Three Spring Cleaning Strategies for Your Brand

Based on the calendar, spring has officially sprung! But for many of us, the official start to the season comes after a bit (or for some of us, a lot) of tidying up. Clearing one’s living space of the dust, debris and blues of winter to welcome in the freshness, newness and revitalization of spring is an age-old practice.

And as much as a space can benefit from the occasional refresh, so can your brand.

Three strategies to refresh your brand

1. The look for less

When was the last time you freshened up your brand’s look? I’m not talking about a major facelift, more like a subtle makeover. Several of the most recognized brand names have turned to logo changes and updates within the last several months in an effort to simplify — while deepening their connections to consumers and current events.

These updates don’t represent a new brand identity. Rather, brands often make small adjustments to the colors already within their standards to draw attention. But sometimes, a brand will even update its color palette, which is the route one of the most recognized names in coffee has taken in recent years.

At the onset of the pandemic in 2020, global internet usage skyrocketed, as reported in the Global Internet Phenomena Report COVID-19 Spotlight by Sandvine in May 2020. E-commerce became the answer to the global lockdown and safety limitations. This change of pace in consumer spending also had (and continues to have) an impact on the way businesses connect with their consumers. In response, companies have gone back to the drawing board (or color palette, if you will) to tweak their brand identities in an effort to better resonate with customers and stand out in the vast world of e-commerce.

Most of us recognize Starbucks from its iconic green Siren logo. With more than 32,000 locations throughout 76 countries in operation, the Seattle-based coffeehouse turned global powerhouse doesn’t have to do much to maintain its worldwide brand recognition. But in a recent effort to deepen its connections with customers globally, the company made slight adaptations to its iconic shade of green.

A site dedicated to Starbucks’ creative expression notes, “As we evolve to meet beautifully diverse customers all over the world, our brand has evolved too. Here we introduce a fresh new design system that maintains the core elements of our brand while keeping our customers’ experience central to creative expression.

“By consistently utilizing the Siren logo, an expanded palette of greens rooted in our iconic green apron and a constrained family of harmonious typefaces, we bring purpose and cohesion to every interaction customers have with our brand.” As a company, you’ve likely already given careful thought and consideration to your brand colors and identity. By expanding your color palette with complimenting hues, you can deepen your brand’s connections to consumers through the use of color. Colors can evoke unique emotional responses; Looka’s latest logo trends report highlights the importance of a brand’s color palette.

2. Get technical with video content

At its core, a business is built on giving ‘the people’ what they want, and better yet, what they need, even in the technical and industrial B2B space. These considerations should also apply to how you market your brand and offerings.

YouTube reported that in 2016, around the world, people collectively watched one billion hours of content on the platform daily. This whopping number has only increased since that time. Consumer habits indicate that beyond entertainment, more video content is what the people want. So much so that nearly nine out of ten people report wanting to see more videos from brands.

As consumers continue to use video as an integral part of their purchase journey, the time to capitalize on video marketing campaigns is now. From how-to videos, news features, product highlights and customer testimonials, many of your customers rely on video content to learn about your brand before even visiting your website.

3. ”Pivot, pivot, pivot!” Consider your industry’s new challenges

Did your neighborhood distillery start manufacturing hand sanitizer when stores couldn’t seem to keep it on shelves just a few months ago? Seeing an opportunity to help in a time of need — and to generate sales — many distilleries used the alcohol in their facilities to create alcohol-based sanitizing solutions to help combat the hand sanitizer shortage.

And just like that, those distilleries that produced hand sanitizer, be it for profit or gratis, set foot into entirely new markets.

Your brand embodies unique products, stories, cultures and customers. It should rely heavily on strong messaging to remain connected to customers. Companies often start customer conversations with the product story, but it’s important to keep their pain points at the forefront of your messaging. What are they looking for to solve their industry challenges? What is the current climate of their industry? Now more than ever, customers have an appreciation and an affinity for brands that care — whether demonstrated through strong social actions, sustainable packaging, responsive customer service or engineers, or forward thinking for unique customer challenges.

While a complete brand and industry overhaul isn’t necessary, carefully assessing your growth and conducting discovery-focused market research can help you identify ways to step outside of your usual box (market) in order to gain market and wallet share — all while addressing your customers’ ever-changing needs.

Consider these spring-cleaning brand strategies and watch your brand blossom! Get it?