Broken Brands---3 Things Marketers Must do to Mend Them

"All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again."

Poor Humpty Dumpty. Are broken brands doomed to suffer the same fate? Not necessarily. But it's not easy to restore brand equity and breathe life into a declining brand. Are you up for the challenge? Here are three must-have requirements for your brand relaunch to be successful.

1. Find the spark that internal and external stakeholders still care deeply about in the soul of the brand. It must have the ability to ignite passion and action. For a brand reinvigoration to succeed, internal and external stakeholders have to be emotionally invested in the brand. What are the brand associations? Are they positive or negative? Are they relevant? Do they provide the underpinnings for a compelling, competitive message?
2. Get support and buy-in from senior leadership. Without it, well, you're just wasting your time. Put together a recommendation supported by a solid business plan. You'll know you have their commitment when they're willing to put money behind it.
3. Put together an internal communications plan. So your external marketing plan has the customer expecting a great brand experience? Congratulations. Now, can you deliver? Be sure you have an internal marketing plan that is structured the same way as an external marketing plan but with employees as the target audience. What do they care about? (Hint: It's not the success of your marketing plan.) What issues could affect their performance? What is the timing? What resources are needed? How will performance be measured?

Restoring a broken brand is challenging and there are no guarantees. However, meet these three requirements and you'll be well on your way to success.