Normally in the early stages of any project, we look to uncover the connections that form the experience for a customer, user, partner, or employee because it is usually these that create or reinforce perceptions. Tackling one problem at a time may have unintended consequences or miss out on vital details.
It works by removing layer after layer, in order to uncover the systems that contribute to how things are being perceived and what it is that the audience needs to know and want to hear and feel.
As such, it’s useful to break down the factors that have contributed towards the current situation. You analyse the relationships between the elements and consider, through research and stakeholder participation, how solutions can impact communities.
This interrogation of interconnected elements and relationships actively seeks out the voices of those impacted at every stage of a brand’s journey.
The model encourages exploration, analysis, and evidence-based decision-making while mitigating negative consequence, and potential conflict.
Start by building a cross-functional team for the exercise. This helps create a better understanding of others’ perspectives. Encourage open communication by creating a safe environment. Next, ensure that individuals and departments are aligning goals to discourage competition. Finally, celebrate success together as a team rather than individually.
Visualising the complex nature of the parts is a helpful exercise. There are various online tools but a pen, paper and post-its will often suffice.
Begin by listing all stakeholders – whether they be groups, organisations, and individuals that interact with your brand. These could be customers, partners, suppliers, shareholders, competitors, regulators, employees, and other relevant groups.
Next, list the factors relevant to your brand and business. Categorise these factors as follows:
Information: This includes market research, media coverage, customer feedback and internal communications.
Resources: This covers the key areas of the business’s operation from finance the business activities; human resources; production and supply chain and infrastructure.
Influence: This looks at how you manage the external brand reputation with all stakeholders. Could you leverage partner and strategic alliances? How important is advocacy and influence?
Impacts: You will need to consider environmental and social impact in how the brand contributes to the wellbeing of society. How is the brand shaped by cultural trends and values? How does the brand have to meet regulatory and compliance requirements?
Once you have that, you are looking to create the visual map. Start by placing your brand logo in the centre, surrounded by the stakeholders. Outside of that, place the key factors. From there, you will draw arrows to show the flow of information, resources, influence, or impacts.
Consider how each stakeholder interacts with the other and with your brand. Identify conflicts and synergies and seek opportunities for collaboration, patterns, and recurring themes. Identify those stakeholders that have the most significant impact on your brand.
Pinpoint areas where strategic interventions can yield the most significant impact. Called leverage points, these are the places where slight adjustments can create ripple effects that unlock new growth opportunities, improve efficiency, and strengthen your brand’s resilience. These include:
Bottlenecks in areas like information flow, decision making, or resource allocation.
Individuals or groups that have a disproportionate influence
Feedback loops and how they flow within your ecosystem.
Constantly test and iterate with these leverage points to see how minor changes can impact the system.
Developing a balanced scorecard will provide a greater view as to the long-term health of your brand. Tracking leading indicators (customer sentiment, brand awareness etc) and lagging indicators (revenue, market share etc). Also look at metrics such as customer lifetime value, net promoter score, social impact scores, innovation rate, and ecosystem health index.
Use this evidence base as your decision support tool and regularly evaluate progress and adapt accordingly.
In conclusion, while complex or wicked problems don’t always require complicated solutions or explanations. the traditional model of branding is becoming increasingly obsolete. Consumers demand authenticity and transparency and purpose combined with more sophisticated and personalised interactions and more experiential marketing.
