Processes of brand strategy development
1. Determine the Basics for the Foundation of the Brand
The first step in defining a brand strategy is to define the type of brand we’re building: an individual product or service brand, a company brand, a family brand, or an idea brand.We’ll align our brand with the high-level method in which our brand delivers value to the marketplace, and identify the theme for our brand – for example, whether it’s innovative, creative, cool, authoritative, essential, supportive, friendly, warm, caring, kind, gentle, matter-of-fact, competitive, aggressive, comforting or blunt.
Tasks:
• Determine Brand Type
• Confirm Value Proposition
• Identify Brand Theme
2. Create Our Brand Architecture by Evaluating the Benefits We Provide
Brands that tap into our emotions are far more powerful than brands that don't.Connecting with human emotions is an inexact science at best – it's more of an art, and it's the main thrust of consumer marketing.
By determining which benefits of our product or service are most important to our market, and which benefits are emotional, we’ll have a strong understanding of what our brand should mean to our market.
Tasks:
• Explore Brand Emotional Benefits
• Select Brand Pillars
• Determine Brand Means
3. Define the Personality of Our Brand and Our Brand Promise
Brand ExperienceOur brand experience is the essence of what we represent – it’s the embodiment of our positioning, and the experience we wish to deliver at each interaction with the market.Adding human personality traits to our brand will help us crystallize the experience we want to deliver. They’ll serve as a check and balance mechanism for our campaign creative and messaging, to create a memorable experience.
Good brands also deliver a promise to the market – communicating a simple, singular idea that supports our positioning and the mindshare that we wish to own.
Tasks:
• Select Brand Personality Traits
• Determine Brand Promise
• Summarize Brand Strategy
4. Write Our Brand Story and Positioning Statement
Brand Story & Positioning StatementOur brand positioning statement is a 25- to 35-word statement that captures the essence of our brand – who we are, what we do, for whom, along with a key differentiator or our brand promise.Our brand story is a longer narrative that gives us a chance to connect with our market – to introduce our personality, convey what we stand for, and show why we care.
Stories have been used to communicate for thousands of years; a good brand story can solidify our positioning and support our brand experience.
Tasks:
• Create Brand Positioning Statement
• Write Brand Story
5. Develop Our Visual Brand Requirements
Visual Brand RequirementsFor many consumer product marketers, much of the "branding" takes place in the packaging and campaign imagery. Visual identity ties into human emotions, and there are plenty of case studies of consumer packaging redesigns that infuriated a customer base or dramatically increased sales.Service companies and B2B brands encompass more than just a label, box, or package, but the visual identity can unify a brand, neutralize it or worst of all, damage it.
By defining the key elements to our visual branding – Relevance (Do the visuals support our defined brand strategy and promise?), Quality (Are the visuals professionally designed?), and Consistency (Are the visuals consistent at all market touchpoints?), we’ll ensure that our visuals reinforce our positioning and brand experience.
Tasks:
• Evaluate Brand Visual Requirements
• Create Brand Visuals
6. Evaluate How Our People and Operations Represent Our Brand
Operational Brand RequirementsWe make an impression – positive, negative or neutral – with our market at every touchpoint.To deliver a consistent brand experience, we must ensure that every interaction with our market supports our brand strategy. Part of that results from our brand visual imagery and copy. The rest of it results from our people’s interactions with the market.
By identifying every touchpoint our customers and prospects have with our company and the people who represent our brand, we’ll have an understanding of how well our people are supporting our positioning, brand promise and brand experience.
Tasks:
• Define Brand Operational Requirements
*Audit Our Current Brand
Brand AuditOur brand delivers an experience with each interaction with the marketplace. It's important for us understand how our market feels about that experience – both our internal market (our stakeholders) and our external market (our customers and prospects).Understanding if the market responds to the key elements of our brand strategy – the emotional benefits that our brand delivers, the three things that our brand means to our market, our brand personality traits, our promise and our story – will enable us to understand whether we're communicating effectively, and which areas need improvement.
Tasks:
• Create Brand Summary
• Audit Brand Internally
• Audit Brand Externally
• Analyze Brand Audit Results
Outsourcing?
1. Determine Evaluation Criteria for a Branding Agency
Branding Agency CriteriaBranding agencies can assist us in shaping our brand strategy, creating a new identity and new brand assets.Most small branding firms are regional, and can be found from chamber of commerce listings, local directories or Web searches. Individual consultants can also be found using Web searches, as well as by using social media, and sites like Elance, oDesk, Freelancer.com, AMA, Aquent and Identityworks.
During discussions with potential vendors, we may wish to dig deeper to learn about other brand identities they have developed, and how they approached it, as well as how they define a brand and brand elements, and their process for developing a brand strategy.
Tasks:
• Outline Branding Agency Vendor Criteria
7 Components That Comprise a Comprehensive Brand Strategy
Your brand’s strategy should be based on company goals. And just like James Bond wouldn't have gotten too far without a plan, your business will eventually hit a wall without a cohesive brand strategy. Sure, maybe you can finagle a big sale or trick a Russian spy or two, but one day you'll wake up and have no idea how your company got from A-to-Q -- it’s supposed to go from A-to-B, remember? And skipping steps is not how a great company that stands the test of time is built.
Brand strategy is the how, what, when, and to whom you plan on communicating your product or service. Having a clear and concise brand strategy leads to stronger overall brand equity -- how people feel about or perceive your product, and how much they are willing to pay for it.
It's the stuff that feels intangible, but it's that hard-to-pin-down feeling that separates powerhouse and mediocre brands from one another. So to help you rein in what many marketers consider more of an art and less of a science, we've broken down seven components of a comprehensive brand strategy that will help keep your company around for ages. So is your company's brand strategy smooth like Bond? Or will it leave your company shaken harder than Bond's martini?
Tie Your Brand to Your Business Model
Let's clear up the biggest misconception about brand strategy right now. Your brand is not your product, your logo, your website, or your name. It’s what your customers perceive about you, and how you make them feel. Chances are you're not the only company out there selling your product or service. Figure out what your company does best beyond what you sell, and make it a part of your brand strategy.For example, Apple doesn’t just sell computers and music equipment; it sells well-designed products that are easy to use. Are they the best computers on the market? No. (Well, I guess that depends on what side of the Mac-PC debate you're on.) But Apple sells a lot of them at twice the price because of the way Apple positions its brand in the market. This goes beyond your product itself -- it's about selling the problem you are solving.
Don’t claim to solve generic problems; your customers have specific problems. Play the word game. Volvo = safe; Coke = refreshing; Disney = magic; HubSpot = All-in-One. What does your brand equal? You always knew Bond was going to get out of a pickle, but you wanted to see how because he did it with resourcefulness and flair. Decide which aspect is the most important about your product or service, and make it a part of every aspect of your brand communication.
Be Consistent
Now that you have decided your key brand attributes, make sure it is clear and understood through all your communications – especially inside your own company. Don’t talk about things that don’t relate to or enhance your brand. Added a new photo to Facebook? What does it mean for your company? Does it align with your message, or was it just something funny that would, frankly, confuse your audience? If it doesn’t tie back to your brand's message, you will have trouble differentiating yourself from competitors.To reinforce the message, in your company meetings, over coffee or lunch, or just chatting at your desk, encourage the feelings you want your brand to evoke in customers and your employees. When employees start to talk the talk and walk the walk – especially those on the front lines – the messaging is consistently reinforced with leads and customers, too.
You might be thinking, “Volvo doesn’t say safety, safety, safety all the time, though.” But listen to how Volvo describes its cars and how long they last, as well as how it describes features. It all ties back to Volvo's underlying brand theme of safety, and customers know what they will get when they buy that product.
Connect Emotionally
Customers can either think rationally about your product or service, or they can think emotionally about it. How else do you explain the person who paid thousands of dollars more for a Harley rather than buying another cheaper, equally well-made bike? There was an emotional voice in there somewhere, whispering “Buy a Harley…open road…tough.” It’s the way the brand makes you feel. You feel like you belong, like you're part of a larger group that's more tight-knit than just a bunch of motorcycle riders. Where do you think HOG came from? Harley Owners Group.Find a way to connect to your customers on a deeper level. Do you give them peace of mind? Make them feel like part of the family? Do you make life easier? Connect with your customers on this point before and after a sale. Answer their questions and concerns on social media. A little goes a long way. Batman doesn’t have any real superpowers, but whenever that signal lights up the sky, people trust that he will be there -- because he always is.
Reward and Cultivate
If you already have people that love you, your company, and your brand, don’t just sit there! Reward them for that love. These customers have gone out their way to write about you, to tell their friends about you, and to act as your brand ambassadors. Cultivating loyalty from these people early on will yield more returning customers -- and more profit for your business.Sometimes, just a thank you is all that's needed, but great brands also tend to give more than that. Write them a personalized letter. Do you have some extra special swag? Sent it to them. Ask them to write a review, and feature them prominently on your website. For example, Porsche reached 1 million Facebook fans quicker than any other automotive brand, so to thank its fans, Porsche made a wraparound for its GT3 Hybrid that included all 1 million names. No doubt the car company also received an extra bit of buzz for it. And showing how happy your current customers are with your product certainly helps your sales organization, too, because it shows the positive end result of becoming a customer.
Measure
Just because you come up with a campaign to reinforce your brand strategy, doesn’t mean it will work. There have been plenty of schemes and plans that have ended with our beloved heroes in the clutches of an evil foe. How the Penguin catches anyone, I don’t know, but if it can happen to Batman, it can happen to you. Watch your return on investment as you implement new campaigns to strengthen your brand. If your brand isn’t resonating with enough people through the campaign, you have not given them a good enough reason to love you.At the start of each new campaign, check your marketing analytics for branded and organic search. If it goes up when you launch your campaign, it means people are hearing about your campaign and becoming interested in your brand. They are searching for you -- often by name -- because you have provided them with enough compelling content that they want to know more. Just don't get stuck on one tactic or campaign. By staying agile, you can better measure whether your tactics are aligning well with your overall brand strategy, and if they don't, you haven't invested so much that you can't re-evaluate.
Be Flexible
Speaking of agile inbound marketing, in this fast-changing world, marketers must remain flexible to stay relevant. On the plus side, this frees you to be creative with your campaigns. Old Spice generated quite the buzz over the last few years because it took its old brand and made it relatable to a new generation. Old Spice still held true to its brand; they just did it in a different, buzz-worthy way that opened them to a new customer market. I’m still talking about them, and that horse left the barn over a year ago.So if your old tactics aren’t working anymore, don’t be afraid to change them just because it worked in the past. Take the opportunity to engage your followers in fresh, new ways. Are there some out-of-the-box partnerships your brand can make? Are there attributes about your product you never highlighted? Use those to connect with new customers and remind your old ones why they love you.
Watch Out for Competitors...a Little
Take the competition as a challenge to improve your own strategy and create greater value in your overall brand. You are in the same business and going after the same customers, right? So watch what they do. Do some of their tactics succeed? Do some fail? Tailor your tactics based on their experience to better your brand and company. For too many years, American car companies ignored their foreign competitors. But they finally realized they needed to change their model for the changing times and tout a more fuel-efficient agenda to keep pace with foreign competitors.That being said, don't let your competitors dictate each and every move. I started this blog post talking about why you're in business. Sure, you probably sell a similar product or service as many other companies. But you're in business because your brand is unique. By harping on every move your competitor makes, you lose that differentiation. And soon your customers won't be able to tell you apart, making it even easier for them to leave you. Keep your eye on your competitors when experimenting with your brand strategy – just not a hawk's eye.
The Top 7 Characteristics of Successful Brands
1. Audience Knowledge
The best brands have a thorough understanding of the demographics of their target market, what their interests are, and how they communicate. Unless it’s a mega chain like Wal-Mart, most businesses have a specific target audience they’re pursuing. Understanding the target market is critical because it provides direction for the tone and reach of a marketing campaign, along with the overall identity of a brand, while helping to create an organic, human connection between a business and its audience.Trying to appeal to everyone (ignoring the concept of a target market) can be counterproductive, causing a company’s brand to become diluted. Finding the right branding approach requires first understanding the target market. For more information on how to find out what your target market wants, see my articles, “7 Ways to Find What Your Target Audience Wants and Create Epic Content” and “6 Steps to Decoding Your Target Audience.”
2. Uniqueness
Establishing a brand identity requires something distinctive. For instance, Apple has become known worldwide for their innovative products and minimalistic, aesthetic appeal. When it comes to service companies, Domino’s Pizza used to guarantee that their pizza would arrive in 30 minutes or it’d be free. In terms of a selling point, TOMS shoes donates a free pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair of shoes that are bought.Creating an identity within a niche doesn’t demand a revolutionary idea. It simply needs to have one special thing that separates it from the competition. In reality, it’s possible to be “a one trick pony” as long as that trick is really good. Once a company figures out what that is, it can concentrate on it and should gain recognition in time.
Do you know what your unique product, service, or selling point is within your niche? If not, start there when building your branding strategy.
3. Passion
While it’s certainly possible to build a brand in the short-term without passion, it’s almost impossible to sustain it in the long run. When you examine massively successful people like Steve Jobs, they all have a serious passion that keeps propelling them to work hard and continually deliver greatness. That passion leads to enthusiasm and genuine joy, which is infectious.Consumers often become just as enthusiastic about a product or service, leading to word of mouth advertising and referrals. Passion also helps businesses persevere through inevitable setbacks.
4. Consistency
When consumers come back to a business for repeat sales, they usually expect to receive the same level of quality as they did the first time. Restaurants and their food and service quality are a great example of this.No one wants to deal with a company they can’t rely on for consistency. With so many industries being saturated with competitors, inconsistency is often enough of a reason for consumers to take their business elsewhere.
That’s why it’s so important to adhere to a certain quality standard with a product or service. An example of a brand who offers amazing consistency is McDonald’s. This powerhouse of the fast food world provides patrons with a menu that’s consistent across the world. Whether someone orders in Florida or China, they know that a Big Mac is going to taste the same.
5. Competitiveness
Gaining an edge in today’s business world isn’t easy. For a brand to make a name for itself, team members should thrive on competition and constantly strive to improve. This is the main principle behind Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll’s book, Win Forever, as well as the way he runs the team.When it comes to the major players in any industry, none simply sit back and hope that their consumers will do the work for them. Instead, they tend to be the movers and shakers who work tirelessly toward building and optimizing their brand, going above and beyond consumer expectations. The end result tends to be a brand that is continually on the cutting edge of its industry.
6. Exposure
Another big part of being recognized as a distinctive, successful brand is the ability to reach consumers through multiple channels. Obviously, larger companies have an advantage gaining exposure because they usually have a bigger marketing budget and more existing connections. They can pay for television commercials, be featured in globally-recognized magazines, and rank highly in search engine results pages.However, the Internet and social media have narrowed the gap between small companies and large ones. There are more tools than ever before which offer any company a chance at establishing their brand. By developing a presence on networks like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+, anyone is able to reach almost any consumer. You just have to know how (that’s the hard part).
7. Leadership
Just like any thriving community or sports team, there’s typically an influential leader behind every successful brand. For large companies, this may be the CEO. For smaller ones, it’s usually the owner.To coordinate the efforts of team members and guide a strategic vision for a brand, someone has to step up and steer the ship. The leader resolves complications and acts as a liaison between different departments to keep everyone on the same page. They are also expert motivators and know how to maximize the strengths of different team members.
6 branding strategies
1. See Consumer Engagement That Others Don’t
Stop doing what everyone else is doing and be creative about how your brand engages with consumers. For example, Beyoncé launched her most recent album in a unique way that would fully leverage her relationship with her fans and advance the image she sought to create for her brand. Instead of releasing a new single (as advance promotion of the album), she released the entire album on iTunes with a full library of supporting music videos.The drip-system is a good tactic, but everything is relative to the maturity of your brand and the engagement experience you want to ultimately create with your target audience. People like surprises and want variety. Don’t be too predictable. Mix it up. Don’t grow complacent. Stretch your thinking. Every brand is vulnerable. Don’t take your audience for granted.
This is why it’s so important to give your brand a refresh every year (not every 3-5 years). Remember that consumers are reevaluating their needs more often than you might think. Instead of being reactive to your audience needs, be on the front end and help guide them as they reinvent themselves. Manage your consumer engagement strategy or someone else will do it better.
2. Establish an Identity that is Easily Relatable
Too often brands complicate their unique value proposition (UVP) to get attention. In their efforts to reinvent and renew, they complicate things that frustrate their consumers and shareholders. JCPenney is a perfect example. Consumers used to know what to expect from JCPenney, but in an effort to reposition the brand, they lost their strategic focus and their identity along the way.A brand identity is most powerful when it evolves and its value proposition strengthens in alignment with the changing lifestyle demands of its audience. Make things simple. People don’t have the time to figure out what your brand is trying to solve. Consumers want brands to be deliberate with their identity – straightforward while at the same time forward-thinking.
When I launched by first entrepreneurial venture, I sought to reinvent the old-school processed gourmet vegetables category. My brand – Luna Rossa – was an attempt to introduce a fresh produce identity to a traditionally processed category. Our brand identity was easy and relatable: Hand-cut and packaged within eight hours of harvest. Within a year of launch, we found ourselves in grocery and club stores throughout the country. As our brand matured and we began to understand our consumer better, we slightly modified the logo and added our new tagline that read: Romance You Can Taste. It was our way of saying that our products would deliver a better experience when used as a complementary ingredient and/or side dish with your favorite entrees.
3. A Lifestyle Platform that Inspires People and Communicates Hope
Brands influence lifestyle and one’s state of mind. If your brand is not a lifestyle platform that inspires people and communicates hope, the impact and influence of your brand message will quickly begin to wane. Brand platforms like Target (A Bullseye View) and Coca-Cola (Coca-Cola Journey) recognize that stimulating a new or existing consumer relationship requires the ability to educate, communicate and inspire your audience about the totality of your brand – what it represents and what it stands for.Today’s consumer expects more from your brand – not only the message it communicates – but how it is delivered. That is why content marketing is so important and must be flawlessly executed to be effective (here are 8 powerful tips).
Consumers want your brand’s value proposition to come to life and impact their lifestyle with messaging that is educational and applicable. A holistic approach to branding that gives people hope will accelerate your ability to earn consumer trust and loyalty — and create more transparent dialogue and feedback to keep your brand in continuous innovation mode.
4. Continuous Innovation with Flawless Timing and Execution
Innovation may seem to be an obvious strategy, yet many companies still fall short (or are too late) in their efforts. Just ask Blackberry, Blockbuster, JCPenney, Volvo, etc. It’s no longer just about introducing new products, line extensions and/or technological advances to strengthen your UVP. Today’s marketplace demands perfect timing and flawless execution with each new strategy you implement.Consumers want to know that you are ready when they are. That means your timing must be in perfect sync with your audience demands. Don’t launch a new product, service or packaging/logo strategy if your brand’s audience isn’t ready and/or you are not prepared to execute the requirements for sustainable success – all the way through to the end. Short-cuts are slow death in a marketplace where consumers expect brands to over-deliver before they actually commit to purchase. Once you have established your reputation for excellence, your innovation efforts become a public relations strategy that pre-sells your consumers well before any new product event. Just ask Apple.
5. Promote the Genuine Spirit of Giving
Brands that “share the harvest” of their success – with their audience – are the ones that sustain the best momentum. The spirit of giving must be a central part of every brand’s DNA. Unfortunately, many brands forget to “give-back” to those who supported their growth. Being a great brand is not just about market share gains and profitability; it’s about genuinely sharing the success of your brand with others (whether they have purchased your product/service or not).Whether you have a few thousands, millions, or billions of dollars in sales, make it a point to show your respect and gratitude to the people and communities your brand is serving. Take the time to interact in ways that go well beyond the obvious. Provide sponsorships (only if you are genuinely interested in supporting the cause), be consistent with your community outreach efforts, and actively participate in and support charitable events and organizations. Fully deploy your corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy (if you have one). A great example is what PepsiCo is doing with its environmental sustainability project.
If you have limited resources and/or just want to keep it simple, be sure to at least say thank you and show your gratitude. Brands today have a much deeper responsibility to society and the more your brand touches the needs of the world and helps to make it a better place, the more abundant you will find the opportunities before you.
6. Serve Others to Leave a Legacy
Much like leaders must lead with a legacy-driven mindset, so should their brands. As you develop your brand, what is the legacy that you are mindfully attempting to leave behind? What is your brand known for? According to Wikipedia, brand legacy begins from a point of origin (core idea) and considers historic message layering to derive a current perception as it pertains to the target audience. A core idea is a word or thought that encompasses all facets of the brand. For example, IBM’s core idea is computers, while Cadbury is chocolate.What is the experience and/or product association you are attempting to leave behind for your brand and what will your audience remember most about how it impacted their business or lifestyle?
The most successful brands never fall victim to an identity crisis. They know who they are and the responsibility they have to those whom they are serving. Their innovations are consistently delivered, genuine and true. They are focused on what matters most to their consumer and on continuously making the experience better. Sometimes they may fall flat on the excitement scale, but their customers remain extremely satisfied. You know that you are building a solid brand legacy when your customer loyalty is so strong that they are not fazed by your competition.
When your core idea becomes synonymous with your brand, expectations rise and so do your strategic responsibilities. This is when you must begin to allow your customers to play a more hands-on role in your brand’s evolution. This is when you begin to witness the convergence of your brand’s growing community (intimate followers) with the advancement of commerce (growth in the business). Allow your customers to play a more significant role. Align your brand’s identity closer to their own.
Each one of these brand strategies is equally important and they build upon one another to create and sustain the ultimate customer experience. You must be ready to take on such an ambitious commitment, and then stick to it until you know your audience inside and out. Always be accountable to their needs and take responsibility to keep the momentum of the relationship moving forward. Implement these six brand strategies, and you will build a power brand for the 21st century consumer.
TO BRAND OR NOT TO BRAND (SHARED SERVICES AND OUTSOURCING). THAT IS THE QUESTION…
Now, I fundamentally believe that branding any corporate business model change that happens through shared services and outsourcing is a good thing. After all, people buy brand. Brand is shorthand for what we get, and what we expect to feel like after we buy a product or a service. It’s a promise. And when we buy the right brand, it tells others that we are smart, making us feel cool that we've opened our wallets for the latest and greatest.
And corporate cats are no different. We all want to be seen associated with the right initiative, so when a change in the way we work, or operate, sends off a consistent message, it makes it safe for us to become stakeholders.
So shared services and outsourcing branding is good. But not to get too existential about it, not all shared services and outsourcing initiatives should be branded the same way. How do leaders develop the right brand at the outset?
Branding shared services and outsourcing can be a double-edged sword. Brand aggressively and stakeholders think you are empire-builders, or brand too softly and the same folks find an excuse to ignore you. Develop a sub-brand off the corporate brand, and the sourcing initiative is viewed as low-key but not a major change; brand with an independent name and logo, and you are signaling change and excitement, but someone will call you out as overly optimistic about what benefit you’ll deliver.
What’s a sourcing leader to do?
By answering several simple questions, it’s possible to settle on the right branding strategy.
- How big are you playing?
- If they come, can you serve them?
- How much change are you causing?
- Is shared services and outsourcing mandatory, or will it be adopted through an opt-in strategy?
- How does your organization change?
Branding is a change management tool, and should align with the way the organization looks at any deviation from the status quo. If the ability to change is assumed, branding can be “soft.” If the organization needs a rallying cry, a more robust approach is warranted. As no two organizations change the same way, there is no one approach to branding shared services and outsourcing initiatives.
Brand architecture
Sources:
- Moderandi Inc. Plans for Marketing Strategy. 2015 (https://app.marketingmo.com/)
- Sorenson, L. 7 Components That Comprise a Comprehensive Brand Strategy. 2012 (http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/31739/7-Components-That-Comprise-a-Comprehensive-Brand-Strategy.aspx)
- DeMers, J. The Top 7 Characteristics of Successful Brands. 2013 (http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2013/11/12/the-top-7-characteristics-of-successful-brands/)
- Llopis, G. 6 Brand Strategies Most CMOs Fail To Execute. 2014 (http://www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2014/03/10/6-brand-strategies-that-most-cmos-fail-to-execute/)
- Kops, D. To Brand or Not to Brand (Shared Services and Outsourcing). That Is the Question... 2012 (http://www.sourcingchange.com/to-brand-or-not-to-brand-shared-services-and-outsourcing-that-is-the-question/)
- Woodward, S. Brand Architecture. 2009 (http://www.slideshare.net/suewoodward/brand-strategy-and-architecture-presentation-2009)
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