Evolving Brand Essence: from start-up to maturity

As a company moves along their maturity timeline, their personality, the way customers respond to it, and to some extent, their values, will change. This all has a huge impact on how it markets its brand and on the branding itself.

Recently we have seen Woolworth’s update its logo and today ANZ unveiled their new look. Their evolving brand essence has been the driver behind the outcome of their new branding. To some, the change may be very subtle, but companies of all stages – from start-up to very mature, need to have a well defined brand essence to ensure their branding is consistent with the market position of their company.

What is Brand Essence?
The defining of your brand essence assists and drives much of your marketing and the way your brand consistently presents itself to the world.

From tone and manner of advertising, choice of colour palettes, typefaces and fonts, presentation and writing of documents, web sites and literature to the look of stores and delivery vehicles, the dress and uniforms of staff, and the look and fit-out of offices, foyers and reception areas.

Think of your brand as a person: what is it that attracts friends to it? What makes people want to build a bond with it? People most often respond to shared values, they are attracted by certain personalities with which they emotionally connect.

Your brand is no different. Your brand essence is derived from these same three core elements:

	1.	Your company’s personality
	2.	Your company’s values
	3.	The emotional response of customer to your company, product or service

Defining Brand Essence in start-ups
There is no better time to define and set your brand essence for the future than when you have absolute control while the slate is still clean.

Not surprisingly perhaps, the brand essence of many start-ups is reflective of the owner or founder’s personality and ambition, and how they see their company’s development. In these cases, the values and personalities of the founders are likely to be intrinsically linked to the same traits and emotional benefits that the brands provide their customers.

Such iconic names like Richard Branson (Virgin brands) and Steve Jobs (Apple) have successfully taken their own start-up brands onto the global stage and managed the transition from small business to large multinational with, it would seem, their brand essence remaining intact as a guiding brand beacon.

Locally, we have seen business people such as John Symonds (the founder of Aussie Home Loans, a most successful and dynamic corporate brand) whose extrovert and gregarious personalities initially drove their brands’ marketing successes.

Evolving your brand essence to maturity
Ultimately, as a brand grows, expands and matures (especially when driven by a founding owner), so too does the need for the brand essence to evolve and move away from the personality and values of the owner. This movement is metamorphosis-like, as the fledgling company becomes a brand in its own right — now bigger, more powerful and more enduring than the owner responsible for its birth.

Over time, the brand reacts to such influences as changing trends, new or developing products and services, and, of course, competitors, all of which directly affect the brand’s values, personality and emotional benefits. In addition, as the company grows, the original hands on founder is unlikely to be so intimately involved in the day-to-day running of the business, the responsibility for the successful business operation having now passed on to a management team or board of directors. These people now charged with managing the brand, may bring their own nuances and differences to how the company’s marketing strategy and brand essence evolve.

As this is occurring within the company, the face of the company - its brand - needs to keep pace. While often a costly exercise, the evolution of a company’s branding is necessary to ensure the general market understands the company’s evolving personality, values and emotional benefits – its Brand Essence.