to catastrophic engine failure. Timing is an essential part of life and business. It plays a role throughout our lives and psychology. Therefore, timing is paramount for a brand.
As we’ve stressed before regarding business, “how you do anything is how you do everything.” I believe this to be true in life as it is proven in relationships, business, and faith. This is true due to our natural behavior to be consistent to ensure our internal narrative of our identity. If you consider yourself an athlete, you will be consistent in your behavior of eating, exercising, and taking care of your body. If you consider yourself a good person or even a funny extrovert, you will align your behavior to these personas to ensure the identity you desire is consistent.
Walk the Walk
Many businesses want to be a “brand” yet are not consistent in their behavior to be perceived as one. Just because you dress like an athlete, a celebrity, or a businessperson, it doesn’t make you one. The behavior must follow. You must “walk the walk” and when it comes to brand, timing plays a major role in “the walk.”
Being deliberate in the actions you take is crucial just as the timing of these actions to increase their effectiveness. A great brand will time its rebrand roll-out, its marketing campaign for a new offering, or even the announcement of a new location. A great brand plays offense with time and understands how to leverage it to its advantage. Just as movie studios use the time before the release of a new film to increase awareness and anticipation, your business can do the same to increase effectiveness of your next campaign.
More Than Immediate
The timing of not only when something is to take place, but also the time around that milestone deserves the care and deliberateness you put into other aspects of your brand. This will optimize your expenditure of energy and resources to ensure lasting success.
For example, the roll-out of a new rebrand of your business is one event that can create more awareness, loyalty, and even sales when done correctly. Months leading up you can leave clues that hype up your audience and make them feel part of the new chapter you are embarking on, this will help them feel invested in your brand and be encouraged by your growth. This type of deliberate behavior also subtly signals to your audience the amount of quality and care you put into things with your business. They too know that “how you do anything is how you do everything.”
When great brand is going to rebrand, it will time all of its components to switch over at the same time. Not only does it minimize confusion among your audience, but has more effectiveness. Like a theater that turns off the lights before the curtain rises, whether they all go black at the same time or one bulb at a time impacts the experience and receptivity of the audience. The launch of any brand or rebrand that happens (figuratively) overnight, versus slowly rolled out in phases, will have a greater impact in the marketplace. Remember, as true in life… when it comes to brand, timing is everything.
