The platform
Your whole business, connected to your brand.
BrandCortex runs your whole business with your brand at the center, from your suppliers to your customers, every part connected both ways.
Connected both ways
Your brand runs through the whole chain.
Behind you are your suppliers, purchasing, stock, trade and partners. In front of you are your pricing, sales, channels, franchise, customers and after-sale care.
A decision at one end reaches the other. A supplier change can reach a customer’s plate. A bad review can reach your bank. BrandCortex reads the chain in both directions, so you can see where a problem started and where it will land.
Behind you
Suppliers
Purchasing
Stock
Trade
Partners
← Both ways →
Your brand
In front of you
Pricing
Sales
Channels
Franchise
Customers
After-sale
01 · Money
Money
The problem
Cash is tight and you’re not sure what to cut first.
BrandCortex looks at where your cash goes, and which cuts your customers would feel.
Both ways
A cut that slows service shows up in reviews, then in your brand. A brand people trust can hold its prices and win better terms.
When this goes wrong
Toys “R” Us
A 2005 buyout left Toys “R” Us with about $5 billion of debt and around $400 million a year in interest. It filed for bankruptcy in September 2017. By March 2018 it was preparing to close its U.S. business.
02 · Pricing
Pricing
The problem
You need to raise prices without losing customers.
BrandCortex looks at what your customers believe they are paying for, and where your prices sit in your market.
Both ways
A price change tells customers what you think of them. A clear brand gives you room to charge for what you do well.
When this goes wrong
J.C. Penney
In 2012 J.C. Penney dropped most of its sales and coupons for a new everyday-price plan. Same-store sales fell about 25% that year. The company brought weekly sales back in 2013.
03 · Sales
Sales
The problem
Sales go up and down, and you can’t see why.
BrandCortex looks at where your sales come from, how targets are set, and what customers say after they buy.
Both ways
How you sell is part of what you sell. A pushy target can win the month and lose the customer.
When this goes wrong
Wells Fargo
In September 2016 regulators fined Wells Fargo $185 million. Staff chasing aggressive sales goals had opened more than 2 million accounts customers may not have authorized. The bank had fired about 5,300 employees.
04 · Marketing
Marketing
The problem
You’re paying for ads and can’t tell which ones work.
BrandCortex looks at what each channel brings in, and whether your message matches what the business delivers.
Both ways
Every ad makes a promise the rest of the business has to keep. When the business can’t keep it, the ad money is lost twice.
When this goes wrong
Quibi
Quibi raised $1.75 billion and launched in April 2020. In October 2020, about six months later, it announced it was shutting down after failing to find enough customers.
05 · Product
Product
The problem
People try it once and don’t come back.
BrandCortex looks at what people expected, what they got, and what changed along the way, from suppliers and ingredients to reviews and returns.
Both ways
Your product is the part of your brand people actually hold. A small change in what goes in can change what people say.
When this goes wrong
Juicero
Juicero’s connected juice press launched at $700, then dropped to $400. In April 2017 Bloomberg showed its juice packs could be squeezed by hand with almost the same result. The company stopped sales on 1 September 2017.
06 · Customers
Customers
The problem
Good customers are drifting to a competitor.
BrandCortex looks at who leaves, when they leave, and which rules, fees or delays push them out.
Both ways
Every fee and every policy is a message. Customers who feel treated well come back, and they tell people.
When this goes wrong
Blockbuster
In 2000 Blockbuster collected about $800 million in late fees, and Netflix won early customers by charging none. That year Blockbuster turned down a chance to buy Netflix for $50 million. It filed for bankruptcy in September 2010.
07 · Supply
Supply
The problem
Late or uneven supply keeps letting customers down.
BrandCortex looks at your suppliers, purchasing, stock and deliveries, and at the point where a supply problem reaches the customer.
Both ways
An empty shelf is a broken promise. A trusted brand can also win better terms from suppliers and partners.
When this goes wrong
Target Canada
Target opened in Canada in March 2013. Distribution problems left shelves empty, and prices were higher than shoppers expected. In January 2015 it closed all 133 stores, cutting about 17,600 jobs, with a $5.4 billion pre-tax loss.
08 · Safety
Safety
The problem
One bad batch could undo years of trust.
BrandCortex looks at your checks, your records, and how fast you could act if something went wrong.
Both ways
Safety is a promise customers never see until it breaks. When it breaks, it is the only thing they see.
When this goes wrong
Peanut Corporation of America
Salmonella traced to Peanut Corporation of America’s plants was linked to 714 illnesses and may have contributed to nine deaths. It set off one of the largest food recalls in U.S. history. The company filed for liquidation on 13 February 2009.
09 · Legal and governance
Legal and governance
The problem
Rules and records feel like an afterthought.
BrandCortex looks at your records, approvals and sign-offs, and where a gap could turn into a public problem.
Both ways
Good records protect your name when someone asks hard questions. A gap in them can do more harm than the first mistake.
When this goes wrong
Arthur Andersen
In 2002 Arthur Andersen was convicted of obstruction of justice over destroyed Enron documents. It gave up its right to audit public companies, and most of its 85,000 jobs went. The Supreme Court overturned the conviction in 2005, too late to save the firm.
10 · Security
Security
The problem
You’re not sure your data would survive an attack.
BrandCortex looks at where your customer and business data lives, who can reach it, and whether your backups would really bring you back.
Both ways
Customers trust you with their details. Losing them costs you more than the data.
When this goes wrong
Code Spaces
In June 2014 an attacker got into code-hosting firm Code Spaces’ cloud account and deleted most of its data and backups. Within a day the company said it could no longer operate and shut down.
11 · Strategy
Strategy
The problem
Your market is changing and you don’t know how fast to move.
BrandCortex looks at what is shifting in your market, and which parts of your business are most exposed to it.
Both ways
What your brand stands for can show you where to go next. It can also hold you in place too long.
When this goes wrong
Kodak
A Kodak engineer built the first digital camera in 1975. Kodak worried about hurting its film business, and digital photography it had invented went on to wipe that business out. Kodak filed for bankruptcy in January 2012.
12 · PR
PR
The problem
One bad story could become the only story.
BrandCortex looks at what people say about you, the gap between what you say and what customers live through, and how you would answer on a bad day.
Both ways
A bad story spreads fastest when it confirms what people already felt. Close that gap, and the story has less to hold on to.
13 · Data and AI
Data and AI
The problem
You’re making big calls on numbers you can’t check.
BrandCortex looks at where your numbers come from, which ones you can trust, and where the gaps are. That includes any AI tools you use to decide.
Both ways
A wrong number can set a wrong price, a wrong order and a wrong promise. We show which numbers are sourced and which are not.
When this goes wrong
Zillow Offers
Zillow used its pricing model to buy and resell homes. In November 2021 it said the model couldn’t forecast prices well enough, wrote down about $304 million, closed Zillow Offers and cut about 25% of its staff.
BrandCortex has no connection with the companies named. Sources are linked in each box.
Solutions
The same system, for people, causes, places and campaigns.
Personal brands
PresenceCortex
For founders, experts and professionals whose name is the business.
Causes
CauseCortex
For nonprofits and charities that live on donor trust.
Cities and towns
CivitasCortex
For places competing for residents, visitors and investment.
Campaigns
MandateCortex
For campaigns and public offices. We name no parties or candidates.
Arcuate
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Arcuate is BrandCortex’s AI. It works only from sourced evidence. Every number it gives is calculated, not guessed, and every answer is checked before you see it.
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