The message from the fourth floor was loud and clear: “We need to reverse declining revenues.” Carol, the CMO of a medium-sized pet food brand, knows well that she needs to translate her business’s ambition into focused brand objectives for her marketing team.
Change sucks. But irrelevance is even worse. Today most firms, institutions and individuals are grappling with 3 levels of relevance.
Slowing population growth will upend both the macroeconomics of commercial potential in the economy as a whole and the microeconomics of competition within sectors and categories. Brands must adapt to grow.
Replicating a brand’s success internationally can be a great way to multiply its profits. Culture and customs vary across the world, however, so what makes a brand successful in one country does not guarantee success elsewhere.
The growth of any brand will plateau if it is successful with its initial product range in its region of origin. Further growth must come from expanding the product range, extending geographically, or both. Before scaling your brand, the business fundamentals need to be in place. Investors seem keen to fund technology-based brands even if they have never made a profit, but this isn’t wise. According to Cyrine Ben-Hafaïedh and Anaïs Hamelin (2022), profit-focused brands...
