British Petroleum’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is an example of how a strong company brand can be destroyed instantly. It’s costing the company a heap in terms of human resources and dollars to salvage their brand. We can all learn from BP’s misfortune by not losing control of our company brand.

It’s a good idea to periodically refresh employees as to what your mission is and how your brand is defined. Is service or price number one?  How about integrity or quality? There are no “right answers” but everyone needs to understand and effectively communicate the company’s differentiators and core strengths. Those key messages have to be consistent in all forms of communication, marketing and social media.

The brand’s content needs to be consistent with how it visually appeals to its customers. West End is a good example of how a brand can totally remake the image of a company by fine tuning it’s product line.  But this can not be done on a whim. You need to understand the needs of  your current and potential customers. The trick is not alienating current customers in the process of trying to expand. Check out Fuel Your Branding for more on the visual aspects of branding.

Brands can emulate a rollercoaster ride. Take Apple as an example. They release the new iPhone 4; brand value goes way up. But the phones are difficult to order due to technical glitches; brand value goes down.  Then they are unable to fulfill the large quantity of orders; brand value goes down further.  Unfortunately, these setbacks happen, but how you handle these situations can positively or adversely affect your brand. Apple addressed the iPhone 4 delays head on with an apology and explanation (they were totally unprepared for the volume because it was way more than previous iPhones); brand value goes back up. Then there is the problem with the antenna; brand goes back down. The goal is to not have these types of hiccups, but life is unpredictable and therefore all companies need to be prepared to handle these bumps in the road effectively.

Maintaining a brand is more than having a pretty new logo every year. It’s about knowing what your brand is and communicating that both internally and externally. It’s vital to avoid actions which degrade your brand and when necessary, doing damage control. Remember, it takes years to create a positive brand, but one wrong move and it can be destroyed overnight.