Brand management made easy

Brand management is not for the faint-hearted. You need strategic knowledge, creative flair, diplomacy and thick skin. In this blog I explore the essential building blocks to being a good brand manager. So let’s jump straight in.

Audience-first

The first step is to ensure you have clarity over your target audiences and objectives. Who is your brand trying to engage and for what purpose?

It still amazes me how many people embark on brand development without a clear audience segmentation.

A good segmentation is attitudinal as well as covering all the basics such as age, gender, socio-demographics and media consumption to inform marketing and content strategy.

Once you have a clear audience segmentation, you can set your objectives and brand tracking. I recommend a dashboard of key metrics you can report at regular intervals. Don’t forget to include your internal audiences.

Brand strategy and positioning

The next step is to make certain you have a clear brand positioning strategy in place. How do you want to position your brand in people’s hearts and minds? What perception would you like them to have and what action would you like them to take?

Charities have traditionally used vision, mission and values, whereas future brand leaders are taught purpose, personality and proposition. Whilst the jargon doesn’t really matter, what’s important is that you have a clear articulation of what you promise to deliver, how you go about it, and why – often referred to as What, How and Why, a brand model or platform.

As the trend for Brand Purpose has been growing, it is increasingly important to be clear why you exist and the value you create for people and the planet.

The business case for Purpose is strong as it has been proven to boost profit, customer and staff engagement as the worlds of brand, corporate social responsibility and sustainability move ever closer.?

Visual identity system and tone of voice

Once you are clear on your brand positioning strategy, you’ll need the brand expression to bring it to life: a visual identity system and tone of voice.

A good visual identity system defines the elements that make up your brand expression (social media icon, logo, colours, typefaces, photography, illustration and iconography) and allows creativity within set parameters.

Tone of voice defines how your personality is expressed by your choice of words. I advocate one set of values that can guide the brand on the inside (culture and behaviour) and the brand on the outside (visual identity and tone of voice). So I often use values to develop tone of voice principles that guide and direct writing for a brand.

A positioning statement is also a good idea, also referred to as a brand story, manifesto or descriptors. A standard piece of copy that describes who you are and why you exist.

Relationships are mission critical

Good brand management is all down to constructive relationships.

I recommend a Brand Steering Group made up of key stakeholders from across the business, who can come together to help you manage and curate the brand. Larger businesses may also have a network of Brand Champions.

You’ll also need the right creative partners to help you activate the brand, for marketing and content. What’s required will depend upon your in-house capability. But I have always favoured a small agency roster of preferred partners, where everybody has a clear role. A good brand manager can bring their partners together in the spirit of collaboration without competitiveness and egos getting in the way.

Inspire and empower

The days of the ‘Brand Police’ are over. Telling people off for not using the brand correctly, is not the way to get people on-board. What’s required is inspiration, so people understand what brand is and why it’s important. More carrot and less stick. All my projects have included a charm offensive with presentations and workshops on the value of branding, with cross sector examples.

Brand guidelines like War & Peace are unhelpful and often only read by brand specialists. Make sure you have the tools and templates in place that make implementing the brand easy. I like to put the brand in people’s fingertips by making the essential brand guidance available by smart phone. I’m also comfortable with open access. If the brand is good enough, why not share it widely? Be proud.

Culture and innovation

Of course, branding is about much more than just expression. It’s about behaviour and experiences, with people and across digital and social channels. So make sure your brand positioning is embedded in your culture and customer experience and fuels future innovation.

Manage or curate?

Although common, I am not a big fan of the phrase ‘brand management’. For me it sounds like you are managing something that is static and set in stone. Yet brands thrive when they are kept alive. They should be aligned to corporate strategy and change to keep up with societal and cultural trends. I prefer ‘curate’. My target has always been to make managing the brand easy, so I have the time to think about how to evolve and develop the brand to keep it fresh.

Of course, that will depend upon where you are on your brand journey. As a brand development project can be a full-time job. That’s even before you get to managing – or curating it.

Digital marketing and content

Many brand roles are now combined with digital, marketing and content. So having the right expertise around you has never been more important. It is also worth considering whether you want to be a specialist or a generalist as your build your career. Whilst I understand marketing and content, I have always known my preference and first love is brand.

When it comes to marketing, be clear on the media budgets and channel mix required to reach your audiences and meet your objectives.

With content be clear which social channels you are curating, for which audiences and why. As well as whether you have sufficient resources to curate the content required.

Good Luck

I’ve made it all sound very easy here but know it’s not. Because more than anything a good brand manager cares about their brand, so is prepared to put in blood, sweat and tears (hopefully not!). So have a peer you can call upon to let off steam when the pressure mounts. I’ve always valued having the guidance of other brand managers (I mean, curators) around me.

If you have a brand conundrum you’d like to chat about, just reach out at [email protected]. For more best practice visit CharityComms brand guide Brand 360.