Helping your brand navigate the crisis

Just a few weeks ago, no one could have anticipated such uncertain times, and on such an unprecedented scale. Everyone is trying to maintain some kind of normality, whilst still navigating the everyday pressure of keeping a business ticking over, and trying to find a way forward.

Whilst these fast-moving and uncertain situations develop, we genuinely care about how this is affecting your business, so we want to help any way we can. In particular, we have some practical advice and tools to help your brand navigate this crisis.

Step 1: Stabilise

You are no doubt in the throes of adjusting to this new reality and doing everything you can to steady your ship. Here are a few pointers on some branding efforts during this initial period:

• Communications: You need to communicate early and often with your employees, suppliers and customers throughout this crisis. Be honest and open to maintain credibility and approach the situation with empathy. Put yourself in their shoes to understand their anxiety. Don’t just add to the noise and confusion, but communicate directly, genuinely and as transparently as you can.
• Brand leadership: This is the time for brand leaders to shine. Make clear decisions and instil confidence. You should be action-oriented and continuously leading by example. If you pull people together, show empathy and are solution-driven, this will be repaid with loyalty and advocacy.  
• Brand values: All too often brand values are just single words that adorn boardroom walls, with little or no tangible value. This is an opportunity for your business to live its core values, make them count and let them guide how you should behave through this crisis.
• Brand culture: Businesses are facing up to the challenge of maintaining their culture within a disparate workforce. Encourage collaboration and regular interaction. Doing this will help you maintain a resilient culture that can withstand tough times.

Step 2: Adapt

This is the area we can help most effectively. In particular, we use a design thinking tool and we would like to share it with you, free of charge — just email [email protected]. It will help you overcome problems, adapt to situations rapidly and design a way forward. It can be applied to any part of your business. For example:

• Rethinking your value and pricing
• Exploring new business models
• Simplifying your offering and focussing your efforts
• Pivoting the services you offer or the markets you serve
• Discovering new ways of working

We are happy to explain how to use it over a video conference call if you prefer.

Step 3: Rebound

Once you’ve adjusted to the ‘new normal’, you can prepare for the long term. Great brands build their equity during a crisis like this, you need to keep building your brand, protecting your employees and living your values. Doing so will mean you have a better chance of not only surviving this crisis but emerging ahead of your competitors.

We have created a simple yet powerful brand strategy framework that can help your brand rebound. Just get in touch for a chat and we can discuss the best way forward.

We recently recorded a Podcast to help Sussex businesses understand how branding can help them. In it, our brand director Michael Dale gives insights about how businesses can adapt and pivot in the current situation. Click here to check out our podcast.