Four management tips for rebranding in a crisis

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Many companies are still feeling the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Jobs, lives, customer needs, and entire economies are shifting. Companies must recognize the need to take action in the face of crisis, per current customer and future prospects.

John F. Kennedy once said:

“The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word ‘crisis.’ One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger–but recognize the opportunity.”

In crisis, it’s vital to gain perspective so that you can better manage response, action, and future strategy to help your business recover faster. This article discusses 4 key tips to rebrand within a time of crisis.

Let’s first gain a clearer definition of the event we know as crisis. Moreover, how companies typically and historically manage such situations.

The business crisis – explained

It starts with an unexpected challenge or negative event that places considerable pressure on reputation and the very stability of a company. Such is the case with today’s negative impact happening through COVID-19. A global virus whose health and business repercussions are ones we may not yet fully realize.

Look at the travel, tourism, and hotel industries. Pricing has dropped, layoffs grow, and advertising investment has dropped off. Trickle down impact into city and state revenues have become very real. Moreover, the demand for new airplane orders is down almost 92% since 2018.

We can also look at the dining industry.

NexDine, a top 50 food management firm has primarily operated in corporate dining and private school markets. COVID and the resulting economic market shift have caused the company to rebrand as NexDine Hospitality Group. They have brought on new leadership and redesigned their corporate logo and image, to embrace moving into the healthcare and senior living market space.

Sometimes the biggest fears of customers and humans as a whole provides key rebranding insight. For example, ACME paper company of Jessup, Maryland recently rebranded its ‘janitorial & sanitation’ division to ‘hygiene & facilities’. Sending a clear message about its stance on health and protecting people.

When you redesign the new logo of your company, it is important to use professionals, and to also to gain critical input from your valued employees. This is the reason that the speed, pricing, and flexibility from an online platform such as DesignContest is key.

The company offers the ability for the fast-creation of a design contest that taps into the resources of more than 250,000 global designers. Design professionals who understand the use of colors, typography, and graphic images. Clients also gain the ability to hire designers on a 1-to- 1 basis, and have their own employees to provide ideas, feedback, and voting.

That’s a great example of company empowerment and critical change in the face of a stressful crisis.

Four key tips for crisis management

To effectively survive a business crisis or rebrand your business, look at our four tips. By themselves or in combination, your company can truly take the next steps needed to better shift and manage the present fallout and future opportunities.

1. Build a community

We live in a time of social distancing. Many of us can’t see our friends, loved- ones, and workplace colleagues. Some of the benefits of key communication are lost; and it is vital for companies to realize the value of building communities and culture – between their people and with their customers.

As that happens, look at your brand and company core values. Do they need more emphasis? Can they be increasingly shared within work-related activities? How can they be adjusted to adapt to need and challenge?

2. Strengthen social media

Social media is always necessary for business, but during COVID it is critical. More people at home means a far greater opportunity to strengthen your brand and message across multiple channels, as well as reach new audiences and prospects.

Look at content, timing, authenticity, and making sure to also put your company culture to the public – to gain greater trust. In this digital age, more people are craving personal and emotional connections – and this is where focusing on engaging through that brand will pay off huge in present and future growth, plus less client churn. And if you need additional help growing your social media audience, there are always dedicated opportunities.

3. Evaluate product & service fit

For some businesses, Covid-19 has changed the demand for their products and services. This opens up the need for critical and strategic thought.

  • Should your company be shifting product or service offerings?
  • What about diversification into new markets?
  • Is this a good time to merge, purchase, or sell to another company?

All of these options come with the necessity of brand change or re-branding, according to look, feel, and message.

Clients are consistently judging and shifting their wants and needs, so your business must be recognizing trends and shifts of consumers and customers within crisis times.

4. Bring out the stories, inspire what heart

We must never forget the human beings are creatures governed by emotion. They are inspired by narratives, engagement, pulling on heartstrings, and getting their adrenaline flowing.

We are in a time where people are driven by the core values of strength, healing, community, and coming together through inclusion and shared purpose. That must come through in your logo, packaging, website, and other people engaging mediums.

In conclusion, we must remember that the chief goal of any business is to make and sustain profit. Re-branding is a critical practice and set of processes that not only help companies to ‘weather the storm’ of crisis, but to remain competitive with others in their industry.

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