Today, brand strategy is everything. Unlike times of olde, it’s no longer enough just to throw together a few bullet points and call it good, though.
Instead, modern brands need to take a proactive approach to developing a cohesive and engaging strategy that supports other facets of the marketing funnel.
If you’re considering developing or overhauling your existing brand strategy, here’s a guide to get you started down the right road.
What is a Brand?
The word “brand” is a bit of a catch-all for everything that makes your company your company. A brand is many things. It is…
- Your logo
- Your company’s fonts and color scheme
- What your customers think of your company when you’re not around
- How customers feel about your offerings and staff
- Your company’s name
- The reputations associated with your products or services
For modern companies, though, brand work is far, far more than logos, color pallets, cohesive voice, and other creative elements. Which begs the question of what a brand truly is, and how you can create a good one.
Generating a Lasting Brand
Now that you understand what a brand truly is, it’s time to talk about how to create a great one. The foundational approach here is to create cohesion. Good brands are cohesive brands. This means they align what the brand stands for, what promises it makes to customers, and what personality it conveys through marketing and messaging. It’s also essential that these brands create relationships that foster outstanding service delivery and recovery.
Because these things are intangibles, though, they can be amazingly difficult to produce. This is where the importance of brand sentiment comes in. By focusing on your brand sentiment, you can differentiate your brand from the crowd and design a customer-centric experience that promises to keep your brand strong for years to come.
Another essential aspect of brand strategy is to develop your brand’s sense of intuition. How can a brand have intuition, you ask? Easy: you use data to guide some decisions and go with your gut on the rest. This means knowing intuitively what your customers will like and not like, what will over- and under-perform, and how you can best communicate your brand story and promote adoption with customers. Here at TVDA, we work with one brand who does this by focusing on the central question: “How can we be a convener?”
Establishing Your Company’s Brand
Are you ready to get your brand on the ground and running? Start by filling out our branding diagram. It’s a pillar for maintaining and growing an association or nonprofit. After all, growth means cultivating how your group is viewed and paying attention to your personal brand. Here are some additional steps to get you started:
- Look for defining moments that underscore what your brand stands for in a public way… opportunities that set the stage for you to reinforce that key attribute regularly whether that is monthly, yearly or at some other cadence.
- Drive publicity for a few things that have a common thread between them and reinforce your core values… this is no different than what Starbucks, Marriott or other successful brands have done in the past. Is there an annual event that can reinforce the values your organization embodies?
- Evaluate core concepts that help guide your company through core questions and make it easier to understand which choice to take when multiple are presented.
Looking for additional help with your company’s branding? Contact TVD Associates today!