Imagine your brand is an individual – a real-life human being with all the quirks and foibles which give us character. Just as with humans, brands can be ‘healthy’ or – alternatively – ‘unhealthy’. Brands have traits which others may like or dislike about them.
Brands have to contend with some individuals being aware of them as well as some individuals not having a cooking clue who they are or what they do. Brands are likely to serve a purpose, contribute to the broader society, and take a stand on things which matter (when it makes sense for them to).
This might seem like a lot to ask of something which isn’t really a human, however it’s increasingly what people expect – particularly from smaller, less-established brands which are competing with the ‘big dogs’. Lots of small things make up your overall brand health, and in a relentlessly competitive market, a healthy brand can be the ultimate difference between sinking or swimming.
What Is Brand Health?
Brand health is the way in which a company or brand delivers on its promises to its customers. The more pleased customers are with the product or service, the better the brand’s health. In short, the closer that a customer experience is to the brand promise, the healthier the brand is. A healthy brand is a strong brand.
While you are able to measure your company’s financial success making use of sales figures, measuring your brand health requires a different set of metrics so that you are able to understand:
- What individuals think of your brand (brand perception)
- How impressive your brand is (brand recall)
- How individuals interact with your brand (brand attributes), and
- How people buy and utilise your brand (brand purchase).
Brand tracking is essential in order to:
- Monitor the global health of your brand,
- Understand the way that your brand performs for your target audience,
- Inform where to direct your marketing strategy as well as budget,
- Flag up any negative trends and address them at once,
- Benchmark against the competition,
- Assess the effectiveness of your advertising,
- Identify your brand advocates, and
- Achieve brand equity/
When you plan a brand strategy, brand tracking should be built in right at the beginning. It’s how you measure results.
