Brands come and go.
Only a few out of them leave a strong impression on the minds of the consumers. Brand image is a massive factor for companies’ growth which depend on the consumer choices. While many brands undergo significant changes in their life cycle and evolve at the right time, some forced by the business environment, some pre-empt the change of the tide.
Interbrand in their latest report talk about how brands can make that iconic move which will help them prosper and grow to the next level.
Before we jump in, firstly, let us understand what exactly are Iconic moves? Iconic moves are by their very nature, rare, and each being a one of a kind action, which arise from unique conditions that lead to certain decisions and at the correct time.
According to the Interbrand, Amazon in the year 2014 made an iconic move of announcing Alexa, a virtual assistant developed by Amazon and also kick-starting the virtual assistant market.
The past decades have seen the vast majority of organizations focus predominantly on an ongoing improvement of their promise, processes, and delivery.
The Consumers’ expectations will continue to move faster than businesses; customers will increasingly reward those bold moves that challenge those expectations. Game changing aspects will keep brands in the game—but it will take well-timed, brave moves to make brands leap ahead of customers’ expectations, ultimately driving better and efficient business results.
Interbrand says that they have chosen to call them Iconic moves, because they alter the competitive landscape by capturing people’s imagination. They are moves: actions cause ripple across markets. And they are iconic, in that they do so by swaying perceptions, choice, and behaviors.
So how can one make an iconic move, few below are some points that the report highlights.
Iconic moves never happen all of a sudden they are the activity within a process of continuous improvement—and this requires brands to be constantly in touch and in tune with their customers, transforming data and observation into insight—and offering new, better, and different on a near daily basis.
As we discussed above, Iconic moves are, by definition, rare. They need to happen at precisely the right time, capturing the zeitgeist and creating a before and an after.
Iconic moves are not self-serving stunts, but powerful means to an end—conceived and designed to accelerate the business’s progression along its desired trajectory, seeking an alignment (or realignment) between customers, the business, and their interactions.
Iconic moves seem simply inevitable. But as they occur, they always impress, often the results to it are quite surprising and sometimes unsettle.
An Iconic move is not merely a campaign or promise, it is a market action that implies a credible commitment from the business and makes it vulnerable in the absence of follow-through.
Any company can rebrand, but it can’t be done overnight. If you’re ready to take things up at your own company, be sure to understand your target demographic, then create the brand image that resonates best with those customers.
