Winning battles In a brand’s journey, it’s the strategic starting point founded on a core insight that gives the brand a clear perspective of the direction and purpose. Now, what happens if there’s no insightful starting point, clear cut direction and purpose? The consequences are twofold, long term and short term. In the long run, it will lose ground to a clear-minded competition, in that the brand neither reaches its full potential nor aspires its own talented people, let alone attracting bright minds to the team. Instead, the brand will be gravitated, distracted and misled by short term tactical battles. It may even win many and lose some, and give in to a culture of winning misleading battles. Eventually, digging its own comfort zones and echo chambers. No one is immune to this deceptive path. There are cases of waning political and corporate brands that are increasingly becoming irrelevant to post millennials, yet are engaged in their own battles. Lacking in perception It calls for original, deep, honest insights, be it from the hearts of the believers or from the cracks in the competition to extract a coherent brand culture, design, communications and innovation. When the starting point is rooted in truth, there unfolds a clearcut perception of the path and purpose. But when it’s not, the brand can only be short sighted and lacking in perception. Losing the war It’s when a relatively new competitor discreetly encroaches on a complacent leader’s territory targeting the latter’s strategic weak points that the former’s vulnerability begins to get exposed. It’s an irony that everyone except the complacent leader fails to see the writing on the wall. Such is the deceptive bondage of comfort zones. The problem of lacking in perception will eventually play into the hands of an aggressive competitor with a clear cut long term vision to draw all the doubters from the waning brand and convert them into passionate believers and ambassadors.
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