The Walking Brand – What Turns Your Brand into a Zombie

Central nerve system is the core of all bodily functions – once it’s infected, the consequences are hard to predict. Although the chances of a person turning into a zombi are slim, in business there is a real possibility for your brand to become a walker.

Brand represents the very essence of your business. It outlines your individual perspective and without it the company has no identity, but pointlessly roams the industry. One wrong move and you might find your brand trapped in the sea of walkers, neither dead nor alive.

Even though The Walking Dead has enchanted us with its brave characters, on-going action, and the slight dose of mystery, it is far from just another TV show. There are a couple of tricks you can pick up and use when striving to keep your brand at the top of the industry.

Building a company from the ground up is an admirable achievement. Although you overcame a multitude of obstacles with little or no help at all, in order for your brand to stay among the living you will need solid customer support.

As we learn from the popular show, no one can stand alone. Trusting only yourself and following your own guts (pun intended) is simply not enough. In order to survive in the cruel industrial world, partnering up with your customers to gain their insight is essential. Familiarizing with their requirements is of utmost importance since 48% of Americans expect from a brand to provide them with products and services that cater to their needs. Namely, businessmen have to remember that they are not only supposed to be working FOR their customers, they have to work WITH them in order to achieve success. Prove your loyalty to your customers from the very first purchase and avoid joining the less successful brands who lose more than $40 billion every year due to poor customer service.

Additionally, there are 80% of consumers who claim that the authenticity of the content is one of the most influential factors when choosing a brand. Around 20% of buyers will avoid a brand if it miscommunicates the message and more than 40% will avoid the brand completely if it turns out it presents them with irrelevant information.

Furthermore, constantly moving from one place to another is usually the wrong choice. What we could notice was that those who kept firm ground and built a solid foundation lived peacefully. In order for your brand to build those high protective walls, opting for the ideal social media platform is an absolute must.

You brand is a great success on Facebook, but on Twitter – not so much? You have to fully understand the very essence of the most popular social media platforms in order to discover the one that suits your brand the most. Learn about the unique purpose of the platform, the target audience it serves, and whether the attributes of the platform are relevant to your brand’s needs.

At the end of the second season we find out that “no one is safe and anyone can turn into a walker upon their death”. Moreover, as the number of walkers grows, the greater the chances are that you will be bitten. Do not let your brand turn!

It might seem like an easy task, but even the great brands like Coca-Cola were endangered. Overflown with the Pepsi fever, the New Coke with the ‘improved’ formula was introduced to the public and no good came out of it. Just like Hamish cut his leg, Coca Cola cut that line of production. Today, with around 1 billion bottles sold every day, it certainly earned the title of the most successful planetary brand.

The following infographic outlines the most common mistakes entrepreneurs make and by learning from their mistakes you might be able to create the antidote to prevent your brand from turning into a zombie. 🙂