We hear from lots of aerospace and defense professionals who think they have a branding problem or who tell us they want to “take their brand to the next level.”

Quite often they are thinking about their brand in visual terms, and it’s true that design is a critical element of any great brand. But there’s so much more to consider when evaluating the strength of your brand.

Now, as we continue our month-long series about aerospace industry branding, it’s time to take stock.

Before we launch into detailed recommendations about repairing or rebuilding your brand, let’s consider if you do in fact have a brand problem.

Start by taking this quick 10-question assessment as a first step in the process. Each “yes” answer is a red flag; and multiple yeses are a strong indication that your brand is in trouble and further action is required.

10 Red Flags

Weak brands share many or all of these characteristics.

1. Do you consistently compete on price?
2. Does your business lack a clear focus and do you try to be everything to everyone?
3. Are you unable to articulate a true value proposition — something customers care about that distinguishes you from everyone else?
4. Does your brand architecture create confusion?  Confusing brands have too many individual product names or sub-brands, and multiple logos, taglines and messages.
5. Does your CEO fail to actively support or champion branding?
6. No single person owns the brand internally, standards don’t exist or are not followed.
7. Is your market, your business or your business strategy undergoing significant change?
8. Does your company suffer from the “me too” syndrome, where nothing looks or sounds unique? And does your leadership wants you to fit in and fall in line with what others are doing and saying?
9. Are you in a crowded market space and not growing?
10. Is your messaging company-centric and not customer-centric?

If you’d like to dig deeper and start seriously assessing your brand, this Lippincott resource is a great place to start.

Want to see a ranking of the 25 most valuable brands in aerospace? A few of them just might surprise you.

Up Next: Find out how to build or rebuild your aerospace industry brand. We’ll walk you through the process one step at a time.