How to identify the strengths & uniqueness of your brand

By Rachael Cox, Co-Founding Director, The Apple Yard

First published on The Apple Yard on Monday 9 November 2020: https://www.theappleyard.com/blog/identify-strengths-uniqueness-brand

Strengthening your brand is about finding unique perspectives

In order to move forward with your business it’s crucial that you take stock of your strengths and weaknesses, looking at the traits that are unique to your brand.

This is part three in our series on brand process - an overview of the branding process and providing you with helpful tip on how to increase the impact of your brand.

“People fall into two camps: one group will over-estimate their strengths, stating things they can’t back up with evidence or struggling to find any weaknesses. The other group will struggle to see positive strengths and over-emphasise their weaknesses.”

Start with a SWOT analysis

You may have come across SWOT in corporate circles, but don’t be put off. It stand for ‘Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats’.

It’s a very useful little tool which helps you explore your business brand both internally (strengths & weaknesses) and externally (opportunities & threats). It can uncover key insights if you have limited time, so doesn’t need to be a massive undertaking.

My experience is that people fall into two camps: one group will over-estimate their strengths, stating things they can’t back up with evidence or struggling to find any weaknesses. The other group will struggle to see positive strengths and over-emphasise their weaknesses.

I’d really encourage you to work with others who can give you honest feedback and to be realistic in these areas.

KEY THINGS TO REMEMBER WHEN SWOTING

Before your do the SWOT, there are a few warm up questions:

1. Ask yourself what are your unique qualities and focus on what makes you special and unique
2. Think about the work you enjoy and want more of

Within the SWOT:

1. Remember that strengths & weakness are internal - what you are good at and is going well (and vice versa)
2. Opportunities & threats are external - events and trends that are favourable (and vice versa)
3. Be real with yourself about what you excel in and where you need to grow
4. Ask for feedback from others - others on your team, your clients or customers and get clear on what they think about you
5. Try to have a realistic view of yourself - it’s hard, but important

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF

1. What are my top three in each area?

These SWOT areas are a great way to draw out a realistic picture of your business and for the brand identity.

It ensures that you are successful in building on your strengths, overcoming the weaknesses, making the most of the opportunities and mitigating the threats.

Aiming for your top three in each area should highlight the key points to be aware of. If you get stuck, move on; you’ve probably uncovered enough for the moment.

2. What functional and emotional benefits do you offer your customers?

As we explained in our last post, people make decisions with their hearts rather than their heads.

Their head will tell them why they need your product or service rationally, but if you can emotionally hook them through the benefits then they will come back to you.

Think of it like a ladder: functional benefits (does it do what I want?) are straightforward and sit at the bottom. Emotional benefits sit above and are more powerful (will it make me feel better?).

3. Who is your target audience?

As I’ve said before, your business however life-altering and perfect will never appeal to everyone. It’s key that you understand who your customer is.

It can be a good idea to break it down by category:

1. Is it lovers of the countryside or fell runners?
2. Coffee drinkers or vegan artisan coffee drinkers?
3. Do you have multiple audiences?
4. Maybe it’s a charity that needs to appeal to volunteers, recipients, and donors.

4. Can you use these details to create personas of your ideal customers or clients?

When you are clear on your customer base you can start to create personas together.

Start with one individual - look at their demographics, their behaviour, wants, and needs.

All these things will help you build a picture of how best to communicate with that customer.

5. Am I making this about me?

It’s really key to remember that your brand is being created for the customer, not you, not the business director or the CEO.

Sometimes your personal design preferences may overlap, but not always.

Always serve the needs, interests and desires of your customers first.

6. Who are my competitors?

Everyone says this in business, but the key is understanding what you can learn from them.

Start by understanding what your competitors are offering, what they are good at doing, where they are successful and what their messaging says.

Learn from this - what can you improve on; what can you avoid; what inspires you; what can you build on?

You can avoid many pitfalls this way, but also start to think about how you can carve your unique place in the market.

FUTURE POSTS IN THIS SERIES

• Profile your customers
• Craft your vision
• Find your character
• Focus your brand tone and voice, verbal branding
• Design your brand logo and sub-marks, colour and font pairings
• Curate your visual branding through photography, illustrations and patterns
• Create your brand touch points - print and online
• Cultivate your social media / content creation / storytelling
• Engineer your user experience / physical spaces
• Engage your audience, relationships and brand ambassadors

We hope this series will help you understand more about what goes into good branding and also help inform you why a brand is so much more than a logo.

FUTURE POSTS IN THIS SERIES

• Profile your customers
• Craft your vision
• Find your character
• Focus your brand tone and voice, verbal branding
• Design your brand logo and sub-marks, colour and font pairings
• Curate your visual branding through photography, illustrations and patterns
• Create your brand touch points - print and online
• Cultivate your social media / content creation / storytelling
• Engineer your user experience / physical spaces
• Engage your audience, relationships and brand ambassadors

We hope this series will help you understand more about what goes into good branding and also help inform you why a brand is so much more than a logo.

Brand imagery from a recent brand project: The Apple Yard x SRV

If you’re from a business working cross-culturally or a local business that values creative, impactful branding to boost your business, do get in touch.

Rachael Cox - together with her husband Simon - is the Co-Found Director of The Apple Yard, a Derby-based website design, brand identity and film-making boutique. Rachael helps increase your visual appeal, by strengthening your brand, winning your audience and customers. Call Simon on 07427 100381 or e-mail [email protected] if you'd like to chat about how we can help you achieve your objectives.