Without Strategy Your Brand is Going Nowhere
Imagine a business without direction. A leader without focus. A company that impulsively pulls in all directions. This company would invariably fail to connect, lose money, and people would reject it. Every company needs direction. They need to know what they stand for and play to their strengths. The same can be said for brands.
In this article, we will show you how to design the strategic direction of your brand. We will present the main components of the brand platform and their benefits. In addition, we will elaborate on the role branding can play in achieving specific business goals, from mergers and acquisitions to developing brand resilience.
Brands are a powerful business asset. Any thought of changing them, should not be taken lightly. It’s essential that all involved understand the reason for any kind of change, and what the desired outcomes are.
What is Brand Strategy?
Brand strategy is managing your brand strategically to take a leading role in the business strategy and provide direction for the whole company. A strong brand strategy must be aligned with the company's business strategy, to ensure everyone is working towards the same goal.
The brand strategy contains six elements, that together define the brand's identity and positioning.
Purpose
Vision, mission and values
Audiences
Drivers
Positioning
Customer Value Proposition (CVP)
Begin with Why
Without a substantial reason for making changes to a brand, the outcome becomes purely cosmetic and open to misunderstanding. So, the first question to any proposal for change is, “why are we doing this?”
Brand strategy is a broad topic, but at heart, it's about defining the brand's direction to complement business strategy and build success. Getting there requires insight into the background of your business, your competitive landscape and the drivers that may affect your ambitions moving forward. These insights provide accurate input into the strategy, ensuring a strong path to success. Like anything, the more you prepare, the more likely you are to succeed.
The brand strategy is part of the other business strategy.
Choose a Good Team that Focuses on Branding and Strategy
Traditionally brands have been handled by the brand manager, or those working in marketing, but this is starting to change. In their fight to attract and retain the best people, human resources increasingly rely on the brand to engage with talent. Corporate communications teams seek branded content, to position the brand with influencers and investors. Whilst C-suite leaders often are the public face of the brand and should represent it accordingly.
You may not include all of these departments in your decision group, but it’s wise to consult with them initially. You will gain valuable intel and avoid any frustrating U-turns in the middle of the process. Then, further into the process, it’s a good idea to touch base with them again, to gain regular feedback and support.
It is important to have the right people in the decision group.
The Role of the Decision Group
You should aim to form a small decision group, with no more than five people with useful insight, and the mandate to make decisions. They don’t need to be visually literate (your designer will explain all things visual), but their practical guidance through the process will help the project flow.
Involve your brand agency from the beginning. A good brand strategist can advise you at a micro level, discussing the nuances of customer research, for instance. But also, at the macro level, helping you decide if the concept aligns with the business strategy.
Strong brands take years to build and need people who are experienced and committed to going the distance. Branding is ultimately a team sport.
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Decision models can be used to choose the direction for the company.
Developing Your Brand Platform
At the core of any brand strategy is the brand platform, a working tool that describes your brand, what it stands for, who its audiences are and how it creates value. It serves as a daily reference tool, guiding all involved to make the decisions that keep the brand cohesive whilst addressing the challenges of the day.
Whether you are sharpening your current brand, or facing a larger challenge, such as the consequences of a merger, the brand platform will be invaluable to anchor who you are and create a brand that reflects and supports your business objectives for years to come.
Invest in Insight to Future-Proof Your Brand
All strong brands are built on a foundation of insight; you need to take stock of where you are and create a road map to take you forward.
Here are eight fundamental questions to consider before beginning a brand strategy process:
What kind of company are you?
What is your background?
Who are your stakeholders?
What value do you provide?
Who do you compete with?
How are you different?
What is the world you operate within like?
How do you see the future?
Answering these questions involves research to gain quantitative data, such as sales, targets and segments, and feel out the situation through qualitative research. For example, what do people think of the brand? What does the future look like for this brand? What trends should we pay attention to, and what should we avoid? Your brand will ultimately benefit from the thoroughness of these questions.
Brand strategists are equally at home mining through this information, from commissioning market research and competitor analysis to interviewing key players. The skill here is not simply to gather data, but to extract the underlying messages the data presents. Yes, people close to you may know your brand and have strong opinions, but they may be too conscious of the past and unaware of future challenges. An external view often brings inspiring insights that would be difficult to see from within.
Six Components of the Brand Platform
The brand platform defines your brand’s DNA, its personality and the natural way it should express itself. It serves as a formal business tool, providing all involved with a shared understanding of the brand and preventing individuals from pulling in different directions.
This focused nature builds a cohesive expression, helping the team to guide the brand forward, ultimately saving time and money. All brand platforms must contain detailed descriptions of the following elements to provide a deep understanding of what makes you – you.
We operate with six elements in the brand's DNA, also called the brand platform.
Purpose
In my experience, if you ask ten directors, "what kind of company are you?", you will get ten different answers. A company's role is often evolving, so it isn't always what you think it is. Airbnb, for instance, could be described as an "accommodation business." But they don't see it that way. Instead, they consider themselves "providing personal travel experiences, in a world where everyone feels they belong."
I accept that this might sound a little self-obsessed, but branding is about the ego of a business. By seeing themselves as different, Airbnb triggers different strategies, actions and outcomes, making them a game-changing brand in a tired market.
That's why Mission focuses on building brands with a purpose. Time and again, we find that purpose, (the reason why companies do what they do, beyond making money,) is the starting point to building a strong brand.
Purpose brands have a much more apparent self-awareness and manage themselves more confidently. This clearer conviction resonates with all stakeholders, is seen as authentic, and helps them connect on a deeper level.
“Coca-Cola is made in a factory, but the brand is created in people’s minds.”
Many companies make the mistake of defining themselves by what they sell, using it to describe themselves, “we make soft drinks, so we’re in the beverage business, right?” Wrong. Coca-Cola is made in a factory, but the brand is created in people’s minds. Coca-Cola’s purpose is “To refresh the world.” This purpose triggers a more optimistic attitude that can be felt in all their marketing, sponsorship and advertising, giving them the edge over rival brands that taste just the same.
2. Vision, Mission and Values
Purpose alone, can be a bit vague. To round it out, it needs to be supported by vision, mission and values.
Vision. Most developed companies have a vision. It’s a description of the future they’d like to create in the context of their business. Of course, nobody can predict the future, but it’s wise to set a north star to guide day-to-day decisions.
The vision must be realistic and challenging to give us something to reach for. Whether it's a company of 10 or 10,000 employees, everybody feels safe, knowing there's a direction, and that it feels inspiring.
Mission. The mission statement now acts more as a shorthand for the business strategy. If the vision is “where” we want to be, the mission statement describes, in general terms, “how” we will get there. There is no need to go into specifics or confidential plans. Instead, picture it as a way to explain the business plan so the average employee would understand.
Values . The company values are the shared principles that the business stands for. Values help align individual behaviour in such a way that supports the purpose and drives us to achieve the vision. So, if you rely on strong customer relations, for instance, “helpfulness” would be a good value to encourage within your people and your brand.
That is not to say that everyone must fully embrace all these principles. Values are a guide to stimulate appropriate behaviour. We find that values mean a lot to staff. They want guidance and welcome formal direction. So rather than forcing values upon them, it's better to involve your colleagues in the process of defining them.
By involving colleagues, you get their buy-in, making the process smoother. More importantly, the values become personal to you, thereby creating an authentic brand that people trust.
Audiences
Brands are developing beyond the traditional relationship of business to customer. Naturally, the customer is central to any business operation for ongoing sales, but companies are recognising other audiences to target to get there.
Employer branding has risen dramatically in recent years, as companies depend on building a proactive culture and attracting specialist skills to help them grow. Equally, investors require a unique approach as they begin to look beyond profit, to sustainability practices and increasingly consider intangibles, such as purpose and brand. Some businesses depend on governments as a vital partner, while others rely on opinion formers, or the local community to help with their ambitions.
Branding is no longer a one-way relationship; it's multi-faceted, requiring a brand that can adapt. Whichever target audience you are focused on, it's essential that you create a brand that resonates with their interests. Understanding their needs, habits and pain points will help to build an engaging brand.
4. Drivers
What are the drivers for the brand to make a change? Once we know our stakeholders, we need to dive deep into what is important to each of them, and how we, as a brand, can fulfil their desires.
5. Positioning
Brand positioning is defined as “the act of designing the company’s offering and image, to occupy a distinctive place in the mind of the target market.” It requires a holistic view of the market and competitor landscape, to carve out an attractive and defendable position.
It's fair to say that, at one time, Levi’s was the undisputed king of denim. They leveraged their status as the "original" to become a global brand. However, Levi’s failed to uncover the company's inner essence. As people became less concerned with dressing formally, denim in all shapes and sizes gained popularity. Levi’s tried to capitalise on being the original product, but in the end, it wasn't a defensible position.
Now every fashion brand has its own denim line. Some offer value, some are premium, some are innovative, and some have a rebellious attitude. Unfortunately, Levi’s relevance has faded (no pun intended), flagship stores have disappeared, and their product range has diminished.
No brand can be all things to all people. So it’s wise to be conscious of what your brand means in relationship to others, helping you to demonstrate the difference and guard your position fiercely.
6. Customer Value Proposition
A customer value proposition (CVP) is becoming a useful replacement for what was previously called the brand promise. It’s even superseding the brand tagline. The CVP is a simple statement that directly declares the value your brand provides.
Knowing the value your brand offers would seem obvious. Still, many leaders become so familiar with their day-to-day operations that they forget to ask themselves, “what unique value do we provide?” The beauty of the CVP is that it distils everything you do into its simple essence, providing focus and preventing deviation.
Here are some examples of CVPs that Mission has created:
«By your side» - EIKA
«Extreme performance for extreme conditions» - KONGSBERG
«Creating digital advantage» - EVRY
The CVP must complement the brand’s purpose, serving as a kind of yin and yang. The purpose stating “why” you do what you do, whilst the CVP states the “value” you create.
A Vital Tool for Even the Biggest Brand Decisions
The six points above describe the brand's DNA, which creates the identity of the brand. These are the ones you should base all your communication choices on. If a communication proposal does not reflect the brand platform, it does not work for the brand and should be reworked to harmonize with the true nature of the brand.
In this way, the brand platform is an essential tool for brand managers and their teams. It helps to indoctrinate a shared understanding, making the direction clear and decision-making quicker. Use it daily, and over time you will create a consistent brand experience across all your media channels.
The Brand Strategy Behind a Brand Platform
Once your brand platform is in place, you are in a solid position to tackle issues concerning your brand. You should be able to make your media planning more focused, develop your visual identity, improve your social media communications, and choose agencies that can help you bring your brand to life. Your aim should be to work on your branding and implement strategies based on the platform.
Your brand strategist should be seen as an ongoing partner, used as a sounding board, to evaluate future business issues and gain a feel for the consequences. They are adept at many disciplines that help to maintain a brand’s investment and effectiveness. Here are some of the business challenges where brand strategy is vital.
Employee Engagement
It would be useless to build your brand platform without having a plan to integrate it into your company's culture. Gaining employee support and engagement is job number one in the steps to delivering the strategy.
Sharing the Belief
Branding was once the sole domain of marketing, but in our experience, results are far stronger when marketing, leadership and human resources all share the challenge of building the brand. The brand has to be seen as a valuable business asset, something to be nurtured and developed.
If the branding process has been inclusive, the core tenets of the brand should reflect the common beliefs of the workforce, the vision should be inspiring, and the purpose something that motivates them to perform. This should generate a sense of pride and shared ambition.
Creating a Tangible Connection
Discretionary efforts, such as initiative, collaboration, innovation and creativity, will be considered part of each individual’s role. This authentic, focused and proactive mentality will ripple through every customer experience in the future. Outsiders will feel the difference, even if they can’t put their finger on it. Effectively what the brand says and what the brand does will become one and the same, creating an authentic and compelling connection with all your audiences.
Attracting and Retaining Talent
There has been a clear shift in attitudes amongst young people in stark contrast to the apathy of Gen X that preceded them. They’ve been baptised into the digital world. They grasp new lucrative skills that are pertinent to the digital age. At the same time, they’ve witnessed the lack of influence institutions such as Governments have and know they will inherit a world where sustainability is critical. These people are looking for companies that are authentic, driven by a valid purpose and involve their employees in their journey.
Mergers and Acquisitions
Many businesses will never encounter a merger or acquisition (M&A), but those that have, will know that it pays to be prepared. There is much to consider in an M&A process: aligning cultures, considering cultural or national nuances, political implications, personal passions and operational integration. Naturally, each company’s brand will come under scrutiny. Understanding each brand’s strengths, what to keep, what to lose, what to add and what to replace throws up a myriad of questions and consequences.
Protecting Your Equity
There is never a silver bullet solution, but having your brand platform and strategy in place, will be a valuable start to discussions. The equity you’ve built within your brand, should be seen as part of the value you bring to the negotiation. Any decisions to change should not be made impulsively.
Use the Opportunity to Inspire
The business objectives of the M&A will inform the final direction of the brand, moving forward. There is a time factor involved too; your stakeholders will offer some leniency, but will demand a clear direction for the future of the brands, as time passes. So don’t put branding at the bottom of the to-do list.
The picture you paint of the future of the brand, can be an extremely tangible and inspiring example of things to come. This can help retain key players, inspire customers and reassure investors that there will be a better and brighter outcome for all, post-merger. Find out more about preparing for M&A here .
With the right brand architecture, you organize your brand in the best possible way.
Brand Architecture
Companies that provide multiple offerings can sometimes grow to the extent where the customer cannot choose and find the offer confusing. Brand Architecture is the discipline of organising an offer, or portfolio of brands, so that customers can easily navigate and choose.
Take mobile networks, for example. The pace of competition has led to new services materialising almost every month, with new features, benefits, subscription models and prices stacking up. The network’s organic approach to communicating their offering only confused customers leaving them irritated and insecure.
Building Clarity and Synergy
Developing your offering into a cohesive portfolio while remaining easy to navigate is a balancing act that all brands must be conscious of. Good brand architecture provides coherence and clarity. At its best, brand architecture facilitates synergy between offerings, creating a value chain for your business.
Branding is a detail and big-picture skill. A good brand strategist will create a sharp contrast between existing offers, making them easy to differentiate between. At the same time, they will have an eye on potential future demands, leaving room to expand without undermining the overall structure. You can learn more about Mission’s approach to brand architecture here.
Good Strategy Habits
So far, we've discussed some useful disciplines within a brand strategy. But these address specific moments in a brand's life. What about the ongoing day-to-day aspect of stewarding a brand? Here are some habits we find useful to bear in mind:
Playing the Long Game
It’s good to view brand strategy as a long game. There is no such thing as overnight success. The daily proactive signals that your staff, social media and website content send out, incrementally build your reputation in the public’s conscience. Part of your strategy should be to constantly ask, how do we maintain that positive impression? How do we stay ahead of competitors? How do we position ourselves to be their brand of choice?
Making these questions part of your routine develops what I call “professional restlessness.” You are continually evaluating quality and benchmarking your output against the zeitgeist. This is how great brands stay sharp and remain relevant for decades.
Set Your Own Pace When Working on Branding
Like any relationship, you cannot overstay your welcome. I’ve observed many brands from afar over the years, and I have noticed that the best brands pace themselves. They maintain a presence. They have regular content to feed into social media. Their stores are on the best streets in town. Their staff are well trained and ready to help. But just when you thought you knew them, just when they were becoming familiar, they surprise you with a well-timed offer, innovation or event in the media.
This is brand pace at work: Well-conceived initiatives that maintain your interest and faith in the brand. I often admire these brands and the brand managers behind them. They are like authors of a great thriller; just when you thought you knew where the story was going, they take you in a new direction, keeping you turning the pages with exciting curiosity.
Brand managers often overlook the skill of keeping customers engaged because they are busy following routine tasks, budgets, plans, and events for the year. However, the most effective brand managers can keep customers engaged by creating an element of surprise and anticipation, which helps maintain a valuable relationship.
Be Flexible
Branding is never routine. If you aren’t continually thinking about how your brand can evolve, you can guarantee that the world around you will. The conditions of engagement will change, business strategies will develop, and competitors will make a play for your territory. Brands can never be caught sleeping at the whee
As I write this, one of my clients is going through a merger, another is addressing sustainability demands, and a third is preparing for an international expansion. Each of these companies has wisely maintained one eye on the future.
The changes my clients are encountering don’t come as a surprise. In fact, they are prepared and ahead of the problem.
Their brand strategies are in place, and they stay true to their long-term goals, but they are flexible. A well-planned brand strategy accommodates change and helps you adapt or seize opportunities as they arise, helping you move closer to your long-term objectives.
Conclusion
Brand strategy has a role to play, at any given point in a company’s development, it can:
Sharpen an unfocussed brand
Facilitate a product/service launch
Adapt, or reposition to enter new markets
Facilitate a merger, or acquisition
Organise and redefine a company’s offering
Attract and motivate employees
All companies have a reputation whether they actively work on it or not. Using brand strategy, you can control who you are and how people perceive you. Brand strategy and the brand platform can help you create a clear, unified voice and add power to your business strategy.
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