Now that the recession is officially over and World Cup-fertilized green shoots of recovery are starting to make 2010 look a whole lot brighter than the horror show of 2009, it’s time to ask yourself a very important questions: is your brand optimally positioned to take advantage of the opportunities that lie ahead?

A Machete Brand Audit can help cut away the dead wood of old ideas and outdated imagery that can inhibit new growth. Our customised analysis includes the following five essential checkpoints:

1. Your vision and values: are they still appropriate after the downturn and in the age of global warming? Are they understood, embraced and internalised by your staff? Do they underpin your corporate culture? If not, your business may be limping along without one of your brand’s most powerful forces.

2. Your target market: how precisely have you defined your customer base? Has it shifted over time, as demographics and economic circumstances change? Have its key drivers been fundamentally altered by the recession? By the energy crisis? By the World Cup influx?

3. Your brand: is it still graphically relevant to your primary market? Does it need an evolutionary tweak or a fundamental make-over to ensure it not only expresses your brand promise but cuts through the clutter to make that all-important emotional connection with your customers.

4. Your communication strategy: are you reaching the core of your market in the most efficient way? Have you considered the possible effect of an email or mobile marketing campaign? Have you looked at harnessing the power of the social media such as Facebook and Twitter?

5. Your website: is it up to date? Does it reflect your vision and values? Is it giving your customers valuable information or an enjoyable extension of your brand experience? Is it sticky enough to bring visitors back on a regular basis? Is it collecting a database of users for you to dialogue with via email or SMS marketing?

For more information about a customised Machete Brand Audit, click here.