B.R.A.N.D.™—The 5 Branding Problems Every Growth-Minded Company Must Solve (and How to Tackle Them)
- London : Los Angeles (LO:LA)
- Jun 3
- 3 min read

Your one-stop roadmap to diagnose and fix the issues that drive organizations to call in a branding partner.
The 15-Second Primer
B.R.A.N.D.™ is a memory aid for the five pain-points that clog growth pipelines:
B – Blending In (differentiation crisis)
R – Reputation Reset (out-of-date identity)
A – Alignment Gap (culture and touch points out of sync)
N – Navigating Growth (brand architecture chaos)
D – Digital Disarray (inconsistent UX across channels)
Master these, and you unlock margin, loyalty, and market share.
B — Stop Blending In
Symptom: Prospects can’t tell you from the next search result tab.
Why it matters: Brands perceived as “meaningfully different” command an average 13 % price premium. hbr.org
Three Fast Fixes
Value-Prop X-Ray – Reduce your promise to one sentence no rival can claim.
Semiotic Sweep – Audit colors, shapes, and icons; retire any “industry defaults.”
Proof Pyramid – Layer stats, testimonials, and awards so differentiation feels inevitable.
Metric to watch: Price realization (average selling price ÷ list price). Aim for a steady uptick post-repositioning.
R — Time for a Reputation Reset
Symptom: Your logo, palette, or voice feels dated—or worse, off-brand for a new market segment.
Why it matters: Most firms refresh every 7-10 years; delaying can erode relevance and equity.
Five-Phase Refresh Roadmap
Discovery Deep-Dive – Voice-of-Customer interviews + social listening.
Equity Audit – Identify assets you must protect (e.g., Tiffany Blue).
Story-First Stakeholder Buy-In – Explain why now before showing design.
Design Exploration – Prototype evolution vs. revolution vs. bolt-on.
Pilot & Pulse – Soft-launch in a low-risk channel, monitor sentiment, then roll out.
Budget tip: Split “strategy/creative” and “roll-out” across fiscal years to smooth cash flow.
A — Close the Alignment Gap
Symptom: Marketing says one thing, customer service another, culture a third.
Why it matters: Brands that maintain consistency see 10 – 20 % revenue lifts. marq.commarq.com
Five Two-Week Sprints to Align Everyone
Sprint | Outcome | Key Deliverable |
1 | Shared North Star | One-page purpose manifesto |
2 | Tone Masterclass | 30-min lunch-and-learn deck |
3 | Story Library | Internal hub of on-brand anecdotes |
4 | Asset Arsenal | Style guide and linked assets |
5 | Feedback Loop | Quarterly brand-health pulse survey |
Gamify adoption—offer “On-Brand Hero” badges for employees who catch and fix rogue assets.
N — Navigate Growth Without Brand Spaghetti
Symptom: M&A, new products, or global expansion create naming and hierarchy chaos.
Why it matters: McKinsey notes that smart brand integration “has disproportionate impact on protecting and creating value” in M&A deals. mckinsey.com
Three-Choice Decision Tree
Keep & Co-Pilot – Retain legacy names, add master-brand lockup.
Endorse – Master brand whispers (“Android by Google”).
Create New – When neither legacy name fits the future.
Rule of thumb: ≤ 12 characters, passes the radio test (spellable after hearing once), and clears trademark search before domain hunt.
D — Cure Digital Disarray
Symptom: Web, app, email, and social feel like cousins—related, not identical.
Why it matters: Presenting a brand consistently is linked to 23 % higher revenue. marq.com
The Four-Layer Blueprint
Audit Layer – Crawl every customer-facing page; tag off-brand elements.
System Layer – Tokenize colors, type, and spacing in a living design system.
Governance Layer – Define Creator → Editor → Approver workflow.
Optimisation Layer – Monthly CRO tests to prove consistency converts.
Quick wins: standardize CTA shape/text; embed style-guide link in every Canva kit; automate alt-text templates for accessibility and SEO.
Pulling It All Together
Issue | Core KPI | First 30-Day Action |
B – Blending In | Price realization | Rewrite homepage promise in one killer sentence |
R – Reputation Reset | Brand-equity score | Equity audit of visual/tonal assets |
A – Alignment Gap | Asset compliance rate | Launch Tone Masterclass |
N – Navigating Growth | Cannibalization rate | Map current vs. desired brand architecture |
D – Digital Disarray | Bounce rate & AOV | Crawl site for off-brand UI fragments |
The Take-Away
Brand problems rarely show up one at a time. If your brief touches two or more letters of B.R.A.N.D.™, you’re ready for end-to-end help, not a cosmetic tweak.
Next step: Request LO:LA’s free “B.R.A.N.D.™ Scorecard” to rank your current risk level and get an action plan you can start tomorrow.
Solve Blending In, nail your Reputation Reset, close the Alignment Gap, Navigate Growth with clarity, and end Digital Disarray—and watch your brand (and margins) rise.
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