Change to stay alive in the ‘New Normal’
BUSINESS ADVICE
“Branding is the process of connecting good strategy with good creativity”
— Marty Neumeier, author of “the Designful Company”
Image — Ricardo Gomez Angel, Nike, The Drum, Kristian Egelund
Make it memorable
In the new normal, brands should be creative and use media in more agile ways. During crisis, it is a good opportunity to deliver meaningful messages to add value to the brands and gain more appreciation. Since people go online, why not make something viral? Nike can be a good example here by adopting new message “Play inside, play for the world.” to promote staying home for public safety. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola played with its logo in New York City’s Times Square to extend the space between the letters in order to pinpoint social distancing. Maybe we just have to look back and start with the simple options more than investing a lot in advertising.

Make it powerful
“Data really powers everything that we do.” – Jeff Weiner, CEO, LinkedIn
Brands in the new normal should be more data-driven for real. Thanks to increased use of social platforms like Amazon, Google, Facebook, Twitter and e-commerce, they can reach their customers easily and be able to track behavioral trends to gain insights of customers divided by ages, gender or interest. Moreover, they can truly understand customer journey from feedbacks and reviews compared to competitors. To get benefit from this, they should bring data analytic to help organising big data for product development and trend forecast.
See an example of Belei, the first skincare brand from Amazon launched in 2019. Who imagine Amazon, the global technology company focusing on e-commerce and cloud computing, will one day have its own skincare line? This is simple when they seek the opportunity from having data of customer insights to create new products which serve their demands perfectly. The goal is to offer a wider selection for customers to spend less time and money searching for the right skincare solutions. The ingredients are proven effectiveness and familiar to customers with high quality. Moreover, the products are unisex and sold at affordable prices making them not too hard to make decisions and cover all ranges of customers.

By tapping to the customer data provided on the website, Amazon can not only boost sales from the exiting services, but also create new brand of products. This is the power of being data-driven in the world of new normal!
Sneaker brand with the concept of eco-conscious — SAYE
Make it sustainable
“If people believe they share values with a company, they will stay loyal to the brand.” – Howard Schultz
Another way to build brand is creative storytelling. Here is the example of SAYE, a Barcelona-based sneaker brand adding value to itself in a sense of eco-conscious and preventing deforestation. When environment is being concerned, the brand head toward that issue. SAYE means SAying YEs to change with its value of taking care of the planet. Every details of sneakers from materials to producing process have their own stories. The shoes made from leather including organic cotton laces and recycled foam. They ensure fair production working conditions for all workers. Moreover, each pair of sneakers sold means two trees are planted by SAYE collaborated with WeForest, an NGO working with communities which impacted by deforestation. Due to its creative eco-branding, SAYE is now sold at a global scale.
Make it trustworthy
“The keys to brand success are self-definition, transparency, authenticity and accountability.” – Simon Mainwaring
The world’s cleanest denim factory of Everlane – Saitex
When you buy products, do you want to know the process and costs behind? Here is the idea of Everlane, the innovative fashion brand whose radical transparency is the highest value. Launched in 2010, Everlane offered the customers a full breakdown to the true costs of each product along the company’s supply chain compared to traditional retails. Plus, it ensured that workers in their factories are treated ethically in good environment.
Saitex, the world’s cleanest denim factory of Everlane, can give a clearer example. Here, facilities recycle 98% of its water that is clean enough to drink. Saitex also uses renewable energy resources to produce no waste and shipped a toxic byproduct of denim manufacturing to a brick factory to build affordable houses. With this ethical approach and transparency, Saitex still produce premium denim with exceptional quality making Everlane has grown exponentially over the years.
Branding is not advertising. It is a core value of products and need time and ideas to invest in.
When you do branding as others do, what is the different and why customers come to you? Think out of the box.
It is important for the brands to be calm and adaptive to the changes in order to be outstanding. Turn the crisis into opportunity to win the market in the new normal.
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