Getting Unstuck

THE ROGUE REPORT Photo by Joao Tzanno on Unsplash Getting unstuck “The one thing I can say is that we will not be trapped in the middle . We will not be stuck in no-man’s land.” When Masai Ujiri first joined the Raptors in 2013 the team was coming off a season that saw them finish 10th in the eastern conference. Leaving them out of the playoffs and with a losing record for the fifth year in a row. Since that time, under Ujiri’s guidance, the team has made the playoffs every year and, well this year, they just happened to make history with Canada’s first NBA championship. What can brands learn from Ujiri and the Raptors about getting unstuck? RUN AN HONEST BRAND ASSESSMENT What does this mean for your brand? Among the first moves that Ujiri made was to get Run regular brand assessments. These should rid of players that did not fit in with his vision of a take into consideration external and internal team. Players who in certain situations could be realities and factors. Is everything contributing considered a toxic influence on the team culture. to the overarching brand? Maybe it’s time to I won’t name names here, but a quick web search eliminate under performing lines or those that will reveal who I am referring to. Ujiri was able you believe will not contribute to your vision of to take an unemotional look at the roster he had the future. Ford took the latter route with the inherited in order to make a lucid talent and fit 2018 announcement that they would be cutting assessment. Taurus, Fusion, Fiesta and Focus brands, among others. This is a bold move considering that the Focus was the world’s best selling car as recently as 2013. But difficult times in the automobile industry call for difficult measures. “We’re going to feed the healthy parts of our business and deal decisively withthe areas that destroy value,” Hackett said. “It’s been easy to identify what’s wrong and what we need to do about it. The hand-wringing maybe that has been around in our business is gone. We’re starting to understand what we need to do and making clear decisions there.” MAKE HARD MOVES – ONES THAT OTHERS Casey, the reigning NBA coach of the year, and DON’T HAVE THE GUTS FOR replaced him with rookie coach, Nick Nurse. Two The Raptors were not the only team in the running key moves that were incredibly risky, took a lot of when the San Antonio Spurs made Kawhi guts to pull off, but paid off incredibly in the end. available on the trade market. The Boston Celtics were rumored to be among those considering What does this mean for your brand? trade packages. What the Celtics could not handle As the saying goes when others zig, you zag. was the risk that Kawhi would join the team and Look at your brand’s category. Consider the not resign once his contract expired and that he existing conventions and identify the ones that would become a free agent (meaning he could your brand is well positioned to break. move to any team without his former team For example, the traditional colours in the milk receiving any form of compensation in return). category were blue and white. In Quebec, Natrel The Raptors were facing this same risk but flipped these conventions on their head and decided to trade DeMar DeRozan for Kawhi. introduced predominantly black milk cartons DeRozan was not only one of the team’s stars successfully jolting the category and injecting but was a fan favourite. The team was just not new life into the brand. getting over the playoff hump under his guidance. And if you want another example of guts, consider that the Raptors fired Dwayne IGNORE THE EXPERTS (WELL, AT LEAST SOMETIMES) If you had told some of the top NBA talent scouts What does this mean for your brand? that the Raptors would get invaluable playoff Sometimes to make proper decisions with respect contributions from Fred VanVleet they would have to your brand and sources of growth you need to probably rolled their eyes at you if not straight out separate the signal from the noise. That is, what laughed. After all, Vanvleet was not even selected information can you truly rely on, and what other at the annual NBA talent draft. The Raptors trusted information is taken out of context? If Red Bull had in Vanvleet and in their ability to nurture and grow relied on the data from the initial taste tests for talent. And without VanVleet’s shooting and its eponymous energy drink, it would have never defence, the Raptors-Warriors series may have seen the light of day. But stakeholders knew that needed a game 7 and you never know what can the branding of the drink would play a powerful happen in a do-or-die game. role in its adoption and the brand’s promise of energy on the go would overcome any negative taste perceptions – and in some cases would even lend more credence to the brand itself. CREATE YOUR OWN NARRATIVE What does this mean for your brand? Before they truly became Canada’s team with When building campaigns and brand platforms their recent championship run, the Raptors had don’t be afraid to look beyond your core customers. the foresight to create an incredible rallying cry. Think big and consider how your brand could What was truly great about the campaign was appeal to, or even motivate, a wider audience. the pride it instilled not only for fans within the Apple’s Think Different campaign, launched in city core but for those in the Greater Toronto 1997, is a great example in that it made people Area and beyond. Since then “We the North” look at Macs through a more creative lens. Even has become a source of national pride with today, 21 years after it first aired, the aura of Think Justin Trudeau, Canada’s Prime Minister, using it Different has stuck to the Apple brand. in a tweet shortly after the Raptors won game 6 And yes, both Think Different and We the North are and the championship. considered to be grammatically incorrect – perhaps lending to their memorability. A great brand doesn’t happen by accident. It must continually evolve. Regular and honest brand assessments can help you identify new spots for growth and places that are weighing the brand down. Not every move you make will be the right one, but with enough smarts and a lot of guts, you can position your brand in order to provide it with the potential to carve out a lasting place in the world. — The Rogue380 Team.

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