From marketing speak to crisis antidote
Marle Janssen, Head of Strategy at Mutabor, formulates three to-dos on how companies and brands can discover, implement and expand their antidote for times of crisis.
Many of the corporate visions proclaimed in recent years have been adorned with the promising decade number 2020. 2020 was to be the year in which vision-driven, future-oriented plans came to life, target groups were to be inspired and new growth markets were to be conquered. In 2020, the company wanted to be positioned to successfully master the next decade - ideally with a leading position.
And then everything turned out very differently. COVID-19 is sweeping the world. No country, no place, no industry, no company was spared. It hits everyone. Everyone is being shaken up. Even the world of brands.
Every crisis has winners
COVID-19 has changed the brand space in a very short space of time. And drastically so. Some brands were deprived of their entire distribution channel for weeks, while others lacked the goods and production facilities to be able to distribute at all.
Digital business areas and companies that have integrated a digital fallback option had a clear advantage - and still do. Which is not to say that digital companies and their brands had it easy. What made companies and brands so responsive? How were they able to react so agilely to the sudden, unpredictable changes?
So where do you find the decisive lever to react to crises? And not to be driven by change, but to drive it yourself.
Consistency as a driver of change
Whenever there is a need for change and especially when change determines everything, as in this pandemic, it is worth taking a closer look at what does not change. On what is constant and immune. In the brand context, this is the essence of a company. It describes the reason for existence, the raison d'être, the overriding task. It is the source of change, innovation and disruption. Because it is independent of channels, products and contact points. And therefore crisis-proof.
Every company has such an essence. It can be found as a vision, mission, why or, if you are driven by marketing trends, as a purpose formulation. Even if the essence has not yet been formulated - it exists.
Real essence versus marketing blah-blah
Many companies and groups are currently developing such a purpose formulation. In part to finally manifest the essence that has been floating around the company corridors. Or to condense the existing formulations into a few words and a melodious sentence that everyone can agree on.
Purpose is a trend right now. Even if you have just heard and read the word a little too much in the brand context, this trend is absolutely justified and should be getting a lot of attention in companies right now. However, you have to know how to use it correctly. Otherwise it will remain a useless phrase. To put it badly: Marketing blah-blah.
Three to-dos for crisis security
These three to-dos should ensure that your purpose is not just a nice-sounding phrase, but your crisis-proof source for successful transformation.
To-do 1: Service design
Do you have a purpose formulation? Yes? Then your first to-do is "service design": translate the formulation into tangible added value. This also makes it easy to test how good your wording really is. Does it just sound good or can the workforce really take action? Because that should always be the task of a purpose.
To-do 2: Culture Design
Your employees and colleagues are the most important asset you have. A purpose or the formulation of your essence always has the task of guiding behavior. And in such a way that the essence can be experienced by the relevant target groups through brand activities. It is therefore crucial that the purpose is anchored in the workforce as a tool that guides behavior.
To-do 3: Agile brand design
You now have a formulation that manifests your essence and offers you orientation in times of change. You have translated the formulation into relevant solutions and anchored it in the workforce. Now it's time for agile design and agile brand management. Because brand must be understood as a never-ending process.
This process principle should not only be translated as "company or marketing department = inside" and "outside world = outside", but also breaks down existing silo structures and brand sovereignty within a company. Impulses that move the brand forward can come from any department of a company. But they must be heard.
The fact that you can emerge stronger from a crisis also applies to brands. Use your crisis-proof essence and bring it together with the context. Again and again. And your brand will be safely on its way to the corporate vision in the next decade - perhaps even in a leading position.
* Marle-Maria Janssen is Head of Strategy at Mutabor. After completing her dual degree in media and communication management at DHBW Ravensburg, she started her career at Ogilvy and MetaDesign before joining Mutabor in 2016. Here she heads the strategy unit.
