What is Brand Evolution?
Brand evolution is the key to growth. A brand needs to evolve continuously so that it can stay in the market for a long time. If a brand doesn’t involve, it will become outdated, as the consumer needs to keep on changing. So, what exactly is Brand Evolution?
It is the process of changing and improving your brand continuously according to the consumer needs and market full stop. It is a gradual development and transformation of a brand that happens over time, For a brand to remain meaningful and relevant in the market, brand Evolution is very necessary.
Various aspects that are involved in a Brand Evolution are:
- Brand Identity
- Visual Identity
- Messaging and Positioning
- Product or Service Offering
- Marketing and Communication Channels
- Customer Experience
Brand Evolution shapes a brand and it is an ongoing process. It is an amazing way of keeping your current customers and Coca-Cola is the perfect example of Brand Evolution.
Six Stages of Brand Evolution you need to know:
There are six stages of Brand Evolution:
- Unbranded Goods
- Brand as a Reference
- Brand as a Personality
- Brand as an Icon
- Brand as a Company
- Brand as a Policy
Unbranded Goods
At this stage, products are sold without any logo or name. These products are available at a cheap price but have a huge risk of quality concerns. Without any brand name, it is very difficult to assess the quality of the product.
E.g., Many supermarkets sell unbranded items like pasta, canned goods, and cereals at a cheap price.
Brand as a Reference
The products in this stage come with the name of the manufacturer. It helps customers learn about the product, which further boosts their trust in the company.
E.g., Colgate, Samsung, Nokia, etc.
Brand as a Personality
The brand has a personality means when a Human Personality or trait is assigned to a particular brand or these individuals represent a brand, and it is also done through advertising, packaging, etc.
E.g., Everyone knows Jeff Bezos; he established the world’s most famous e-commerce platform, Amazon. He himself is the brand’s personality.
Brand as an Icon
It is a step forward! When a brand becomes an Icon or Symbol, a particular concept or idea that is valued by its customers is given to the brand. This stage is known as a brand or an icon.
E.g., Apple’s logo fits here. An apple with a bite is the most recognizable symbol that everyone is familiar with. It represents the quality and values they provide to their customers.
Brand as a Company
When two-way communication is established between the company and its customers, they start looking beyond the product. In this case, they are curious to know about the company as well.
E.g., Tesla is a manufacturer of electric vehicles. When people think about electric vehicles, Tesla comes to mind. This is the perfect example of how this company has established itself.
Brand as policy
A brand is the face of any company. This stage ensures that the company’s brand is aligned with its policies, practices, and ethical values. Consumers connect with brands that remain true to their ethical values and policies.
E.g., Goodyear, TATA, and Reliance
How do you conduct Brand Evolution?
Brand evolution is a very extensive and ongoing process, It is not something that can be done just once and then left. To ensure that the brand evolution is successful, a clear vision is very important. Brand Evolution includes product refinement, marketing strategies, and other innovative ideas. Brand evolution can be done by staying up to date about the market and its trends, also the trends that consumers are following. Knowing your target audience is very essential. A successful marketing strategy is made when we know what our target audience needs and how they prefer to receive it.
You can know the habits, and preferences of your customers with the help of technology and this will further help you in building an amazing strategy that will help in Brand evolution. A business must continuously change according to its customer’s needs.
The Brand Evolution Process:
Brand Audit: A SWOT analysis needs to be done i.e. All the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of the brand should be known.
Refining the strategy of the Brand: Based on the updated SWOT analysis, and target market and audience analysis, A new brand strategy needs to be developed like updating the visual identity, communication channels, messaging and positioning etc.
Refreshing the Brand: After doing the analysis and making the strategy according to the analysis, the next major step is to create a visual identity for your brand. Maybe the brand logo can be tweaked, the color palette of the brand can be changed, and visual properties can be changed in such a way that the brand becomes recognizable.
Create Relevant Messaging: It is very important to communicate the brand objectives and the changes that a brand has adapted through different marketing channels. Advertising, social media, and e-mail marketing can be some of the channels.
Monitor: After making this strategy, implementing these changes, and communicating it to the audience, it is very important to monitor how the audience responding to the brand evolution and whether is it working or do we or it needs some change.
Examples of Brand Evolution
Some of the amazing examples of Brand Evolution are:
Logos
Great brands and companies who have tweaked their logo or updated and changed their logos from time to time have been very successful these are the few brands who have updated their logos over the years. Like Apple Cannon, and Starbucks. Microsoft. Baskin-robbins, etc. They knew logos have always been represented. A move, A change to a more modern age. If a brand wants its customers to think that they are cutting edge and they are very much updated and they are going according to the latest trends, even a small thing like a change in a logo or a color change. With the logo or tweaking the logo can give a major impact on the brand image and this small thing can evolve a brand completely.
Products
A great example of brand evolution through products is the automobile industry. Car companies regularly go through the brand evolution process Every year their feature changes and gets updated. The car companies like Ford Mustang, Beetle, etc give an upgrade every few years to their cars, and each generation of these cars, these vehicles consists of something new.
Use of Color
Even simple things like a color change can play a very important role in brand evolution. For example, Starbucks. They have one of the most recognizable logos but still, they have changed their logo color and it is not the same as it was in 1971. The marine theme in the logo and the mermaid remain the same, but a small change that made the logo look very different was the color.
Updated Trends
A great example of this is Vogue Magazine. The first issue of Vogue Magazine was published in 1892.
Vogue has always updated itself and always met the industries, expectations, and even of its consumers. Vogue has a global audience and in 1892 the cover that was published was according to the trend of 1892. After that, art deco came into trend in the 1920s. They followed it and now when you see the cover of Vogue, it is more of fashion, typography, and color and its essence is very strong. Vogue has evolved according to the global audience that they cater to.
Brands can involve themselves in various ways these are some of the great examples that have been there in the market for a very very long time, even old brands like BMW. Gives upgrades to their cars. Every few years, magazine like Vogue follows the current trends because they have to cater to a Global Audience. Every brand needs to evolve to stay in the market.
Benefits of Brand Evolution
There are many benefits of Brand Evolution.
- The relevance of a Brand is maintained: Examples are Coca-Cola and Cadbury. All these brands have maintained their relevance over the years by changing from time to time and adapting according to the needs of the consumers.
- Increase in Brand Loyalty: In today’s world, people don’t even think twice before leaving a brand and hopping onto the next one, because they have a lot of choices. But if the brand is Evolving from time to time according to their needs then they stay loyal to it.
- Great Market Opportunities: Brand Evolution helps you to stay ahead in the game so the brand can always reach new audiences if it is evolving from time to time.
- Creating the Difference: Brand Evolution helps in differentiating your brand from others in the market. Also, it helps to create a unique identity for the brand. Updating a brand’s logo, tweaking the logo, changing the message of the brand, in some cases changing the values of the brand can change the perception of your Company. To become a modern brand It is necessary to communicate that the messaging values of the brand are modern, forward-thinking, and innovative. Overall brand image is recreated and improved with the help of brand evolution. Also, it helps to stand out in a very crowded marketplace.
Brand Evolution is important for both small and bigger brands. A brand must be continuously evaluated and refined to connect with the target audience and differentiate them from their competitors. If a business wants continued growth and success, brand evolution is the way!!
We hope this article will be helpful to you. Stay tuned for upcoming articles.
READ MORE: Unveiling the Challenges in the Graphic Designing Industry.
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