This is a short blog.

An easy 2-minute read.

It has just one purpose: To get you thinking about your brand in a way you probably never have before. A way that can change your business forever.

So, why should you consider transforming your brand?

The answer is simple. You should consider transforming your brand if it does not hold a differentiated position of value with every one of your audiences—internal and external. Customers, end users, suppliers, business partners, employees, and competitors.

And if you’re not sure whether it does or not, may I respectfully suggest, it does not. Because if it did, you would know it.

Think about it. Good news gets to your office pretty quickly. And if your brand is currently firing on all cylinders, then you’re getting a lot of good news from every corner of your business.

For example: “We just got a “Best Buy” from Good Housekeeping” …. “Our top customer just renewed their annual agreement and accepted our price increase” …. “Our Instagram now has 10,000 followers and it’s growing by 10% a month” …. “Guess who just placed an order? They’ve been a loyal <<top competitor brand>> customer for 20 years!” …. “The Chamber of Commerce is nominating us for Community Partner for 2018.”

But bad news usually slithers in, veiled by excuses, diversion, compromise, and promises of “next time.”

Price concessions. Shelf space reductions. Customer complaints. “Crickets” on your social media channels. Delayed responses to your requests for top-to-top meetings. Extended negotiations on terms from long-time customers, and some competitive losses. 3-star reviews, not 4s and 5s.

These are all warning signs. So is no news at all.

And what about your employees? How do you know where your brand stands with them?

Ask mid-level employees from several departments—sales, marketing, finance, HR, engineering, shipping—”What is our brand’s purpose?” If you get three or more different answers, or the answers are so vanilla that you could be any brand, that’s a red flag.

Ask each member of your executive team, “What position of value do we want to hold in the minds of our end users in XYZ market segment?” You better hope you get the same answer from at least four out of five of them. But in our experience, the answers will be varied and inconsistent. A sure sign that your brand needs help.

Take heart. Transforming your brand may take time, depending on where it currently stands, but the process is very deliberate … and effective.

Next week, my partner Jamey Boiter, will publish an extended article on “How to transform your brand.” We’ll send you a link once it’s online and you’ll be able to see how the process works.

Until then, if it’s seeming like your brand might need help, try to start thinking about your brand as a complete “ecosystem” that encompasses the inside and outside of your company.

Here’s a primer on how to do that from Jamey:  https://boltgroup.com/building-brand-ecosystem

As with any process, you have to know your starting point. It always begins with a brand audit. Here’s another quick, easy read on brand audits: https://boltgroup.com/brand-audit-start

At BOLTGROUP, we help companies like yours transform their brand into high performing assets.