UK BLOG – GARY WEBB, UK COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING DIRECTOR

How ‘brand equity’ helps organisations weather the COVID-19 storm

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Building your brand is not just about the brand image. It is so much more integral to the success of a business, especially during the events that have unfolded over the last year. 

The importance of brand protection and equity building, and the pressure on businesses to define their brand and purpose, has never been greater than during the COVID-19 pandemic.

        brand equity

        noun

        the commercial value that derives from consumer perception of the brand
        name of a particular product or service, rather than from the product or
        service itself

How did your business react to the pandemic?

Those brands that have weathered the pandemic storm the best have a unique understanding of their marketplace and have innovatively adapted products and services to meet the changing needs. 

The best brands have also communicated reliability and the reassurance to customers at a time when they felt the world was falling apart. That is important for both business retention and, moving out of this global pandemic, the winning of new business.

Don’t believe me? If you look through the multitude of reports from this and previous more regionalised epidemics and disasters, the research shows that those with the strongest brand equity are more inclined to recover the quickest. Take a look at this report from Ipsos.

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PEOPLE MAKE PLACES AND PLACES MAKE PEOPLE

New rules post-pandemic

Analysis from Accenture (see note 1) suggests business leaders are concentrating their attention on four themes. One of the key themes is brand and applying new brand rules post-pandemic. The report suggested that relevant brands are rooted in human purpose and that a brand’s purpose will only be relevant if it sits within someone’s own purpose. So, the change in the ISS brand strapline – People Make Places, and Places Make People – has great relevance in the facilities management of the future.  The pandemic has shown that if you are not sure what direction your company needs to take, look to your customers and employees for inspiration. 

Will client and employee experience still dominate brand post-pandemic?

The short answer to that is yes. The pandemic has given companies a unique insight into employees. Who stepped up? Those employees that threw themselves into delivering so much more than was expected to clients during the pandemic created great gains for brand equity.

Businesses often make promises to clients and on the whole deliver on them. But empowered employees went more than the extra mile – in some cases probably five miles more – to ensure they delivered during sometimes impossible times.

Example: Clatterbridge Cancer Centre

At Clatterbridge Cancer Centre an ISS team took an eight-week mobilisation down to just three weeks to protect vulnerable cancer patients.

Watch their remarkable story here.

Clients can be blown away with this added value and will hold your brand in higher regard.

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POST-COVID BRANDS

How can brands differentiate in a mature FM marketplace post-COVID?

Brands that will emerge from COVID on top will undoubtedly be those that have a strong connection to their roots but can differentiate themselves from the competition through innovation, making their brand unique.

In FM, creating attractive places to work and collaborate post-COVID will be the key. Sure, ensuring a place is safe from COVID through effective cleaning and management is fundamental, but the workplace of the future – where there may be a mix of home and office working – will require a shift in thinking. Use of space that encourages employees to truly collaborate, think and give will ensure a greater return per square foot, and that is important to the bottom line.

i-FM Brands Survey 2020

ISS was voted top UK FM service provider brand in the November 2020 i-FM Brand Report for the fourth consecutive time.

 

NOTE 1: Click here for Accenture Analysis Report