Budgets are thus rolled over or cut more or less arbitrarily, activities are maintained “because we’ve always done it that way,” and others are stopped because they haven’t (yet) yielded obvious success. We believe that efficient, customer-information-based management of brand touchpoints is possible, and we have developed a method that allows companies to identify the most important touchpoints for their brand, optimally manage activities at these touchpoints for the customer, and thus achieve better results at lower costs.

In difficult times, savings must be made, preferably where they are not immediately felt. Activities and budgets related to the brand are particularly threatened by cuts in many companies. Investments in a brand usually only show their effect after some time – therefore, cost savings here are tempting. However, brands that are successful in the long term are characterized by one thing in particular: continuity. Strong brands repeatedly promise the same thing and deliver on it. A break in this continuity may save costs today, but in the future, it may require renewed investments in the brand that significantly exceed today’s savings. Brands that are not true to themselves and visibly cut back on the quality of their external presence risk confusing their customers and, sooner or later, even losing them. If a brand compromises – be it in the quality of products, advertising presence, service, or the design of other touchpoints – it plays with the trust placed in it by customers. They may not turn away immediately, but they will notice the subtle differences – especially if the activities are no longer consistent with what they have learned about the brand so far. For example, how credibly can a quality brand assert its high quality if it simultaneously engages in price wars with low-cost providers and noticeably neglects the furnishings and atmosphere in its sales areas?

Continuity makes brands credible. But what do customers actually believe in? Customers buy security with a brand: security that they will get what they are used to from the brand. They trust in the quality, are loyal due to positive experiences, and can assert in their social environment that they have not made an unwise decision. In uncertain times, these aspects become even more important. Customers pay even more attention to making intelligent purchasing decisions that involve as little risk as possible. Brands that remain true to their strategy and quality promise have a decisive competitive advantage over competitors who arbitrarily change their brand strategy. However, the topic of brand is not only about customers but also about the impression made on other stakeholders. For example, what impression does it leave on employees if, after years of service orientation, service quality suddenly becomes less important and a particularly large number of jobs are cut in precisely this business area? These employees will no longer be able to represent the brand with full conviction, will report negatively to their colleagues, and thus diminish the company’s attractiveness as an employer in the long term. For brands that remain true to themselves, there are more opportunities than dangers. However, one must also be able to afford continuity – and we do not claim that there is nothing to save in brand management. Above all, it is about not making hasty, ill-considered, or blanket savings, but rather rethinking how efficient individual activities in the market presence are and what contribution they make to the brand’s value.

Our touchpoint analysis is a customized mix of methods for identifying and evaluating brand touchpoints. The results of the touchpoint analysis provide clear indications of which activities companies can save on without risking harm to the brand.

We consider “touchpoints” to be all possible opportunities or situations in which customers and other market partners come into contact with the brand and experience the brand. These are not always concrete locations, such as sales premises or events. It can just as easily be the neighbor demonstratively blocking the driveway with his new BMW or a product placement in the latest movie. As these examples show, touchpoints are only partially controllable by the company. Brand contacts arise from the subjective experience of customers and market partners.

The list of possible touchpoints can be very long. Depending on the industry, brand, or customer segment, however, touchpoints have different meanings and thus different influences on brand perception. Newspaper advertisements can be central touchpoints for a real estate agent, while for an industrial goods company, for example, trade fair appearances are important, and advertisements may only represent “background noise.”

Even from this step of the touchpoint analysis, immediate measures for increasing efficiency can be derived. Have you previously invested too much money in less important touchpoints for your brand and neglected more important ones? This question can already be answered after the first steps of the touchpoint analysis. However, the identified, important touchpoints deserve an even more detailed consideration regarding the quality of the implementation of brand-relevant content or the quality of the impression created at touchpoints that are beyond control. For a brand that is primarily experienced through personal interaction with employees at the POS, it certainly makes sense to regularly evaluate the quality of these experiences – for example, through mystery shopping or post-purchase customer surveys. This allows inconsistent or undesirable brand experiences to be identified, and targeted countermeasures become possible.

Companies that address these three questions are able to effectively concentrate their resources on the most important touchpoints. The importance of a brand touchpoint is no longer determined by the size of the budget, but by the impact of activities on the perception of customers and stakeholders. With an overarching view of all relevant touchpoints, differences can be identified, priorities set, and investments strategically planned.