While researching powerful brand attributes, I found a compelling post by Joyce Chan about when a brand is worth saving and how to tell so.

Joyce suggests asking five questions during this evaluation.  The three I found most meaningful were:

1. Can the brand‘s value proposition be redefined? One approach is to take a brand focused on a functional benefit and then redefine it around an emotional benefit. Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty” did this perfectly.
2. Is the brand on trend? If not, companies are often better off acquiring or creating a new brand to tap into the trend. Pepsi re-launched Sierra Mist Natural as a caffeine-free and all-natural formulation sweetened with real cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. The brand had double-digit growth in its first six months.
3. Is it a strategically useful brand for developing the company’s core competencies? Brands that signify broader opportunities that a company wants to take full advantage of across the portfolio can help build internal capabilities. For Procter & Gamble, Oil of Olay was a key leverage point in gaining a more robust market position in health and beauty.

When and how do you think about saving brands that might be in your portfolio?