5 Tips to Future-Proofing your Brand

Jan 27, 2022 Ayushi Tiwari

The most intangible asset of an organization is a strong company brand. As a brand becomes more valuable its recognition increases. We are well aware of how technological advancements and social factors are directly impacting brand management for big and small organizations. Over the past two years, our lives have changed drastically, something which none of us had anticipated. Challenges like Covid and lockdowns that forced all of us to remain indoors impacted businesses around the globe. It also altered consumer behavior hence, branding in the digital era becomes all the more important. 

Why is branding so important? Duh. 

A well-established brand is not just a good-to-have element that helps you achieve better "top of mind.” In fact, a perfect branding solution is an indispensable factor for an organization’s survival as well as its success. Companies that do not invest enough in their brand are in no way future-proof. 

So many businesses have either flourished or were shut down completely due to recent circumstances. Sure, business innovation and adapting to a changing landscape is certainly required, but the strength of a brand equally plays an important role. So how can we future-proof our brand? And in doing so, how can we increase the chances of business survival and growth no matter what hardships come our way.   

Although we cannot anticipate what difficulties lie ahead, we can surely prepare ourselves for unforeseen situations. Therefore, it is important to lay out a roadmap, well thought out strategies and investing in sufficient social and technological developments. As this ensures that your brand is continuously evolving with changing times and challenges.  

Let us have a look at 5 tips to future-proofing your brand  

1. Distinguish yourself from the rest: be a pioneer 

Usually, business owners and entrepreneurs are industry pioneers because of their ability to identify the gaps in the market. During the process of brand building look for new opportunities and look for ways to improve current products and services. Early innovators tend to rework and establish an existing product or service in a newer and more useful way. This enables them to become market leaders.  

It is important to keep yourself distinguished in an already cluttered market with a plethora of differentiated offerings. To grab the attention of your TG (target audience) it is crucial to adapt quickly to the changing technology and related trends. You do not want to get left behind if any trend takes off and your competitors are already ahead of you.  

In this ever-transforming digital world, having a unique identity is the key. At the end of the day, organizations that manage to adapt to changes will lay the foundation of future success.  

2. Do not just hold on to your one successful product/service  

Suppose your company has come up with one great product or service, and it has become a big hit. That product might be the market leader or has gained a considerable amount of traction in the market. However, one should not get dependent on just one part of your business no matter how successful it is, you must invest and work on other innovations and products simultaneously.  Even though a major chunk of your revenue is coming from that particular product/ service, it is still important to diversify your company’s portfolio.  

One common business advice is to focus on the most successful part of your business. On the contrary, if you want to survive in the long run do not entirely depend on one aspect of your business. If it fails or gets overshadowed by another “better product/service” you can go out of business easily. If you want to future proof your brand it is advisable to create a diverse product portfolio and widen the horizon of your revenue streams. Diversify and think ahead. Consumer behavior changes. You must be prepared for these changes.  

3. Predict future trends today 

Snapchat introduced the concept of disappearing messages, pictures, disrupting the status quo. To its surprise, it actually captivated users who were more comfortable with their digital footprints not following them forever. It gave people access to each other’s life, which was not scripted in any way. Nor was it focussed on getting likes, and shares, in fact, they were giving real-time access and privacy to its users. Today, we are seeing this concept getting copied in all major social media platforms.  

If you can think in an innovative manner, predict the demands of the future today, and work towards it, this will give you an edge over your competitors. Innovation is never easy, and one might fail several times before getting it right. In order to foster this culture of innovation into your organization, give your employees the freedom to present and work on innovative ideas. Another great future trend is how NFT’s and Metaverses will be changing the future of events, to read more click.

No doubt, anticipating future trends requires imagination, studying, strategizing and execution! 

4. Measure your brand performance through analytics 

If you want to ensure that your brand is future-proof you cannot miss how your various touchpoints are enhancing (or degrading) your overall brand performance. It is equally essential to have a look at the metrics and know if your brand is leaving a positive impression in people's minds. If not, what is the reason? If yes, how can you sustain and amplify that.  

For example, awareness is one of the most important metrics.  

Awareness: measure your brand’s awareness by tracking the overall traffic that comes to your website on a monthly or weekly basis. Use historical and current analytics to make future decisions. If many people are coming to your website by directly typing in the URL, it indicates that people are aware of your brand. You can either measure it in the percentage form or as a total number for e.g., for recognized brands, 50% of visitors may visit their website directly, as for smaller organizations this percentage might be around 10%-20% or even less. 

5. Follow trends of other developed countries 

On a daily or weekly basis keep a track of trends that are being practiced in other developed countries, related or unrelated to your field. This is one of the most convenient and easiest strategies which will enable you to stay ahead in your field. A number of tools are available which can make this work super easy or just set up a google alert on the topic of your field. For example, many major event management firms around the world have anticipated that 2022 will be the year of hybrid events. Want to know how to keep up with this trend and host great hybrid events? Then click here.  

The advantages of good branding are countless. If you really want to future-proof your brand, you must keep an eye on all the developments happening around you.  Look out for all kinds of trends, they may or may not be relevant to your industry but can give you insight. Having the right kind of knowledge about things happening around you will definitely give you an edge over your competitors.