One cold January morning, as I walked to the tube station, I stopped off at a newspaper stand to pick up a copy of the Financial Times. Being quite late in the day, having arrived at Heathrow just a few hours before, I made what I thought to be an obvious assumption that copies of the newspaper would be scarce. I was wrong and what transpired was an odd conversation that has stuck in my mind since:

Me: Do you have any copies of the FT left?
Vendor: Do I. I’ve got too many.
Me: Over order?
Vendor: Nope, I guess nobody is interested anymore.

Several months before I left the UK for the holiday season – a failed attempt to disconnect from the media for a few weeks – the imminent recession and economic downturn was already starting to take shape. In a spurt of confusion, the glass quickly turned from being half-full, as the world’s media began to ‘stoke a fire’ that quite clearly has ‘sucker-punched’ the commercial world in to even deeper depression.

Since then, confidence has reached an all time low, illustrated by consumer led, post-war, cost-cutting measures and all too cautious buying practice. However, for a few, things are not so bad – the popularity of online gaming as well as sales of lipstick and cake mix appear to have significantly increased.

The world’s media painted pictures of the board room with CEOs and company directors reacting badly, showing little or no courage in their own convictions, projecting a distinct lack of leadership and shying away from the bullish ambition they were once credited so generously for. As a result, we have seen the dramatic drop of share-prices, the crumbling of financial institutions, industry collapse and the need for governmental “bail-outs”. The repressed outlook continues to darken our streets and I, for one, have had just about enough.

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Like clockwork, during times of financial difficulty, balance sheets are reviewed, snap-decisions made and marketing budgets frozen – the Corporate Branding and Identity profession has certainly felt the pinch. But as professionals, we have all preached, until we are blue in the face, about how cutting budgets, used to sustain brand positioning and market share, is but a knee-jerk reaction and, in the wider scheme of things, will provide nothing but a short-term solution – directly fuelling an even longer-term road to recovery. Predictably, our peers have also published commentary detailing how history has shown a recession to be a great time for maintaining and growing brands – providing many proven examples of some of the world’s most successful brand launches and marketing campaigns.

Since Q4 2008, a multitude of additional “thought-pieces” have since arrived in my inbox and written by recognised professionals, mentors and peers, each one intent on stating their case. However, I have found only a few to have been relevant and therefore, inspirational.

Recently, after having first commissioned research, Alan Siegel, founder of Siegel+Gale, wrote about the need for keeping things simple – subtly cross-referencing his own expertise on the matter, of course. In summary, Siegel blames much of our distrust in the brands we once endorsed to the use of unnecessarily complex language and vocabulary – jargon. His conclusion, for us all to unite, take-arms and ‘refuse to do business with any organisation that violates the need to know and understand’. Siegel demands clarity and transparency, forcing government, financial and commercial sectors to articulate and communicate better by using clear, concise and uncomplicated messaging – literally ‘cutting the fluff’ to restore trust.

Whether you agree with Siegel’s thoughts or not, for me, what made his piece all the more insightful, all the more compelling, was the use of appropriate and relevant research. Choosing to open dialogue with the client’s customer and to not simply rely on self-opinionated ego or, even worse, the dated and published insight of others.

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However, on reflection, to come out of the current climate on top, engaging and entering in to dialogue with the end-user is but half of the conversation needed.

Captains of industry, once held in high esteem and celebrated by the press, have become bearish and fearful and, when leaders refuse to dip their toe in to the sea, is it any wonder that no-one else will follow? Open dialogue, in both directions, is certainly needed and paves the way in helping us to paint a much clearer picture.

We need our clients to really share with us what it is that is keeping them awake at night. In turn, we can then facilitate truthful dialogue between the client and the customer. Of course, like most things marketing-related, I very much doubt I am telling you anything you don’t already know, it’s just, that if agency newsletters and current thought-pieces are anything to go by, no-one appears to doing anything about it.

At first, the answer may not be that obvious, but by making an increased effort to listen and learn, ensuring the most appropriate and flexible methods are used, persuade clients and consumer to really trust and share their fears and anxieties – innovation will take form and succeed and the economy will grow. The future promises to be an exciting place for us all and already we have started to see major corporate identity activity; with AIG becoming AIU overnight and Merrill Lynch initiating a corporate identity change, following its acquisition by the Bank of America. The outcome of the latter, is eagerly anticipated and for obvious iconic reasons.

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Over the coming months, and certainly the next few years, dramatic change and transformation will become all too familiar, altering the very dynamic of every commercial industry. The brand consultancies that flourish will certainly be those who are capable of providing empathy, deep understanding and truly innovative solution.

The true thought-leaders, those that have started to restore my confidence, have chosen not to rely on past statistics from which weaker competitors will try to propose future solution. As specialists and experts in our field, it is our responsibility to now take the ‘bull by the horns’, to review, adapt and focus on the flexibility our profession allows, to embrace the most appropriate technology and to never lose sight of the expertise we bring and are paid to provide. Alan Siegel is certainly right about one very important thing, keep things simple.

The very process of rebranding provides the key to survival and, when administered correctly, can certainly provide an accelerant for recovery. If ignored, or practised badly then, for some, recovery is set to take even longer and the guy at the newspaper stand will always be one step ahead of the game.

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By Dan Dimmock, 30 April 2009

Dan is an identity consultant and senior founding partner of Pollen in London. Previously he has worked with a number of the world’s most recognised branding agencies. His contributions have covered a full spectrum of brand development and rebranding, from strategic positioning through to implementation, for such clients as Action for Children, Havas Digital, Reuters, 
Smith and Nephew, Waitrose and Wyeth.