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Looking After Your Brand – It’s Not Just A Marketing Exercise
We've all read the latest jargon about 'the branded experience' but what direct relevance does it have on your attraction or business? First, let's just define the whole brand thing because most of us get stuck on the 'logo'. Yes that's part of it but let's move on from that and consider what turns a logo into a successful brand.
Pretend you're a customer and think of a well known hotel chain of your choice. Now list all the expectations and associations you have with that chain. Your list may have words and phrases like, reliable, friendly, young at heart, clean and comfortable, value for money. It will depend on your chosen company. Now consider why those phrases came to mind. For example you may have listed 'friendly' because you personally experienced friendly customer service. You many have thought 'young at heart' because of promotional literature you've seen. The point is, brand expectations and associations are built up by a complex number of business issues that go far beyond the marketing department. For example customer service, procedure and product quality.
The reason that some companies create really successful brands like Southwest Airlines, Virgin and Disney is not down to chance or big budgets. They have planned and managed the progress of their brands. They work at it all the time. They make sure, as best they can, that every time a customer 'touches' that brand, a consistent and desired message is given whether it be advertising, customer service, product quality etc.
Now we need to get you thinking about the state of your own brand. Imagine you're the customer and list every moment you could possibly come across your attraction or business. These are called 'brand touchpoints'. While you list the touchpoints make a note whether these 'touches' relate to a marketing issue (leaflet), staffing issue (customer service), process procedure (speed of ticketing) or product issue. At this stage you'll have an interesting list developing that re-enforces why the issue of 'brand' lies not just with the marketing department but your whole organisation.
The next step is to examine each touchpoint and see whether it's aligned to the values you hold dear. If it falls short or is simply negative then that particular 'brand touchpoint' is falling short of the DESIRED association and needs further investigation.
Now you need to address those problem areas. Take care not to jump to conclusions. For example long queues at the gate of your attraction might be about staffing issues. Equally it may be entirely about the process activity (computers and such like) and your staff are doing the best they can under difficult circumstances. Our advice on addressing any negative issues is make sure you involve your whole team when assessing the problem. Listen to all the evidence and take time in your review. Only make change when you're absolutely confident you understand where the activity is falling short.
Finally don't forget to measure any changes you've put in place and share the results with your employees. You need to know whether in time, any negative associations have been replaced by desired perceptions.
So, let's recap. A brand is not just about a logo. Its about expectations and associations your customers have with your attraction. A good exercise is to list all possible touchpoints and analyse them to ensure you are evoking desired messages at every stage. Take care not to jump to conclusions when you spot a problem area. Always involve your team. Employees are your brand ambassadors and they need to 'buy' into what you're doing.
If you try the 'touchpoint' exercise and need some help, just send us an email, we'd be only too happy to help or hear how you manage your brand.