Brand building VS Sales in times of crisis
Written by Mihai Dragan on Monday, March 23rd, 2009 ( One response )
Tags: branding, crisis, long term, Marketing, oportunity, sales, short term
Why did I use VS between Brand building and Sales? Couldn’t they just team up? Can’t we have both of them in our marketing strategy?
Sure we can but in times of crisis management seems to focus on short term clear results and want to see sales figures going up or at least staying afloat. The longer term strategy of building brands, earning consumers’ hearts and adding intangible value to the company seems a little too “fancy” and expensive to be considered. But is it?
Short term sales versus long term vision
Crisis separates followers from leaders in the economic world and in the battle for mind and pocket share. Truly visionary brands innovate, invest and develop during the hard times. Today’s big brands are the ones that not only survived but made the most out of the difficulties they’ve encountered.
Short term tactics may add profit points but if we were to take into account the brand value losses companies cutting corners end up losing more than they’ve initially planned.
If everyone is doing something, that thing is probably wrong. I know it may seem risky but companies need to differentiate, even in terms of marketing strategy.
So, when your competitors are focusing on short term tactics, focus on tomorrow and build your strategy and brand around the bigger picture. The crisis may be the only oportunity you’ll get.
