Brand Evolution 101
August 13, 2024Your desired brand is an inside-out embodiment of your organization – your beliefs, your priorities, your personality, and your people. It’s the way you want people to feel when they interact with your organization. Your actual brand is the way they really do feel when they interact with your organization. Hopefully they align well. If they don’t, call us. Let’s start there. Assuming they do align, these elements make up your brand core – the foundational compass by which all brand decisions are made.
Getting your core right, from the beginning, is critical. If the core is right, then the evolution of a brand over time, will feel natural. Like the rest of the world, the only brand constant is change.
We use the term evolution (small, subtle tweaks over time) here because it’s very seldom that you need a total revolution (wipe the slate clean and start again). Unless there’s been a major fundamental shift in your organization, chances are a revolution would leave your desired audience confused and your message, unclear. Revolution is possible, and sometimes, necessary. But that is a different article.
Planning for Change
So what about this evolution business, then? What factors should you consider, and when is the timing right to discuss it?
When it comes to timing, our team recommends planning an annual evaluation. You may find that halfway through the year things begin to shift and the conversation is needed earlier than at the twelve-month mark, and that’s okay! Holding a standing meeting on the calendar will keep your organization accountable and ensure that all necessary parties are spending an adequate amount of time thinking through the brand. It’s easy to get busy. Rather than letting a shift in the brand sneak up on you, stay proactive and get ahead of it.
There’s no perfect way to approach the agenda for your annual brand evaluation. A few things to consider discussing would be: existing campaigns or initiatives (status and next steps), efficacy of previous year’s branding efforts, and things like assets needed for upcoming campaigns. We also recommend doing a full brand audit during this time. Here’s how that breaks down:
Brand Audit Checklist
There are certain elements of your brand that don’t evolve quickly – We’ll call these Tier 1 elements. They include:
- Mission, vision, and values
- Voice
- Tagline
- Logo
- Story
- Core visual identity (brand colors and fonts)
These elements make up your brand core – the foundational compass by which everything else operates. If you’ve not thought these through completely, or you feel like what you do have isn’t quite right yet, our team can help lead you through an exercise to get the clarity needed to go forward. Getting the core right – from the start – is important. And, while it won’t evolve often (we’ve seen subtle tweaks to the core happen every 5-7 years), it’s important to evaluate on an annual basis to ensure each part still feels true to the organization.
Past the core is Tier 2 – made up of brand elements that evolve on a more frequent basis. Tier 2 includes:
- Key messages
- Visual styles (accent colors, artistic elements, aesthetics, etc.)
- Power words
Tier 2 tends to evolve more frequently because these elements often feed marketing strategies and campaigns that are targeted towards a specific audience.
Brand evolution isn’t a one-size-fits-all system, but we’ve found that making the brand an ongoing part of your marketing conversations (and keeping an intentional date on the calendar to have those conversations) helps make it a priority and more effective. Chances are, if you wait until your brand feels stale to evaluate, you’ve waited too late.
Brand Evolution Examples are Everywhere
We’ll leave you with an example from an unexpected source. In his recent rom-com ‘Crazy. Stupid. Love.’ Steve Carrell plays Cal – a man recently separated from his wife, looking to get back out into the dating world. Cal’s many years of marriage allowed him to get comfortable in his ways – all the way down to his 1990-esque New Balance shoes. Because of his dated style, and lack of confidence in his voice and personality, Cal struggled to date until he met Jacob – a character played by Ryan Gosling (as if more is needed to be said here). Jacob teaches Cal the ways of style and suave in the current era, and he quickly gains confidence and charm.
The issue with Cal wasn’t that he didn’t have personality, style, or charm – he got set in his ways and stopped prioritizing the evolution of those traits in himself. He got comfortable. The point here? Don’t let your brand land in a position to be Steve Carrell. Your brands success in the world will be a direct result of how much you choose to prioritize it.
The Crossroads team specializes in creating effective brand plans and marketing strategy. No, seriously – we nerd out about this stuff. If you have questions about brand evolution, marketing strategy/tactics, or just want to sit down and brainstorm over a cup of coffee, reach out to us.
Work examples of previous client branding efforts:
Webco Industries
Operational Sustainability
