Brand Longevity Means Avoiding Shortcuts

Every good story – whether literal or metaphoric – has established characters, a dynamic plot and story structure, and a takeaway (lesson). If any of those elements are missing, the story won’t be as compelling or enduring. And when it comes to retail storytelling, those same essentials also need to be in place.

But the idea of storytelling, from a marketer’s perspective, can be easily misunderstood. When I refer to your brand’s story, I’m referring to the elements of your brand that make you stand apart from your competition by providing an experience that your customers come to expect from you. Your story includes your history (where you came from and how you evolved) but it’s so much more than that: your story tells your customers, one experience at a time, what they can consistently rely on you for. Whether you’re a retailer, a service provider or a packaged-goods distributor, you have a story and it’s up to you to tell it well.

A brand has been defined as a person’s expectation upon seeing your logo or hearing your company name. The expectation that your audience has of your brand comes from layer upon layer of experiences they have had with it over time: the various campaigns, social media, in-store experience, quality of product, etc. that you roll out. They get to know you, your brand’s character, where you’re going, and why. All of these elements add up, in tactical executions, to create a brand your customers know and trust. Over time, they come to expect a certain experience when they connect with your brand. And this is why it’s so important to be consistent in your delivery on every engagement opportunity your customers have with you.

Think of it this way: what happens, in a good story, when we skip certain parts or make changes to it? Quite simply, the essence of the story changes. It could be as simple as removing a word, or a sentence here and there, or editing an entire section of the narrative. When that happens (over time) the story, at best, would be different. At worst, it would just no longer make sense.

The metaphor holds true with your brand’s story: once your customers come to expect something of you, if you take shortcuts and edit your story, the plot starts to deteriorate and fall apart… as does your brand.

If you’re a parent, you’ll relate to this bedtime story analogy. After reading the same book for the umpteenth time, it can be tempting to skip a word here and there, or maybe shorten a sentence, or skip an entire page if you can get away with it. But after a while, your kids will call you on it, because they know how the story is supposed to go. And no matter how good an improviser you are, if you take short cuts, they’ll know it, and they’ll feel cheated.

For customers, it’s the same. Once you establish your story – who you are, what you stand for, what you value and believe in, and you deliver on it – don’t deviate from it. If you extend your hours to make shopping more convenient for your customers and they come to rely on you for it, don’t cut back to regular hours. If you provide exceptional training for your staff, don’t, one day, hack the training budget. If you offer a wide selection of merchandise to appeal to certain demographics and needs, don’t switch up your stock or remove items because the margins are no longer as lucrative. You’ll need to find more creative ways to keep your customers happy AND make your business profitable. If you make changes or take short cuts, even for temporary cost-savings in tougher times, your customers will call you on it and their attitude towards your brand will change. You need to be careful of these short-cuts because temporary fixes can become permanent headaches and can eventually undermine the entire brand.

One subtle modification might slide under the rug, but don’t be fooled: when you add-up subtle adjustments over time, your story changes and your customers will notice, and the perception of the brand they’ve known and loved will begin to erode. And, very likely, they’ll find somewhere else to get the experience they could once rely on you for.

The point is, once you decide who you are and what you stand for–and you’ve established your reputation on that—stay true to your original script. Brand loyalty is based on the consumer being able to rely on you, time and time again. So don’t be so quick to turn the page on your brand—and the brand equity you’ve developed over time, through consistency. If you want a brand for the long haul, refrain from taking too many shortcuts.