Four Ways To Unexpectedly Pivot Your Brand Into A Better One

Branding has a lot to do with timing and angles. If everyone decides to shift course and do the exact same thing, then that no longer becomes unique. It’s probably why some people feel AI fatigue in conversation or in print right now. What makes it fun though, is there is no set path. You can be an introvert or an extrovert. You can be bold, daring, vulnerable, well researched and more. Your imagination may be your one limit.

One skill that is universal when it comes to branding is being able to pivot. We often assume a pivot is away from an obstacle but it’s just as easily a shift toward an opportunity.

Good Ideas Never Die, They Simply Hibernate

When Peter Shankman sold the ad supported PR email Help a Reporter Out (HARO) in 2010 that seemed like the end of the story. Shankman went on to multiple bestselling books, consulting with huge brands on neurodiversity and becoming a regular contributor for CNN.

Cision folded HARO earlier this year into a web based tool called Connectively. With the format changed it created a blank space where a dedicated PR email was once again possible. Shankman resisted at first claiming “you can’t go home again” in an interview with Allison Carter. But the idea still worked, the inquiries were overwhelming and in the first week it added 16,000 subscribers under the new name Help Every Reporter Out (HERO).

Not the end of the story though. This week, journalism software company Muck Rack also seized upon this opportunity, partnering with Shankman and HERO to integrate verified Muck Rack profiles into the email so people will know with 100% certainty that they are detailing with a real reporter and adding another layer of trust in the process.

None of this happens if Shankman isn’t willing to listen to what the audience wants or if Muck Rack founder Greg Galant isn’t also paying attention to the trend.

You Don’t Have To Be Beloved By All

Ninety-nine percent of creators are not making huge profits. They do not become MrBeast, Emma Chamberlain, The Paul Brothers, Charli D’Amelio and more with $20M+ earnings annually. But that almost impossible to attain standard should not be the goal.

Because content and story can serve a variety of purposes. In fact, more often than not, the content is just the means to grab and divert attention to a greater goal. If you’re in an industry that doesn’t have a lot of creators, that will stand out more. Samuel Leeds is in one of those industries. As an investor and property expert with a large following he knows that he needs to get people’s attention. He gets a lot of attention, often positive, sometimes negative. He seems to have a knack for knowing what will shock or surprise people and garner instant coverage. If you’re not shy as he isn’t and you’re comfortable ruffling a few feathers, you will get noticed. You don’t have to be for everyone – just the audience you’re looking to serve.

Be Willing To Leave The Party Early

You don’t see a lot of people give up a good and easy thing. It is hard to know, at the moment, if perseverance or pivoting is the right choice. Chelsea Krost became a well known content creator at 16 with a radio show “Teen Talk Live” and a personal brand as the go-to millennial mindset and marketing expert for teens who then become young adults appearing on GMA, The Today Show and working with Kotex, Intel, SoFi and more to help market to her generation.

In 2020 she had a top LinkedIn Learning course, business was great but she felt stuck and wondered if others did too. So she paused, assessed and went back to school to get her certification in (NLP) Neuro-Linguistic Programming & Hypnosis. It wasn’t easy to shed a career built over more than half of her life where she reached an apex. But there was a strong feeling that helping people transition out of fear, burnout, confusion, all things she experienced as well would be the better path.

She wasn’t wrong. She found a deeper way to connect with her audience that has also grown with her over two decades and now provides spiritual & clincial hypnosis to people helping them reach new heights in their career and life. It’s something that feels more rewarding and perfect for this moment in time. Plus there’s some trust built, as a guide, when you’re willing to pivot just as much.

Show Off Your Weaknesses

That will sound like counterintuitive advice but it’s true. Information is everywhere and readily available. There is no sense in trying to hide something or act bigger than you are. There’s a restaurant in Michigan that consistently gets recognized for being small, underrated, overlooked. Kitchen 67 has built a strong reputation and following for not pretending. This month the San Francisco Examiner named it a top restaurant without a Michelin star and previously The Huffington Post said they had one of the “best sandwiches to try before you die.”

The restaurant isn’t large, it is not downtown, it’s near a strip mall and that doesn’t matter one bit. It doesn’t advertise to be anything other than that. This is a true principle in food and otherwise that if you embrace your weaknesses someone will eventually see that as a strength.