They did leave out one thing…research! Necessary to help uncover what your brand already is in the eyes of your audience, research and regular monitoring of your brand must be part of the process. After all, your brand doesn’t start with what you say it is, it’s what “they” say it is! #brandstrategy
If brand strategy is so important, why is it so confusing? Some say brand strategy is about defining purpose and values. Some say brand strategy is a marketing plan for how to grow. And others say it’s about making you recognizable. I’m not sure how anyone is supposed to tell heads from tails ??. I’ve found that founders and marketers at growing companies tune this all out. They don’t have all day like me to wade through the info and build frameworks. So they say: “This sounds like it’s for big companies. I’ll deal with the brand stuff later. Let’s get straight into design and marketing. If you do that a lot, over time that’s branding right?” Hmm. Sort of? But your brand might feel like Frankenstein. One day, I accidentally said this to a founder, and instantly found this more helpful: Brand strategy is your customer-facing business strategy. How so? Well, business strategy is some combo of this: ? The market gap ? Customer segments ? Unfair edge ? The solution / the offer ? Channels (marketing, distribution) ? Revenue structures ? Cost structures (beautifully put into charts, decks, and models) Then this is unearthed: ? The Unique Value Proposition (UVP) Brand Strategy is: ? How to make the customer give two hoots about the above. In conscious and unconscious ways. In an emotionally resonant way. Foundational brand strategy is a simple idea with an emotional hook. It makes business sense AND has creative potential. And it informs design, copy, campaigns, messaging, and channels. It gives you rich material to create a culture around your brand. You want to land on this early, so that your design & copy are more impactful, your marketing is more creative, and every part of your customer experience feels intentional. You could grab your UVP and rush straight to market. But you’re going to be doing a lot of telling, without the power of showing. And you might pay a huge tax for that lack of clarity. Check out 4 examples below ?? If you’re responsible for brand building at a growing company, what would make foundational strategy work more obvious to do earlier? Would love to hear thoughts. Credit: Jess Walker ??