Over the past few years, the word ‘mindfulness’ has been a trending term on our social media channels, in podcasts, celebrity interviews, and maybe even during our IRL (that’s ‘in real life,’ for the over-40 crowd) conversations. But what does it actually mean?
According to the Mayo Clinic, ‘mindfulness is a type of meditation in which you focus on being intensely aware of what you’re sensing and feeling in the moment, without interpretation or judgment.’
With that in mind (pun intended), I’d like to suggest something for my client-side marketer and brand manager friends: Practice Brand Mindfulness.
Be intensely aware of the moment your brand is experiencing. How it is being perceived, not when you built your brand guidelines, but right now? How does it need to evolve? Distance yourself from your own interpretation and see your brand through the eyes of your target audiences.
Now that’s not to suggest a rebrand every time something new comes along. The core attributes of your brand, if successful, should remain intact even as they evolve.
But there are moments that your brand must be ready to address. For example:
- A shift in the marketplace (technological, economic, environmental)
- The addition of a new portfolio segment
- A M&A event that brings new capabilities, leadership, partners, and customers into the fold
- Pursuit of clients in a new vertical
- A hit to your company’s reputation (deserved or undeserved)
Brand mindfulness means paying attention to what’s going on around you. It means making sure your brand is actually communicating the right message to the right people, instead of making assumptions (interpretation or judgment) based on your own biases. Nobody knows your brand better than you, but that insider knowledge can also produce blind spots.
Brand mindfulness will give you the tools and the awareness you need in order to tweak, pivot, shift, and nuance what it is you’re saying when you’re saying it.
Give it a thought. Be mindful as your brand evolves.