What is a Brand Strategy?
When you think about the words ‘Brand Strategy’, what do you think of? Perhaps a logo pops up, or some words bop around your head like ‘vision’, ‘target audience’ or ‘proposition’, or perhaps you’re drawing a blank and thinking that’s why I’ve come to read this post Jenni…
All answers are totally ok, especially the last. It can be a complicated world, with lots of jargon and ways of saying the same thing… so let’s break it down and get clearer on what brand strategy is and more importantly why every brand needs one.
First up, what’s a brand?
Before we dive into strategy, it’s useful to be clear on what we mean when we say ‘brand’.
Let’s leap back to the 9th century where the origins of the word are rooted. ‘Brand’ comes from the old norse word ‘brandr’, which means “to burn”. As you can probably guess, ‘branding’ was the method that owners would use to mark and identify their livestock.
Fast forward to the 21st century and according to the Cambridge dictionary, it’s “the set of qualities that people connect with a particular product or organisation.”
So in other words, brand can be identified as your tone of voice, visuals, culture, PR, customer service… anything that can be used to mark and identify your business.
Great, so what’s strategy?
Well if we open up our trusty Cambridge dictionary again, strategy is “the way in which a business, government, or other organisation carefully plans its actions over a period of time to improve its position and achieve what it wants.”
Or in other words, it’s the big choices you make about what you are and what you’re not.
So now we have our two important components, how does it fit together?
Brand Strategy
=
making big long-term decisions on all the things you can do to influence your brand’s reputation.
What does a brand strategy look like?
So we’re clear on what a brand strategy is now. But what does it actually look like? Well, there are lots of ways in which a brand strategy can look as well as different frameworks to get you to your finished strategy. But however you choose to put it together, a good brand strategy should cover the following key areas:
Your purpose (otherwise known as vision/mission/promise) - The reason you’re here and the change you make in the world
Your target audience and their needs - Their characteristics and what they care about and need (emotionally, spiritually, physically).
Your value proposition - What it is that you offer
How you differ from competition - Who you consider your competition to be and how your USPs make you different.
Your personality - Who your brand is to influence your tone of voice and visual identity
“The power of brand lies in what resides in the minds and hearts of customers” - Strategic Brand Management
Put together, this forms your brand strategy and will act as the map that guides the rest of your business.
Why do I need a brand strategy?
Aside from it providing clarity of what your brand is, simply put, a clear brand strategy will help customers understand your offering and in turn buy from you. It drives something called ‘brand equity’, which can be described as the commercial value that is driven through consumer perception of your brand, rather than from the product or service itself. So essentially, people buy from you because they love your brand.
Building a strong brand has many benefits, both in terms of driving more revenue and keeping margins low. The higher your awareness and favourability, the more you’re likely to see the following benefits:
Greater loyalty and more repeat visits
More word of mouth recommendations
Less vulnerability to competitor’s marketing and crises
Larger margins
Increased effectiveness in your marketing communication
Attracting talented people to join your team
Interest from potential investors
What a juicy list!
So, in conclusion a brand strategy is the big choices you make to influence your brand’s reputation. By developing a brand strategy you’ll be able to develop a strong brand that will deliver long-term business goals.
Need help with your brand strategy?
If you’re feeling a bit stuck on how to put a brand strategy together, My Fundamental Foundations package might be ideal.
With this package we create a brand book that delivers your brand strategy, focusing on three core areas: Purpose, Positioning and Personality. This is delivered through four main areas:
Getting to know you - Understanding your values
Deep Dive - Understanding your business, market and customer
Exploration Workshop - Defining your 3 P’s together
Bringing it to life - Building your brand book and implementing your brilliant brand strategy.
I can guarantee this will give you the clarity you need to grow your one of a kind business into one that customers you care about know and love.
If that sounds up your street, book a free chat or Get in touch.
Have a brilliant week!
Jenni
