It’s halfway through the year, and we’ve already seen so many brands F up. We learn from the actions we take but we also learn from other brand’s mistakes. Today, we’re going to share with you some of the top mistakes so far in 2019, and how to prevent the same from happening to you. Take note people, we’ve compiled a quick list of four main areas we’ve found are so important and sometimes overlooked. 

Have a sounding board 

It’d be so awesome if every idea you have is ready to go. Truth is, while you may have some great ideas, they’re often a diamond in the rough. Having a team of people who can help refine a concept is a gamechanger. It’s also a major plus in the event that maybe you’re unintentionally presenting things in a way that could be offensive to people. Having extra sets of eyes and expertise, helps you avoid that.

Crazy example here. Dominos Russia launched a campaign offering 100 free pizzas for 100 years to customers who got their logo tattooed on their skin. After they started getting thousands of submissions, they started putting up restrictions and a cap to how many winners there would be. Ouch! Maybe if they had run the idea through more people with expertise in this area they could’ve avoided this embarrassing move.

Have a diverse group of people in the creative room 

 

It’s 2019 and, thankfully, diversity is taking over conversations on and offline. After all, you don’t want to make careless mistakes like H&M did when they released their controversial “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle” children’s hoodie that they ended up having to take down. It’s things like these that having a team that’s diverse can help you avoid overlooking due to simply being unaware of issues that affect other groups of people.

Make an effort to be in tune, be empathetic to issues that may not impact you but impact other people

 

Emotional intelligence is key to being a great leader and a great brand. Truth is, it’s never about you. It’s about what you can do for others. In January 2018, Estee Lauder launched a new foundation line called Double Wear Nude Water Fresh Makeup SPF25. Although over 30 shades of product were released, over 80% of the shades were geared toward lighter-skinned women. It’s usually a challenge for women of color to find a brand that even offers options for darker skin, even harder to have enough options.

Because of this, it’s so crucial that you’re genuinely making an effort to be empathetic to other people’s issues even if they don’t directly impact you. You may only be aware of a few challenges but if you open up to more groups of people, you’ll discover there are far more opportunities to step in and help people through better products and services.

Learn How To Respond Quick Quick Quick 

 

Earlier this year, we watched Kim K start a Twitter rampage between all of the top fast-food chains. If you are unfamiliar with the showdown below is how it went down. But if you’re a more visual person, check this out. 

So what did Jack In The Box do to annoy Kim K? Funnily enough, nothing related to an actual order being wrong or poor customer service. This prompted a ton of people to get, understandably, curious about what in the world happened. 

Kim said the issue was “not about me or a wrong order. Nobody recognized me and it’s something that I observed that affected other customers at this particular location that was concerning.”

Shortly after, Jack In The Box responded and resolved the serious situation

The company tweeted. “Hi Kim, we are unable to DM you, please send us a DM with how we can get in touch with your team & someone will reach out immediately.” After this, it looks like things were taken care of since Kardashian tweeted “Thank you @JackBox for the quick response and handling the situation!” 

We’re curious now. We really hope you found this article helpful. In the comments below, let us know which tip here you connected the most with!

 

Hey there! If you’re here, chances are you’re looking for help with your brand. We see you! And we’re here to help. It gets a little crazy when trying to build and keep up a consistent brand identity. We know this. For those of you who are like, “umm what’s a consistent brand identity?” Put simply, your brand identity is what helps set the foundation for your company’s unique personality. This begins with establishing your position in the market to attract your dream clients.

 

For many small to mid-sized business owners, it can be extremely challenging to set clear brand guidelines. That being said, we’re going to help you get started today with some of our core principles when setting up guidelines for our clients. You may be a small or mid-sized company, but that doesn’t mean you have to visually look like one. When it comes to branding, you always want it to look like you have a team behind you. 

 

Do An Audit of your Target Market

Do you know who your competitors are? What makes them successful in the digital space? If not, it’s time to start digging deeper. Your goal here is to start identifying a highly narrowed down set of competitors. Avoid looking at a broad spectrum where you might be factoring in info about vastly different customer segments. In order to select the right competitors to analyze, consider factors such as your price point and the types of clients you want to attract that might.

 

Answer Key Questions About Your Brand

If you aren’t creating a persona around what your brand looks and sounds like, that’s a huge reason why you probably feel totally lost. For starters, here are some questions you should start asking yourself about your brand.

 

1. What kind of problems are you solving? 
2. If your company was a person, who would it be and why? 
3. What are some key values, emotions, or attributes you want to convey across your branding? 

 

With these answers, you can begin layout out some basic framework around the voice and type of content you create around your brand.

 

Create Processes for Your Team

What good is it to have all the visual & brand voice guidelines if your team is clueless? You want to make sure that you have a clear set of guidelines for employees to refer to no matter what department they’re in.

For example, some things you can consider when setting this up are as follows:

• Who is the decision maker for each kind of project?
• What does the workflow look like for some of your most common products or services rendered?
• What are the company’s objectives that should always be strived for?

 

By setting these up, you’re not only creating an efficient system for work but also helping your team be much more autonomous. Yay to less emails for every tiny detail!

 

Set Up Your Brand’s Manifesto

 

This is your brand’s declaration of beliefs. Knowing this creates a bridge in helping you develop that crucial emotional connection with your potential customers. A clear manifesto will help you and your team align every message, campaign, and interaction with the customer with your trying to attract. Let’s take Redbull for example. Redbull puts out ads that embody pushing life to the limit as an example of what the beverage stands for. This limit pushing feeling speaks to their target audience on an emotional level and is memorable. This emotional connection, in turn, impacts its target consumer’s purchase making decisions. And purchase making decision mean $$$$. 

 

Hire Help

Unless you have an in-house team of creatives ranging from designers to copywriters that can guide you, we suggest hiring help. Your brand’s identity is not something you want to be cheaply done, DIY, or rushed through–because people can tell. The foundation of your brand will be seen and felt for its entire lifespan. That’s a warning. Handle with care. 

 

Here at Creative Label, we work with an amazingly talented team of industry experts that’ll make for a seamless process. Whether you need partial branding work such as just a logo or a full suite of branding, we’ve got you covered. Just send us an email at info@itscreativelabel.com to get started!

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