Youâre only as strong as your weakest brand
From eight years working in agencies I ended up thinking a lot about the struggle of managing an agencies brand idea of what they stand for whilst balancing the ideas of the clients brands, their projects and the people within the clients company themselves. You can all end up confused if youâre not strict with your approach and principles.
If youâve worked at an agency or ever had the utter joy of being pitched to by one you will know the logo slide in the agency presentation. The beautifully grided selection of glossy logos. Itâs often on the website too. Iâve been sat in many rooms where it gets interrogated for all sorts of reasons:
- How much is that company really using your services?
- Did you have a positive impact on that company?
- Are they still going?
- Who are they, Iâve never heard of them?
- Do you know Bob Smith at that company?
- Did you hear the gossip about them?
This logo slide can be tricky, you really start to expose your cohort, their brand quickly creep into yours. For all the right and wrong reasons. Your clients belief in you can be completely manufactured from this logo selection.
ⲠI keep running over the selection of companies on the Slack NYSE listing poster. They have an estimated 10m+ clients to choose from. I donât have much of an opinion on what they chose, but I can imagine it was a messy job to pick the companies. You want the logos to resonate with the finance world, you want to show youâre global, you can work with the new starters and the old incumbents.
Slack have a tough job on their hands. Their brand has transformed for this IPO and I believe it has a long way to go for Analysts to really understand the company and product. They will likely take a kicking with reports on competitors user numbers, however, if they can ground their brand next to right cohort of brands â companies really changing what work is and how it is done, that could just be perfect. I really hope so, I bought stock.
1872. Shisedio â Japan, skin, beauty and cosmetics
1928. Cole Haan â Chicago, footwear and accessories
1977. Oracle â Californian B2B computer databases and software
1982. E*Trade â Californian, Financial services, trading platforms
1982. Electronic Arts â Californian, Video Games
2000. IAG â Australian, Insurance
2005. Etsy â USA, Marketplace for handmade and vintage items
2007. Hulu â Californian, JV between Disney & Comcast, SVOD
2007. Farfetch â UK, London, E-commerce luxury clothes
What company mission do your customers actually remember?
Deliveroo has changed. Businesses do change. The thing is, I remember the mission of the 2015 Deliveroo. I can order from amazing places that donât actually do delivery and eat at my own kitchen table. âWe are on a mission to bring the worldâs best local restaurants to everyoneâs home or office.â â Deliveroo 2015. View the early pitch deck here
Four years later I open the app when working from home, cupboards are empty and I get this beautiful selection shown below.
- How much has the idea changed?
- Why did the idea change?
- Is this idea as good?
Letâs face it. Itâs not is it? âCrap food at any time for a premium rate delivered by drivers making a tricky salary.â Why did this change? Scale, growth and greed. Perhaps, and hold onto your hat here, the idea was never meant to be as big as they are trying to make it.
Thereâs loads of add on ideas to try and keep companies like Deliveroo growing, all in the name of the future bet of big profits from tiny margins and questionable outsourced labour. Be it:
What company mission do your customers actually remember?
? Designers tell you Apple isnât in it for the creative professional anymore.
âď¸ Travellers tell you British Airways isnât a top-end experience anymore.
? Soho House members will tell you itâs too much like WeWork now.
The problem is, these statements are somewhat false. One of the brand ideas of Apple is to be creative, the joy of making something easily. British Airways offer some of the best customer service whilst competing in an aggressive price war sector. Soho House value members having memorable and unique experiences in their houses.
? I will tell you that Deliveroo isnât the place for the worldâs best restaurants.
But Iâm wrong, you can still order from some of Londonâs best affordable restaurants. You can also order from some of the worst.
Protecting your brand idea and mission takes care, time and saying no. Saying no a lot. I wonder where the brand idea of Deliveroo will be in the next four years, is this just part of the growth struggle? This is true of Airbnb too.
What can brands do to protect their idea, their mission, their place in our mind?
- Define your Brand Architecture. Deliveroo could make fast food a sub-brand, a category choice off the homescreen. The effort of making a portfolio of rules for your brand and products gives you a huge return in equity and clarity.
- Set brand rules based on the idea, Art Directors â this is your design jurisdiction and you get to put your team and suppliers in time-out or jail for breaking these rules
- Plan the journey for the brand. Yes, it will change. Look at the greats who have done this over time, Apple is often overused but damn, they are strategy heroâs of positioning, quality and delivery into music, phones, media, health, finance, education⌠whatâs next?
- Keep your business plan in check with your idea. My bet is growth greed has caused Deliveroo to compromise. Keep your brand, keep your customers, keep your idea.
- Help suppliers, they are your weak point. Airbnb are cited for helping hosts photograph their homes and add finishing touches, again, set your standards to the experience and enforce it.
