Hershey’s Chocolate World, Hershey, PA
The world keeps changing. To grow a sustainable profitable brand, requires the flexibility of adapting to change and adding new products or services. Products and services can change over time as long as they compliment the core company focus that benefits customers – your pivot point or brand promise.
In basketball, a pivot point is when a player keeps one foot in place so they can move around freely in a complete circle. The ball must be out of the player’s hand before the pivot foot is raised off the floor or they will be penalized.
When a company has a core focus that benefits customers, your pivot point, which allows for growth in a number of new directions and does not weaken the brand or have brand drift. The penalty for brand drift in a company is that it starts a business decline resulting in lower future sales and profits. Finding your pivot point is critical to a company’s long term sustainable success.
Example: The pivot point or brand promise for a “convenience” store that sells food, products and fuel is “convenience”. People are willing to pay a slightly higher price because they can get in and out fast or they can bundle buying one product with another i.e. gas and a soda or snack. So when a convenience store looks at a new product or service, they need to look at convenience, demand for the product or service, profitability and speed of delivery.
The picture above is a promotional display that showcases a new Hershey’s Product – a new version of the popular original Hershey Kiss.
Is there a new product or service you can introduce to grow your brand? It can be totally new or a variation of an existing product or service. Remember to stay true to your brand pivot point or brand promise.
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Gary Heisey – Founder and Brand Strategist with Brand Door
