Building a brand strategy will reinforce your positioning in the market. Follow this process for developing an effective strategy for your brand or business.
What is a brand strategy?
Your brand is more than just a logo, name, slogan, or story. It's the entire experience that your prospects, customers, and target audience have with you, your company, product, or service.
Your brand strategy is the backbone of your company and defines what you stand for, your brand promise, story, and personality. It's not just about your logo, color palette, or slogan - those are only creative elements that help convey your company's identity. Your company lives in every day-to-day interaction you have with customers, potential customers, and consumers, so be sure to always keep this in mind when making decisions as they will shape how you show up.
Amongst other things, an effective branding strategy includes:
You competitive position
The messages on your website, campaigns, assets
The way your team interacts with prospects
The stories you tell
A consumer's opinion of you versus the competition
The imagery you use
The Value of Creating a Defined and Comprehensive Brand Strategy
A brand strategy is crucial for products and services sold in consumer markets. It's also important in B2B because it helps you differentiate from your competition. It brings your competitive positioning to life and works to position you as a certain "something" in the mind of your prospects, target market, and consumers.
Check out my recent TEDx talk (www.lindsay-angelo.com/thinking) for guidance on what this certain “something” can look like when designing your brand strategy.
With all the catchy slogans and friendly icons that dominate our world, it's hard to imagine what we'd be left with if a company like Disney didn't exist. It might not feel real in hindsight, but there would be no Mickey Mouse without this magical corporation!
Imagine you're launching a new product in the competitive world of branding. With giants like Disney, Tiffany, and Starbucks dominating the market, it can be challenging to get your brand noticed. Want a shot at success? Start with a strong strategy or else all your hard work may be for nothing.
When you put two companies up against each other, it goes without saying that the one that represents something valuable will have a much easier time reaching out to consumers and engaging them.
Successful branding not only generates revenue but also creates a valuable asset, brand equity. Brand equity is the amount of money that your customer is willing to pay just because it's your brand. It makes your company itself more valuable over the long term.
Where do you rank?
So, does your company have a defined brand strategy? I find clients normally fall into one of three groups, outlined below. Which do you relate to?
a) I'm a brand strategy rockstar
You may not be the best at everything, but you're a blackbelt ninja at what your company does. It's easy to start a conversation with your target audience because they understand quickly what you stand for and how that can help them.
You acquire new customers in no time because your prospects' experience with you supports everything you say. You can charge a premium because your market knows why you're better and is willing to pay for it.
b) I'm getting there!
You've never been too concerned about branding because you didn't think it was a priority - but realize that the market sees your brand inconsistently and that is, in fact, very important. You admit you can do a better job of communicating and messaging more consistently.
c) SOS! I have no brand strategy and it shows
You don't have a brand strategy and it vividly shows. It's more difficult to communicate with prospects and convince them to buy because they're not sure what your product/service is or why it appeals to them.
Customers aren't impressed by your product/service and aren't sure why it's better than the next best thing.
What you do and say may contradict each other and results in confusing prospect.
Competitors seem to be acquiring customers far easier.
Sound familiar?
If you mentally checked either "b" or "c" and are looking for help building your Brand Strategy, follow this step-by-step framework or contact me at www.lindsay-angelo.com.
Branding strategy 4-step process
1. Identify your current brand perception
Survey your customers/consumers, team, and partners by conducting a brand audit. Are their impressions consistent with what you're targeting? If not, identify the gaps and opportunities.
2. Identify your competitive positioning
Identify your competitive positioning strategy – this will be the cornerstone of your brand strategy.
Identified the landscape you play in, who's who in the zoo, and where you fit in. Be specific. Your brand can't solve everything!
3. Develop your brand based on emotional benefits
List the benefits and features of your product or service. Benefits are what the product or service does for your target market. Features are attributes - think bells and whistles!
You want to start with benefits. Determine which benefits are most important to each of your customer segments and which are emotional vs. rational.
The most powerful brand strategies tap into emotions, even among business buyers. And they do it by tapping into our deepest human desires and storytelling around them.
Boil your emotional value propositions down to a single thing you want your brand to stand for or that your customer should think of when they think of you. This will help your story to resonate in the minds of consumers.
Check out my TEDx talk here for guidance: https://lindsay-angelo.com/thinking
Source: lindsay-angelo.com
4. Craft your brand personality, story, and identity
Your brand is a person with a personality. So, how does he or she act? Well, you'll want to describe him or her here.
The only thing that separates your company from the competition is how you choose to present yourself. The words and messages you put out there matter, so use them wisely.
Pick a color scheme that matches your unique personality and make sure to use the perfect fonts, shape, size, and more. These elements will comprise your identity.
Lastly, if you want to be seen as a company with personality, consider the tone in which your employees interact with a customer, potential customer, or prospect. Look for ways to infuse some of your company's personality into their conversations. This way potential clients will get an idea of who you are at each touchpoint in their journey.
At the end of this stage, your brand should have the beginnings of a true personality and identity. Said otherwise, a vehicle for which to tell your story.
In summary, the four steps above will provide you with a starting point to forming a strong brand strategy - one that's relevant to your target audience, aligned with your strategic goals, and will position you for success.
Want help crafting your brand strategy? Contact me at connect@lindsay-angelo.com, @lindsangelo, or at www.lindsay-angelo.com.
FAQs
What's the difference between a brand strategy and a growth strategy?
A Growth Strategy is broader. While Brand Strategy focuses on your brand's positioning and ethos, Growth Strategy includes these brand elements but also focuses on crafting your specific product offerings, your business model, your marketing strategy, and more. Growth strategy can also commonly be referred to as your business strategy.
What are the elements of a brand strategy?
They include the following: Brand purpose, brand vision, problem statement, solution statement, target audience, brand values, brand personality, and brand voice.
How do you develop a brand strategy?
Follow the steps outlined above to build a strong brand strategy. This is also the first step to developing a growth strategy, which I'll touch on more in a future post.
What are the 4 branding strategies?
There are more than 4 branding strategies. In fact, each branding strategy is different and should be. Brands are like human beings - each with a distinct fingerprint.
How do I identify my competitive position?
You'll want to scan your marketplace and look for problems to be solved or "jobs to be done". Then look at your competitors - where are they positioned? How can you differentiate? Are there problems that your competitors aren't solving? Or that you could solve even more effectively than your competitors? 2X2 grids can help with this exercise.
Looking for help crafting your brand strategy? Reach me at connect@lindsay-angelo.com or at www.lindsay-angelo.com
