How do you align communication and branding projects across platforms?

While these are great steps towards building a quintessential unified comms and branding strategy, what we need to remember is that not every communications professional is also a branding expert and vice versa. The same reason why in most companies there are two different teams. The collaboration between the two teams is key to a successful alignment.

As mentioned by others, having a clear cut strategic objective is of utmost importance. The key to aligning one’s messaging between various platforms is having a holistic approach. As marketeers, we can often operate in silos, cut off from or not caring about what is happening in other areas. To ensure a true cut through the marketing clutter, it’s essential we align our messaging from a macro perspective, ensuring all touch points are covered.

To align communication and branding across platforms effectively, one must start by first defining clear brand guidelines and messaging strategy; it should be in sync. Ensure that these guidelines are adaptable to various media platforms and formats. Establishing a task-based and calendared approach to scheduling and coordinating posts and actions across all channels will be very important. Review analytics in real time and do not be afraid to make tweaks as you go along the execution. Remember that consistency is the key and having a long-term approach will deliver dividends.

I think crafting a coherent strategy is key to success in today's very complex digital landscape. It's all about straying true to the defined objectives and campaign goals and tactics should be achievable, clearly understood and assigned. Ensuring that your execution is guided by the defined strategy and your tactics are aligned with brand's identity and values, will not only ensure authenticity but, will also deliver better results. Many organisations directly jumped to a bunch of tactics without spending enough time on defining a strategy i.e. where to play, how to win and why. Unless the strategy is well thought out, tactics will misfire.

A well-defined brand guideline proves invaluable when crafting a communication strategy that spans various platforms. Following that, it's crucial to establish clear objectives upfront, as without them, all your efforts may be in vain. Subsequently, pay careful attention to your content creation process, ensuring that it maintains a consistent tone and message across diverse channels such as social media, digital platforms, video, and outdoor advertising. Finally, it's vital to continuously monitor your campaign and make adjustments as frequently as needed to maximize its effectiveness.

Strategy comes to life after you get your consumer target understating and a powerful insight, based on the objective you are looking for as a company. This strategy can be an umbrella strategy but tactics will probably be different among platforms. You can even have different platforms according to your audience. If they are Gen Z probably TikTok is a good way to impact them and you will have to adapt your content line for this channel but with the strategy you have built. This will help you to be coherent in terms of tone and voice and faithful to your goals and objectives.

Crafting content and design that aligns with your strategy, tactics, and brand guidelines is crucial. Tailoring it to each platform's unique features and requirements ensures maximum impact. For instance, the corporate website can be more formal, while social media channels thrive on brevity and also a bit of informality and personalisation. Make sure your content engages, resonates, and adds value for your stakeholders and incorporating a clear calls to action will always drive more engagement. Your content should be good enough to persuade people to discuss, debate and share opinions.

The alignment of strategic and brand communications is critical to delivering reputation impact internally and externally. A well-crafted strategy will serve as the roadmap, guiding every communication effort toward achieving overarching business objectives - this will showcase the company's intent to its stakeholders. When strategy and brand communications are in sync, stakeholders' experience will foster trust and loyalty.