You want to create a successful branding strategy for your business. What should you consider first?

DECIDE WHO YOU ARE NOT FOR TOO! My first law of branding is for every emotional reaction there is an equal and opposite emotional reaction What does that mean? It means you can’t have love without hate Great brands do this well. Liquid Death, DUDE Wipes, Nike Make sure you are doing something interesting and targeted enough that you will have some haters

I use seven fundamental questions to define and build a profile of your ideal consumer target: What is the description of the consumer target? What are the consumer’s main needs? Who is the consumer’s enemy who torments them every day? What are the insights we know about the consumer? What does the consumer think now? How does the consumer buy? What do we want consumers to see, think, do, feel, or whisper to their friends? One of the biggest mistakes I see marketers make is picking too broad of a target market. A tight target market decides who is in the target and who is not.

Precisely define who is right for your brand. How does the brand deliver value and meaning to the target customer? Get granular and work from the details to the bigger brand picture. In other words, start with the "trees" to define the "forest."

Blue Ocean Strategy transforms persona creation by focusing on untapped markets, crafting personas like Innovator Ian who embodies future needs and values, particularly in sustainability and tech. This forward-looking approach identifies new customer segments craving innovation, guiding businesses to explore and dominate new "blue oceans" where competition is nonexistent. By tailoring products and services to these personas, companies can unlock new growth avenues, ensuring their offerings resonate deeply with emerging consumer desires, setting the stage for unparalleled market success.

Define Your Purpose and Values: Before diving into visual elements and marketing tactics, it's essential to define your brand's purpose and values. Ask yourself, "Why does my business exist, and what values does it uphold?" Clearly articulating your mission and values will serve as the foundation for all aspects of your branding strategy. Know Your Target Audience: Understanding your target audience is fundamental to crafting a successful branding strategy. Conduct thorough market research to identify your ideal customers' preferences, and behaviors. Tailor your brand messaging to resonate with your target audience. Create a Unique Brand Personality: Your brand should have a distinctive personality that sets it apart from competitors.

As Simon Sinek says, "People don't buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it." Start with your WHY, and then discover through your customer research why your ideal audience should care. Do you solve a problem, do you provide a new offering to the market, does your product/service have elements unique to only you? Whatever your purpose, you must first understand if your audience needs/wants what it is you are providing. and then, stay true to your WHY and the WHAT will come naturally.

The purpose of the brand has to resonate with the larger purpose the customers want themselves to either actively pursue or to be seen as pursuing. It has to help them shape their own identity - perceived by self and by others that matter to them.

The purpose of your brand should first and foremost be connected with the values of the company and never should be created having a " trend" in mind. A purpose is timeless and needs to be reflected in every single area and process of the company otherwise it won't resonate with consumers

Purpose is more than a single statement. It's about creating a brand story that resonates. Customers are savvy and can tell the difference between what’s real and what’s been crafted to convince. Putting your authentic brand at the center of your mission is critical to ensure the message you send can be sustained outside of that clever intern or the talented agency you hire.

One thing common in all successful brands that have been able to leave an impact on their customers and have become household names , is that the major focus of the brand started with a WHY. When your product's Why is aligned with your customer your branding strategy will always be successful. We can look at the example of Apple. There why is simple they want to revolutionize the industry they are in by making the products that are designed beautifully and easy to use. Similarly Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which is one of the top trusted NGOs of the world is because there why is to eradicate Polio from the world and hence everyone wants to support them. In short if your Why or purpose is strong your branding strategy will always win.

Analyzing competition is a crucial aspect of a marketer's strategy, providing valuable insights that inform decision-making and enhance overall marketing effectiveness. Analyzing competition is a strategic imperative for marketers. It goes beyond a mere comparison of products or services; it provides a comprehensive understanding of the market landscape, enabling marketers to make informed decisions, refine their strategies, and stay ahead in a dynamic and competitive business environment.

One of my favorite strategies for a competitive analysis is to checkout a competitor's reviews and social media accounts. Analyzing the 1 and 5 star reviews really gives you an idea on what they're doing well and where you might have an edge. The comments and overall engagement on their social profiles will show you what the audience wants to see on social media. You could spend 15 minutes on each and save yourself months of headaches down the road.

This one is a yes and. While it's extremely important to understand what your competitors are up to, don't base your decisions on them. A little overlap is ok, gaps are ok, you exist for a reason, be true to that. Don't worry what they're up to otherwise you'll spend too much time thinking about them and not your own business.

It is essential to identify the highly differentiated, meaningful, superlative point of difference that your brand can promise and deliver. Whatever analyses are conducted, the focus needs to be on isolating and owning your unique selling proposition.

Competitor analysis is essential for a successful business strategy as it provides insights into market dynamics, helps identify opportunities and gaps, benchmarks performance, informs market positioning, mitigates risks, and inspires innovation. Understanding competitors is a key component of strategic decision-making, allowing businesses to adapt, differentiate, and stay competitive in their industry.

In today's competitive marketplace, it is more important than ever for brands (across products, services, and corporate identity) to have a strong value proposition. Competition is constantly evolving, and your value proposition needs to keep up. It would be best to keep your value proposition fresh and differentiated to avoid being left behind by your competitors. Unless this foundation is strong and enduring, the visual and verbal expression can lose its appeal.

Start with the Mother of all marketing; create a Competitive Brand Strategy Statement to serve as the blueprint for "creating 'brand' loyalty."

Once you develop your identity and how you want to define it to the world - you create value. The greater you make this message known, the greater the value -- you create equity. Once known, you won't need to chase an audience or convince them of your brand's credibility, the brand's own evolution of conviction will redefine and cultivate it's own audience so dedicated, so loyal to your mission that your brand will become indisputable. So step forth, stand out, and launch your brand identity with conviction & moxie then trust the process, because your evolution happens as you progress in stride. Trendy words won't differentiate or build a brand. Creating with authenticity, conviction and ingenuity is what makes a business, a brand.

After a clear definition of your audience and defining the pivot markets in which the brand will be entering into now is the time to clearly define your brand's identity, values, and unique selling points. Understand your target audience and market to tailor your strategy effectively. Consistency across visuals, messaging, and customer experience is crucial. The visuals should co-relate with the brands offerings and strive to capture the mind space that the brands wants to achieve.

A forma como uma marca se apresenta ao mundo é através da sua identidade. é mais do que um logotipo bonito e uma paleta de cores combinando. é a personalidade da sua marca e os valores que ela leva consigo, é o que traz vida e características que diferenciam a sua empresa das outras. Uma imagem de marca de sucesso supera o nível provedor de produtos/servi?os e cria um relacionamento de longo prazo entre empresas e consumidores. Comunicar esses valores e personalidade de forma constante é o mais difícil e o que poucas empresas, como a Harley e a Apple, conseguiram fazer com maestria.

Implementing your branding strategy across all customer touchpoints is crucial, ensuring your brand identity and message are consistent from your website to social media, emails, and packaging. It's about making your brand promise tangible in every customer interaction, enhancing the customer journey at every stage. Utilizing tools like customer journey maps, marketing campaigns, and feedback loops helps in effectively applying and monitoring your brand strategy, ensuring a coherent and valuable experience that aligns with your brand's core values and promises.

Use self-service tools as well. The more you can do to make it easy to get your message and content into the world, the quicker you'll understand what is and isn't resonating. You should be focused on creating high quality resources but that doesn't mean everything needs to be perfect. Focus the majority of your time on the parts of your strategy that have the greatest upside and systematize/automate the rest.

Once your strategy is formulated, it's time for implementation. Consistently apply your brand elements across marketing channels, communication materials, and customer interactions. Monitor and adjust as needed to ensure alignment with your business goals and evolving market dynamics.

For successful branding strategies, consider: 1. Clear brand identity 2. Understanding target audience 3. Unique selling proposition 4. Consistency in messaging and visuals 5. Compelling storytelling 6. Emotional connection 7. Adaptability to market trends 8. Positive customer experience 9. Continuous feedback and evaluation.

When implementing your brand strategy, besides the above, make sure you are educating and training your employees as well about the voice of the brand. People often forget that the employees are equally the face of the brand and with every interaction they also build a perception around the brand they represent. Setting processes for consistency at all touchpoints is essential.

Considering that the product/service is fixed beforehand the branding strategy should always be inside out - meaning that one should always start by understanding his/her product/service first and the market, competitors, etc. The more one understands his/her brand, its offering, its uniqueness, etc. more is the chance that he/she will do a good job.

While carrying out all the above functions - audience research, defining the purpose, competitor analysis, identity development and strategy implementation it should be kept in mind that it should fit into a cohesive whole, all the functions should come out as a single flow of events/plan/implementation. You cannot go ahead with one if it doesn't fit with the others and offcourse the order is important.

Successful brand strategy can only to achieved if you have mapped your brand with the company objectives and have identified your brand personality, values that can be functional and emotional both. And you once know the purpose of your brand and purpose of your business are in sync then you can identify how your brand can penetrate and give real value in building customer trust through platforms that can be identified based on who the target audience is.

Even if you're one of many similar companies in the industry, your brand proposition is very much based on what is different in terms of the value you bring to your target audience? Why should they care more about what you offer versus your competitors? How different are your solutions in helping solve their problems? Are your talents different as well from theirs in serving your clients? How about the experience you offer? How's that different? A combination of all factors plus a deep understanding of your target audience will help differentiate your brand and better define your strategy.

Creating a successful brand strategy is a bit like growing a garden. Start by planting the seeds—understand your goals. Nurture them with market insights, give them room to adapt, and watch your strategy bloom. Remember, growth takes time and care, just like cultivating a garden. ???? #BrandingGrowth