Planning for how your brand can grow is how great businesses begin
You can think of Brand Strategy as a 360-degree business blueprint that focuses on the long-term development of your purpose and emotional impact.
It defines how you differentiate from any competition in a unique way. Developing a brand strategy is an extremely beneficial thing to do. However, it’s not something to take lightly. A brand strategy is one of the first documents a business should create before deciding on marketing strategies.
To create a brand, you have to be prepared to get your hands dirty. The process requires research, brainstorming, data, insights, and a clear vision for your business. Ultimately, the brand guides and drives every decision in your organisation. Remember that your brand isn’t just your company’s visual identity. Instead, it’s the overall experience you provide to your audience, and how your audience perceives that experience.
3 Rules of Branding
1. Your Brand Should Resonate with Your Personal Values
If you want your core brand values to resonate with your customers, they need to include things you’re willing to fight for.
2. The Point of Difference
It’s all about finding your market niche. Identify a market need that’s not being met to set yourself apart from the other companies and dominate that niche.
3. Tell a Story
Does your product have a story behind it? What about your company? Stories are what make consumers feel connected with your organisation. By telling one, a company becomes more relatable, more meaningful, and more genuine. A brand’s value is not in the consumption of its products or services; instead, it’s communicating its logo, name, and story.
So, how do you create a Brand Strategy?
A good brand strategy lays out goals for providing and optimising your brand experience and putting your brand forward in all your marketing efforts. What steps should you take to create your brand strategy and set your business up for success?
- Outline your Brand Purpose
- Share your Core Values
- Flesh out your Target Audience and its needs, with detailed Buyer Personas
- Define your Brand Mission and Vision
- State how your brand differentiates itself from competitors
- Explain how you meet your audience’s needs (Unique Selling / Value Proposition)
- Decide on your Brand Positioning
- Write your ‘real’ Brand Story
- Figure out your Brand Identity, including messaging, taglines, voice, tone, and imagery
Conclusion: Be a Specialist, Not a Generalist
For success in business, your brand must be the master of your company. For your brand to be a successful master, it must be born out of your principles. Discover your values, create your vision, and tell your story—then stick to it.
When a company is successful at developing their brand strategy, consumers know who they are and what they do as well as the brand’s look and feel, and they’ve also now formed an opinion about the brand.
