Once-successful brands that have fallen on hard times often turn inward for solutions. They tend to circle the wagons and develop a bunker mentality in which they shut out the world and re-dedicate their internal resources to coming up with ways to increase profitability or market share. The thinking is “if we do enough soul-searching and dig hard enough, we’ll come out of this.”
Well, good luck with that. Much more often than not, brand recovery success stories are about companies that swallow their pride and admit that they don’t have the answers. They actively seek insights and perceptions from current and past customers to help them rediscover and refocus on what made the brand successful in the first place and how to position themselves going forward.
Allen Edmonds, once one of the most prominent premium men’s shoe brands in the U.S., found itself on the verge of bankruptcy in 2008. A new president came aboard that year and engineered a dramatic turnaround that was founded on gaining a thorough understanding of what loyal customers and target audiences thought about the shoes. A comprehensive discovery effort revealed how the brand had strayed from its original brand positioning and provided direction on what it needed to do to win back customers. The results were startling.
The point is, your customers are by far the best source for understanding your brand. You might not like what they have to say, but that’s irrelevant. How your customers regard your brand should be the only thing that matters to you.