Common brand management challenges

In the bustling, often hustle-driven landscape of small and medium-sized businesses, managing your brand can feel like extracting a frog from inside a sock. The challenges faced by business owners are all too common and very repetitive if you've even spent 2.7 minutes scrolling through the digital maze.

CONSISTENCY: If there's one thing we're really good at, it's consistently talking about consistency. Many businesses reach out to Cultivate because of the Herculean task of maintaining brand consistency across a myriad of platforms and touchpoints. The ever-expanding digital landscape, combined with in-house and promotional collateral, can make this task seem overwhelming. The objective is simple: ensure your brand speaks, looks, feels, connects, and even sings and dances in all the right places with unified visuals, messaging, and perception resonating seamlessly. But, unfortunately, few businesses prioritise this.

LIMITED RESOURCES: Budget constraints are a common hurdle for businesses. However, often overlooked are the skill resources required to maintain the visual aspects of a brand. Despite the influx of new tools like Canva and Creative Market, there's still time and thought required to learn and create consistently. If a potential customer, or even an established one, is switching between your Instagram feed, website, EDM, or any other platform, and these do not visually align, you're impacting your brand's trust, recognition, and sense of "I've got my shit together" immediately.

EVOLVING: In today's dynamic business landscape, adapting brand visuals across all touchpoints to stay relevant is a constant challenge. Very few businesses do it effectively, if at all. The signs are often right in front of your face: declining customer numbers, fewer return customers, reduced engagement, lower spend per head, slower ticket sales, and more excuses for non-participation from regular patrons are just a few. Regular reviews will identify these challenges, which should be considered as opportunities to evolve. We're not talking about a full rebrand but perhaps just a messaging update, a new photoshoot, the evolution of corporate colours, or a review of your social strategy will suffice. [PSA: This is our JAM! We thrive on guiding businesses through their brand journey.]

Strategic brand management is not a luxury; it's a necessity for business owners aiming to thrive in competitive markets. This article is not a guilt trip where you feel like there's yet another thing you're not conquering; you're probably already aware of these challenges. Our aim is to prevent brand stagnation—your brand stagnation through awareness and simplifying when and what actions you can take.

Are you ready and equipped to evolve your brand?