Newcomer. Challenger. Aging Champ?
Every brand has a lifecycle. Knowing where your brand stands helps steering it.
Hype or substance? Back in 1995, the consulting firm Gartner developed a framework for assessing new technologies – the Hype Cycle. It helps to understand whether a new technology is already useful at certain stages of development or flying high on fantasy.
Brand Lifecycle
We asked ourselves whether this mental model could also be applied to brands and their lifecycle. It helped us develop our own framework for assessing and managing brands in their respective situations. Here's a brief introduction.
Stages in the brand lifecycle
Brands don't develop linearly. At the start, they're usually a blank slate. They grow stronger, falter. Age. Reinvent themselves. In our experience, these phases appear most frequently in a brand's lifecycle:
- Newcomer
- Challenger
- Champ
- Aging Champ
- Refreshed Champ
Newcomer
You have a business idea. But the world doesn't know it yet. Often it doesn't even have a name. Typical symptoms of this phase: uncertainty about who you are. Many opinions. Initial euphoria. Then doubt. We provide orientation on the journey from startup to brand – through strategy, naming, corporate identity, a clear pitch and go-to-market story, and a consistent presence across all channels.
Challenger
Your brand is getting noticed. Now you want to reach the top of your market. To challenge the current champ. Typical signs of this phase: your first real core fans appear. At the same time, growing pains set in. Orchestrating the brand becomes harder. So does finding great people. With our help, you become visible – digitally and in the real world. You get the structures to professionalize your brand success. And you become attractive to talent.
Champ
You've arrived. Known, relevant. The dominant force. You set the agenda. You can command your prices. The symptoms: people trust you. But expectations are high. And the first signs of complacency creep in. Our job at this stage: brand stewardship. Consistent expansion of your presence. But also honest criticism when your brand isn't being managed like a champion.
Aging Champ
Others are setting the tone. The people who built your brand are leaving. Cracks are showing. The story no longer sounds current. Symptoms: little genuine innovation. Routine instead. What we do: clearly identify what's going wrong. What disappointed customers are saying. We initiate the shift in direction and renew the brand accordingly – strategically, technologically, and in how it presents itself. This turnaround takes energy and time. But it's achievable. Alpina Sports and Hugo Boss are good examples of brands on their way to becoming a Refreshed Champ.
Refreshed Champ
Back to the core. Relevant again. Story, performance and presence form a coherent whole once more. Symptoms: revival energy. Cultural rediscovery. Employees and talent want to be part of your journey. In this phase, we help your brand connect its renewal story to its heritage – and bring it to life both internally and externally. We strengthen the new image and, above all, win new customers for you.
Understanding and managing your brand's challenge
Which phase is your brand in? Identifying it helps to recognize the challenges at hand – and respond accordingly. Through experience, digital measurement and the ability to spot the telling signs, we can work with CMOs to see the bigger picture that day-to-day business so often obscures.
Source: https://shorturl.at/GCVMt
— Autor Frank Wache is Co-Founder und Managing Partner at JUNO.