Have you engaged a freelancer or graphic designer who offers branding services, but it didn’t work out? All you got was a fancy logo, website, and marketing collateral; everyone has that now. What makes you different?
It didn’t solve any of your business challenges.
This is the culprit.
👇👇👇👇
There wasn’t any brand strategy!
Choosing the colours of your brand or logo style isn’t a strategy. It’s what you, as an owner like, not what your audience resonates with.
There simply wasn’t enough information to guide the designs. Everyone was guessing without clarity of what the brand fundamentals were.
If you, as the owner, need clarification, how do you expect strangers to understand what you’re offering and why they should choose your brand?
Putting icing with sprinkles on top of rubbish is still rubbish (pardon me, but it’s true).
“Without strategy, execution is aimless. Without execution, strategy is useless.” – Morris Chang.
What is Brand Strategy?
Brand strategy is like a GPS for your brand.
It’s a plan to express your brand to help shape the perceptions in your audience’s mind.
Because…
“A brand is not what you say it is, it is what they say it is” – Marty Neumeier.
There are key questions to be answered to give your brand the best shot it has.
- Why are you here?
- Who are you for? Who are you NOT for?
- What’s your vision?
- What are your core values?
- How are you different?
- What’s your personality?
- What’s your message?
- and more…
Because at the end of the day, good looks will only get you so far if you’ve got no personality.
A really good analogy for Brand Strategy
Imagine you’re driving from Penang to Bangkok for the first time; that’s an 18-hour drive! Would you pack your luggage and hit the road? Stop at a hotel overnight and continue the journey? You’ve no idea about the road conditions, the travel passes, etc.
Would you be confident to embark on the journey at this point?
On the other hand… what if you’ve asked a friend who’s done it many times before? The route would have been the same, but your friend would have been able to provide you with tips and prepare you for the journey.
Perhaps they would have suggested you to break down your journey into a 3-day drive, making pit stops along the way to enjoy all the fantastic hidden gems, like food and scenery, so that you don’t end up like a zombie when you finally arrive in Bangkok. They could have also equipped you with information on what to do in an emergency.
Would you be confident to embark on the journey at this point?
This friend is like a brand strategist. A brand strategy helps you gain clarity for your brand.
What are the deliverables of a Brand Strategy?
Since brand strategy is essentially a mapped-out plan for expressing your brand, the deliverables include the following:
- Brand Architecture
- Customer Matrix (Customer Persona)
- Competitive Analysis
- Brand Attributes
- Brand Messaging
- Brand Positioning
- Brand Voice
- Brand Guidelines
- Brand Statement
When these are compiled, it gives you and anyone working on your brand a clear idea to move your brand forward. Decisions made and opportunities taken will have a significantly higher chance of enriching your brand to where you want it to be.
In conclusion
As business owners ourselves, we know how a wrong decision or a miscalculated investment can result in disaster. Afterall, business growth is all about taking calculated risks.
With the abundant opportunities presented to us, which one of these is the right decision to enrich the brand’s vision?
Which are the oppotunities worth pursuing so that we continue to occupy a place in our customers’ minds with our brand message and continue to be perceived positively?
How can we minimise the risks of shooting ourselves in the foot?
Brand strategy is the answer.
We can help
If you need help articulating your brand or are unhappy with how your audience perceives your brand, let’s change it!
If you’re losing sales or sales have been stagnant, and you’re still determining what’s causing it, let’s do something about it!
We’re happy to help.
Check out some of the clients we’ve helped – and they have one thing in common. All of them have gone through our Brand Discovery, our framework for delivering Brand Strategy.
