It isn't a red-headed stepchild...

So you have a brand already, but it's in need of updating right? I mean what's old is, well... old. Perhaps it doesn't feel like it's really a relevant brand any more, perhaps it simply doesn't seem to have moved in the directions you feel it should...

This doesn't always happen from neglect—though that's probably the most likely reason. It doesn't have to be a red-headed step-child issue....


From the Urban Dictionary:

With red hair being rare, a child born to non red headed parents was often assumed to be the child of an affair. Thus was treated badly, usually in the form of beatings.

No, sometimes a brand will get "old" because the culture around it will change. Or sometimes the ambassadors of a brand want it to change....

Of the two, the only thing that should dictate your brand changing is the relevance to the culture it interacts with. Personal preference isn't always relevant. HELLO?? Did you actually hear that? What you prefer may not matter to the larger culture that the brand lives in!

That said, it usually happens that personal preference will begin to change as the culture has significantly changed around a brand, thereby causing pressure on the individuals maintaining the brand to update.

Sometimes that pressure is blatant but sometimes the pressure is subtle and takes place as a by-product of cultural shift.

So how does a company or organization or individual shift their brand?  Let's take the topic of diversity. It's not new but it's not old either... It may be that your business has yet to really deal with this topic.

For those of you who have yet to deal with this, I will try to put some ideas out here for you to start thinking about. I'm sure it's not exhaustive enough and I'm sure you're own situation will have some hurdles that I can't know BUT ignoring it won't help. It's NOT a red-headed stepchild.

Okay, here we go....

You want a corporate culture that is diverse. On the surface that seems easy enough. So you start committees and meetings and work at your policies to make the environment ready for "diversity."
 

POW!  

You're ready right?

Not exactly.

The reality is, that unless your staff reflects diversity you aren't diverse. Sure, but you have to create the environment to get the staff right? Yes, but it's not all that simple...

First, you must prepare the culture of your business/org/company. To prepare the culture, you must begin a marketing campaign internally that shifts your brand. Let's say that your an all white, predominately male business. Having discussions at the leadership level are important but moving those discussions into the realm of the "common folk" in a progressive manner is necessary.

Additionally, only employing or recruiting positions within your corporate structure that don't reflect diversity at leadership levels is not being diverse. Let's call it for what it isn't—it's not diversity.

Likewise, appointing someone to a leadership level simply because they are female or from another race, and not based on their actual training and skills will be immediately seen as a token hire. A lie.

You must be willing to change at every level, for the right reasons, and make progressive attempts to do so from within, marketing to yourselves and employing divserity at every level.

I feel pretty confident in saying that by the time you are ACTUALLY diverse, talking about diversity won't be a topic. It will just be.

It's a bit of a catch-22 to be sure but it can and must be done. Brands change. Brands should. They need to be consistent in their message and when changing the need to shift subtley. Don't do the Gap thing....