While your brand architecture should define the essence of what your brand is about, leveraging that essence into positioning should evolve with the marketplace and customer.  The Covid 19 Pandemic was a perfect case example of the need to stay relevant to the marketplace.

Within a few weeks of the pandemic shutdowns, we saw brands take action to position themselves as helpers and supporters of consumers’ new reality.  Allstate proactively announced they’d refund a portion of auto insurance premiums since consumers weren’t driving as much with their “shelter-in-place payback”.  Even when times are tough, you’re in good hands with Allstate.   Delta Airlines modified their “Keep climbing” tagline to reflect their all-encompassing business shift and hope for a better future for travel:  “Keep climbing, together”.

Whether a big change like a pandemic, or a smaller change like a new competitor coming into your market, it’s worth stepping back to reassess your positioning to ensure it still as strong as it can be for your customer’s current reality.