Set your brand free!!!

What distinguishes a brand from a product are varied…. Some of which are creating unique brand identity and position- ing and spending time and money in managing those brands to ensure consistency with the brand architecture and positioning. The job of a Brand Manager therefore is to nurture the brand and protect its trademarks and integrity.

It is not surprising that in playing these roles, Brand custodians become protective and emo- tional about their brands. While there is nothing wrong in exhibiting such emotions on the brand, it sometimes get in the way of the potential for such brands. In their bid to maintain consistency across all consumer touch- points, brands run the risk of being rigid and boring.

With the digital and social media revolution, the tight hold that brand custodians wielded on their brands is gradually being eroded. With the proliferation of the traditional media and wide embrace of the digital world, consumers are exerting more control and influence on brands.

Traditionally, brands communicate the message they want to pass across to their consumers, but these days consumers are taking on such messages and giving it a new life of its own. With the widespread usage of the internet (93m Nigerians have access to the internet according to the NCC data September 2015), there is a lot that can happen in the cyberspace. Does this imply that brands can become diluted as a result of this incursion?

Definitely far from it! Instead consumer involvement allows brand campaign to develop wings to fly beyond the sphere of what the brands could have done on their own. It implies that the brand becomes more fluid and less rigid to be able to connect and relate with their core targets.

The ideal balance is the ability of brands to be flexible while at the same time keep intact the core brand values, attributes and integrity that makes it who it is in the first place. Without such grounding, a brand can be subjected to the whims and caprices of whatever is thrown at it. Setting your brand free gives the brand an opportunity to let some air in. Loosening some rigidity and coming out of the mold gives a fresh perspective to opportunities and to the needs and attitudes of consumers.

Some brands in the bid to remain true to themselves have lost connection with their targets – as the consumers are changing, the brands have refused to recognize their changes. This approach offers some liberation to creative writers, designers, Brand managers and the public. It results in more immersive, delightful and rewarding customer experience. Getting out of stereotypes can be rewarding for the brand by doing unconventional stuffs that doesn’t deviate from what the brand stands for.

By being open, a brand gives room for consumers to interpret the brand in their own words and language. User generated contents has become a big hit in the world of marketing and many brands across the world have tapped into this and used authentic contents developed by their customers/consumers in their marketing campaigns. There is no limit to the benefits derivable when you give your brand wings to fly…. If you love your brand, set it free.

Bayo-Ajayi, marketing & brand strategist and
public speaker is Principal
consultant at Purple Pearl
Consulting Ltd, an integrated
marketing communication
company