How can you work better with a brand strategy consultant?

Sharing goals with your consultant could also include a vision board or inspiration deck with examples of brands that excite you, or that have attributes you aspire to. This isn't about emulation, but rather about being able to demonstrate the 'zone' you'd like your brand to operate in. (For example, if you are always drawn to hipster content rather than formal corporate expressions, that says a lot already!) It can provide a useful reference point for future discussions and potentially save time during the exploration/consultation process.

Collaborating effectively with a brand strategy consultant hinges on aligning your goals with their expertise. As a digital marketer, prior to enlisting their services, it's pivotal to outline your aspirations, whether they involve product launches, market expansion, or repositioning. Equally critical is crystallizing your target audience, value proposition, and competitive edge. A well-defined vision not only facilitates seamless communication of your expectations but also empowers the consultant to customize their strategies, ensuring optimal alignment with your unique requirements. This synergy between your goals and their insights lays the groundwork for a productive and mutually beneficial partnership.

The brand sense of an expert will be very useful to give a powerful presence to your brand. Remember: * Think of your brand in a competitive context. * Compare your brand with your competitors. * Your brand is your essense.

It is important to categorise goals into short term, medium term and long term. One has to also be realistic, while setting goals.

This sounds ideal…but often I find that unpicking much of this is part of the process. The brand strategy impacts business strategy. They are intertwined and often going back to purpose helps to reform the big idea or vision that then shapes both.

Having worked as brand strategy consultant as well as an in-house brand lead, I'd say it's ALWAYS worth getting the consultant to walk you through their process in advance. A good consultant will be able to articulate the outputs from each phase and show you sample templates or examples, so you know exactly what the goal and benefits of each stage is. And don't be afraid to make constructive recommendations about the process - the consultant knows how to get results, but you know how your organisation operates, so the best processes are collaboratively designed.

This is important, sure. But ensure you are receiving VALUE from the insights and expertise, and it isn't sausage-factory fodder. The advice you are given should be expert, personalised, about YOUR differentiators and identity, and have the competitor/market analysis in mind. Your brand opportunity is unique to you. (all the others are taken... etc, etc.. ;) )

Entrusting the brand strategy consultant's established methodology and process is pivotal. Recognize that they employ research, analysis, workshops, and audits to unravel your brand identity, voice, personality, and narrative. With their in-depth understanding of your brand, customers, and market, they'll craft essential tools like brand platforms, guidelines, and positioning statements to facilitate strategy implementation. Demonstrating confidence in their process is essential, as their seasoned expertise equips them to steer you towards establishing a resilient and unified brand presence. By embracing their guidance, you unlock the potential for a robust and harmonious brand identity.

This is an extremely important step. But many times clients would like to jump and go straight to business. Brand strategy needs to be holistic and the consultant can guide through all aspects to develop something that works best for the company. Not going through the process could result in having to redo certain things - resulting in higher costs, longer turnaround and could also impact brand positioning.

When it comes to brand strategy, I cannot stress enough how important trial and error is! while yes, you can enlist an influencer or UGC content creator to make 10 videos that go with the platform medium you are approaching, its far more effective to put them on retainer and adjust their methods of creation as the Performance analytics are derived from the content you are already producing.

Be open, honest and OBJECTIVE. Objectivity can be hard for some wider stakeholders during brand development (Ever heard something like, "It has to be the blue version... because I like blue."?), so testing concepts or visuals with target audiences may the most effective way of determining the direction of your brand. Ultimately, it's all about creating a positioning and expression that most resonates with and positively influences your audiences, so data is your friend.

Maintaining open and honest communication is pivotal in collaborating effectively with a brand strategy consultant. Acknowledge that they require your input, feedback, and active involvement to devise a thriving brand strategy. As a digital marketer, it's crucial to transparently discuss challenges, strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities. Share your insights, data, and viewpoints while embracing their perspectives and suggestions. Asking questions, challenging assumptions, and voicing concerns are constructive actions, yet always balance this with respect for their insights and expertise.

Put your ego aside and be prepared for uncomfortable questions. Best thing you can do: forget it's your business. Imagine it's a friend's business and you're there to help them achieve their goals.

As a strategist, I need the full picture. No fluff. However, as a client it's not your job to be honest straight away. And I would never expect that. After all, you can be sensitive, you might have only known me as a strategist for a short while. Thus the strategist should have a strategic and smart process which gets you to warm up to them and open up. When it does get to that, you will naturally begin to share the challenges, weaknesses and any vulnerabilities we need to address. Never feel scared or intimated by a strategist. Their job is to test you and your brand, but not to embarrass you. It's to ensure you have every chance or survival and thriving in the open market! Work with the process of the strategist and you'll reap results!

Many a times owners or brand managers consider the role of a brand consultant is limited to solving one or a couple of parts of the brand problem, which they do not have solutions of. Nothing could be more wrong! If you hire a brand consultant, first and foremost you've to consider him as a partner, as if he is an extended brand team with certain special skills. If you can achieve this, you have done away with the biggest block in having a healthy relationship that thrives on multiple collaborative brains working to solve the same problem. Then, being open and honest about your situation and challenges becomes easier and solutions come out faster.

Absolutely, a collaborative approach involves not only crafting a brand strategy with a consultant's guidance but also taking proactive steps for implementation and measurement. As a digital marketer, it's crucial not to let their deliverables languish unused. Employ their outputs as a roadmap and reference to steer your decisions and initiatives. Adhere to their guidelines and best practices, ensuring your brand remains consistent and standout across all interactions and platforms. Gauge the efficacy of your brand strategy by tracking pertinent metrics like awareness, loyalty, satisfaction, and revenue.

Two key components of a brand strategy are communication and consistency. Your audience isn't just your customers, you also have an internal audience, and anything you say about your brand has to ring true to your internal audience, too. Communicate your strategy with your team clearly and often so that how your external audience experiences your brand is consistent across all touch points. Consistency is key. If there's not consistency in messaging, marketing, and overall brand experience, it can cause confusion and create a lack of trust with your audience.

It's true that when a strategist leaves your side, you can get a little overwhelemed. A good strategist will leave you with a solid game plan. Something you can follow and guidnace on how to revert back to your brand strategy documents. An even better strategist will provide a service to follow up with you between every 9-12 months. So see progress and ensure of your implementation effectiveness. Here you both can look at your tracked performance indicators for your brand. Yes, as a brand, it's your job to ensure you implement this plan given to you and to measure the success!

Sounds like perfect. consultant can do the program management if you like however the onus on implementation is on the founder and the project team.

Often times, no matter how good a brand strategy is, it is a guideline and at the time of implementation it needs to be used as such, without diluting its efficacy

Ongoing relationship with your brand means they can rapidly recalibrate strategies, ensuring your brand remains relevant and resonant. Over time, a consultant becomes deeply familiar with the intricacies of your brand. This nuanced understanding leads to more tailored recommendations, eliminating the steep learning curve that comes with continuously switching consultants.

Indeed, acknowledging the enduring nature of the partnership with a brand strategy consultant is pivotal. Recognize that they're not a one-off service provider, but a steadfast collaborator in the long haul. As a digital marketer, grasp the value of their continuous support in maintaining and evolving your brand in response to evolving customer demands, market dynamics, and competitive challenges. This encompasses ongoing advice, updates, and strategic insights. Leverage their expertise to regularly monitor, assess, and refine your brand strategy. Sustain this connection by nurturing communication, sharing feedback, and actively seeking their guidance.

Like I have mentioned above, this is an ongoing relationship. Sometimes for my clients a never ending one ?? But in a positive manner. We want to see you PROGRESS. We don't want the hard work of the brand strategy to just go down the drain. We also want to ensure we're on top of trends, significant changes within the market landscape and any new variables such as an introduction or identification of a new audience, or a new brand experience. By keeping your brand strategist looped in you ensure that your brand continues to grow, impactfully. And doesn't just go of track and head into a completely different direction. A nice quote to always remember is what got you to the current place won't necessarily get you to the next.

Working with a great strategist is, for sure, an intimate relationship grounded in trust. The work is seminal and foundational to the success of the business. And the contributions have a long-term impact on the direction of a business. Work with someone you trust. Take the time to know each other well, on a business and personal level. As a strategist, my goal is always to remain a key team member as the business evolves through its life stages. When you bring on a strategist, embrace it a relationship for the long haul. Both sides will benefit.

1. Explain what you are looking for, or what your current problems with respect to Brand Communication are. And what is it that you are looking to change. 2. Let the Consultant roadmap a solution after figuring out the gap between where you are and where you aspire to be. 3. Let your people (teams and individual contributors) know that there will be changed, and that they should co-operate with the consultant during the testing/implementation phase. Saying, "...but we have been doing this like this for the past seven years!" helps no one. Zero to One strategy is different from what you would need for 1 to 2 or thereafter. 4. Communicate your expected timeline but do not rush the consultant.

When working with a brand strategy consultant, remember that collaboration is a two-way street. While their expertise is invaluable, your firsthand knowledge of your industry, market, and customers is equally vital. Don't hesitate to provide context, share your team's insights, and collaborate closely. Additionally, embrace a flexible mindset, allowing room for adjustments and adaptations as your brand evolves. Communication is key – maintaining regular updates and transparent discussions ensures alignment and minimizes misunderstandings. Lastly, view the consultant's involvement as an investment – their guidance can yield long-term dividends in the form of a resilient and thriving brand.

I had the chance to meet the owners of an Indian school in Delhi-NCR, who called me to solve one brand problem, i.e. declining admissions. From the very outset I made it very clear that they have to trust my instincts, expertise and analysis 9f the real problem that needs to be solved. A preliminary analysis revealed that the problem was that of reputation, which the school had been losing over 3 years. So I wished to deep dive through teacher student and parent interviews, to attack the core of the problem. However the owners felt that it was just a communication problem... no more! On further discussions, I realised that the teachers and owners were reluctant to interviews. Being not ready to open up, this project was dropped!

To work best with a marketing strategy consultant, it's crucial to establish clear communication, align on goals, provide them with necessary resources and data, and be open to their expertise and innovative ideas. The foundation of a successful partnership with a consultant lies in collaboration and trust.

Be honest about the finances, and trust your Brand Strategist. - They are working for your brand with the sole purpose of making it big. A little bit of trust and faith goes a long way. - Your finances are important to your brand, share them with your brand strategist to allow them to allocate funds on different verticals to grow your brand.

I'll leave with these last three precise tips 1) Ensure you have a clear brand strategy document in place! This document will allow you and your team to remain aligned and on track. They will always remind you of who you are, where you're going, what you stand for and who you're doing it for! 2) Your brand anatomy (one of the 5 key pillars of brand strategy, others being analysis, market, messaging and research) is the foundations of your brand. Getting your vision, values, mission and promise TRUTHFULLY aligned is critical for your brands success. 3) Have FUN in the process. I promise you, your brand is going to be SO MUCH better if your brand strategy process is inspiring and ignites a fire of creativity and ideas!