The first brand breaking point.

How to avoid wasting money on a gigantic brand overhaul.

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Hi friends,

You don’t wake up one day and go, “Wow, our brand’s totally misaligned.”

I mean… normal people don’t at least. It doesn’t really work that way.

Instead, brand misalignment sneaks in over time. It’s quiet.

It’s kind of like a bike tire that’s slowly leaking air. You can still move forward for a while (and you might not even realize you’re working harder than you need to be). But eventually? You get to a point where you can’t ignore the problem anymore.

That point ^ is usually when someone says, “I think we need a new website.” And often it’s when things are really broken. People are disgruntled. Nobody knows what to say about the business. And your sense of identity is a little lost.

I call this the brand breaking point. When you go from a flat tire to the wheels falling off the bike. And it can be painful.

So, how do you avoid it? Is it even possible? Both good questions.

My honest answer is that you probably can’t totally avoid it. It’s like everything else in life, really. Sometimes you need to hit rock bottom or go through a messy situation — especially when you’re just getting started and don’t know what you don’t know.

But, as with life, I think a big part of maturing is learning to recognize the signs of leaky tires — and know how to prevent them from becoming catastrophes.

I won’t say I’m an expert. But I have been working with B2B marketing teams for close to 10 years. Along the way, some of the biggest warning signs I’ve seen across my career, both in-house and among clients, include:

• The big-name accounts you want aren't biting… even though you know you can support them.

• You get prospects on a sales call… but they ask, “Okay, so what do you do?”

• Your visual styles is fine… but it makes you just a *little* embarrassed to send your website to a potential customer.

• Competitors are popping up left and right… and you don’t have a great answer to what makes you different.

• Your existing customers have started to become a bit of a pain in the ass… and you realize they are a bad fit for you evolved service.

• Your team sort of gets what the vision is… but jokes that your business is too hard to explain at family barbecues.****

• And maybe worst of all… your employees aren’t proud to be part of it anymore.

****Obviously some products, like highly scientific or research-oriented verticals, are difficult to explain to the average layperson. But your value should be easy to express.

Any of that sound familiar? The good news is that it’s usually a sign of growth. But, growth can still be painful.

Not every marketing hiccup is cause for a rebrand.

Sometimes you just need better targeting. Or your ads suck. Or you just haven’t found the right market yet. Or you just have a bad content strategy.

But, it’s important to know the difference between “Is this just a temporary problem?” or “Is this symptomatic of something deeper?”

If you catch these symptomatic issues early on, you can patch the tires and keep rolling. You’ll need to replace it eventually, but at least you can do it in the comfort of your own garage and without stressing out about it.

Not catching them though? That’s how you end up on the side of the road, in the rain, dragging your bike to the nearest shop, and hoping to God they have a solution.

The key is knowing what to look for and when to act. ✌️

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Need some help finding the leaks in your tire?

Hire us for a Download Day. It’s a half-day workshop where we’ll sit with your team, talk through all the symptoms, and help you come up with a game plan for course-correcting.

It’s only £1500 and can help you get a ton of clarity as you move into a brand project.

Hit reply if you’re interested.

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