The growing business handbook : inspiration and advice ... - Sparkler

73
Taking your
brand to the
next level
3.1
Could your brand make an explosive step-change? John Robson at Sparkler
looks at how you could make it happen
There are thousands of brand owners in hundreds of markets happily breathing a
sigh of relief that they have survived the recession, now hoping for stability or
perhaps a few percentage-point year-on-year increases in the next financial year.
Usually this sort of steady brand growth comes from the good old-fashioned organic
variety; several satisfied customers pass the word on to their friends and sales increase
a bit.
Directors and marketing departments looking for this sort of organic growth
should focus on gentle encouragement of this natural word-of-mouth phenomenon;
ensure that your product or service is excellent, make sure availability is not a
problem, and then look after your most loyal customers. Organic growth requires
careful tending, pruning and fertilizing. It is about keeping a successful and natural
equilibrium intact.
But what about directors and marketing departments for whom an Alan
Titchmarsh approach is simply not enough? Perhaps you are looking for explosive
growth in a youthful, unpredictable market. Maybe you are the rising star in your
company, tasked with doubling sales of the Rising Star brand in your portfolio. Or
you might be a brand still sailing in nasty storms whipped up by the recession,
rudderless and sinking fast.
If you need this kind of explosive step-change for your brand, then how to go
about it?
Be bold
Organic growth is often associated with compromise behaviour – the natural internal
ecosystem of the sales team, production, finance and marketing must be kept in
balance at all times. And the recession has, understandably, muted expectations in
some quarters.