What is a brand strategy?
Ever feel like your marketing efforts are a bit ad hoc and reactive? Are you and your team stressed out about which direction to go? Are the latest trends and bandwagons becoming a distraction?
If you answered yes to any of the above, chances are you need to establish your brand strategy. Your brand strategy defines who you are, and in turn, what you do.
In this post, we’ll define what brand strategy actually is, showcase a few examples of experience-led brands and give you some tips on getting started with your own brand strategy.
Your brand strategy is the blueprint for developing a strong, successful brand. It is not merely your logo, tagline, or even your business name. It encompasses all aspects of your business, including your clients, values and long-term goals. Building a solid brand strategy ensures you make informed, aligned business decisions that are true to who you are and that resonate with your audience.
Why is strategy important?
Our strategy is the GPS to our goals; without it, we are simply guessing the best route. A lack of strategy, can translate into an expensive detour, leading to lack of consumer trust, attracting the wrong clients and causing unnecessary stress.
By establishing your values and strategy, you become clear on who your business is and who it serves. Each touchpoint is created with purpose and built on concrete data and research.
“77 per cent of consumers buy from brands who share the same values as they do.”
How do I build my brand strategy?
To create a brand strategy, you first need to get crystal clear on the following:
What is your brand’s objective?
Who are your clients?
How does your brand define long term success?
The answers to these questions will help establish and measure your goals, your approach to marketing and the execution of your strategy.
What is your brand’s objective?
Why are you in business? What is your brand’s purpose? While you may have your own personal goals on why you started your business, it is important for your brand to take on a life of its own, including its objective, goals, values and personality.
Here are some questions you can ask to help determine your brand’s objective:
What pain points does my business solve?
What is the promise I give my clients?
What story do I want to tell?
How do I make my clients feel?
How am I different?
Who are your clients?
There’s the phrase “If you’re everything to everyone, you’re nothing to no one,” and this is especially true when building a brand. Consumers not only have to value what you offer but also resonate with who you are. Clearly define your ideal clients, build buyer personas and use this to create your brand messaging and tone of voice.
How does your brand define long term success?
This is a question only you can answer and although it seems daunting to think so far into the future it may be what sets you apart from your competition. Establishing what long term success looks like also helps put things into perspective. That’s not to say that you need to do everything now, but the planning plays a crucial part in the overall success of your brand.
Two examples of effective brand strategy
Apple
Apple is the epitome of a strong brand. It has cultivated a value-driven persona that consumers want to align themselves with: innovation; creativity and imagination.
Apple has built such a strong experience throughout all touchpoints, from their advertising right through to the user interface. This has undoubtedly helped carve out its place as the leader in the market. So much so that there are seen to be only two options: Apple or everyone else (Android).
How did they do it? Apple (at a basic level) established its goals, “to create stellar products and the best possible value to our customers,” figured out who those customers were and created a unique and consistent brand that aligned its proposition to its customer’s values.
McDonald’s
Why does Mickey-D’s stand out among all other fast-food restaurants? Hint: it has nothing to do with the taste or quality of the food.
Love them or hate them you can’t deny McDonald’s pull in the industry. Which, like Apple, is focused on building an unforgettable experience for its target market - kids.
McDonald’s has aligned its brand experience with kids through its prize-led Happy Meals, Ronald McDonald character and in-restaurant play areas. More recently, McDonald’s has shifted its efforts to include healthier additions to happy meals in a bid to appeal to the parents, who are no doubt driven by their kids who want the experience.
How did they do it? McDonald’s’ corporate mission is “to be our customers' favourite place and way to eat and drink.” The company also did a lot (billions of dollars worth) of research to understand their customers and human behaviour. They established how they wanted their customers to feel and created an empire around this core value to make it irresistible.
While I understand that the above examples are of large corporations with even larger wallets, they were chosen as exaggerated examples to demonstrate the effectiveness of building your brand strategy from the ground up.
Remember, an effective brand strategy is the foundation of a strong brand and a successful business. It’s never too late to establish your brand strategy. How well do you know your brand’s objective and shared values? How would you define long-term success? And, is each touchpoint carefully curated to create a feeling and experience for your clients?
If you need help establishing your brand strategy or just aren’t sure where to go from here, act cool, don’t stress. It’s easy to get trapped in a never ending circle of snacks and come out the other side in a strategy-less food coma, but that doesn’t have to be the end result; book in for your free 30-minute discovery call and let’s get those creative juices flowing.
Sources: https://unsplash.com/@marjan_blan
https://unsplash.com/@anckor
https://marketingland.com/building-a-brand-strategy-essentials-for-long-term-success-240712
