What is Strategic Branding
Brand Strategy is an intentional plan for shaping the perception of our brand in our customers’ minds. As pointed out by Mary Neumeier, a brand is defined by a customer’s overall impression and trust of our businesses. These perceptions are built through every visual and verbal communication point our customers comes in contact with.
Developing a strategic framework to make a lasting impression and proving our promises at every touch point is the key to a growing business. So, this week, let’s dive into how a strategic brand strategy supports our growing businesses.
Growing Brands Position Themselves
A designer that I look up to often reminds us that if we don’t position ourselves, the world will position us. And, very likely they won’t position us in the place we want or need to be. This is where a solid brand strategy begins.
Brand positioning is the tippy top of the iceberg in a solid brand strategy. It is the process of communicating our brand’s distinct value to our customers and differentiating ourselves from our competitors to make us the obvious choice. To position our brands we must look at what is happening in our market and our audience’s needs and wants.
Strategic Brands Create Clarity
To position our brands in the mind of our customers where we want to be we must create clarity. As entrepreneurs, we can often find ourselves caught in the mire of mediocrity when it comes to what we truly offer. This is not intentional. It is the lure of trying to stand out in a social obsessed world with catchy taglines instead of putting in the work to truly understand our true differentiator.
Strategic branding includes an honest look at
What already exists in our market
What is true about us
What our audience wants most
Knowing this information helps us clarify what we offer to meet the needs of our audience. Once we have clarity on that, we can create customer experience that communicates our offer in a way that connects.
Brand Boost Challenge
Its time to take a look at your brand and get strategic about your growth.
Take a look at your top 3 competitors. Analyze their overall look and feel. What message are they communicating in visuals and in their verbals? Compare what you find to your brand. Are you using a similar feeling or tone? Are you using visuals that are common across your industry? What do you need to focus on to help customers see you as the obvious choice? What needs to change in your messaging or visuals to communicate that difference?
