Building a unique and exceptional brand for your business takes time and planning. However, a thriving brand strategy becomes the perfect complement to your business strategy – positioning your company for success. So what does an effective brand strategy look like and why does it matter?
What is Brand Strategy?
Your brand includes many individual parts such as your logo, company name, products and website. Think of it as the personality or character behind all those aspects, which essentially ties your brand identity together. This quality is something that cannot be pinned down but rather relates to the public’s perception of your business. Almost as if they had met a person, whom they find likeable or not. Because your brand is what people think of when they hear your name, it cannot be entirely controlled. Nevertheless, there are many ways which can influence how people perceive your brand.
The Basis for Your Overall Marketing Strategy
Having a great brand strategy will make your brand immediately recognisable. This means consistency from the colours in your logo, to the style of your packaging or the service delivery of your staff. It also means that time will not be wasted on trivial tasks and that your resources are spent on areas that get results and tie in with the big picture.
Take some time to consider your brand and the message you want to send. What values do you stand for, what voice do you want to project, and what kind of service do you offer? Are you very professional and precise or friendly and fun? Once you’ve decided on a voice, apply this brand strategy across all channels, branding and marketing tools.
Branding Toolkits
Although the philosophy behind a good branding strategy might seem slightly elusive, the practical application of it is quite concrete. Here’s a branding strategy checklist of tools to use:
Logo
A logo is a foundation on which your brand is built. It should be meaningful and representative of what your business has to offer, easily recognisable, simple, and work on a variety of different platforms.
Brand Identity
This includes all visual elements used to identify your brands, such as your logo, letterheads, business cards, packaging, and even staff uniforms. Continuity across these elements is crucial and can be implemented by developing design guidelines of colour and fonts to ensure the same look and feel.
Tagline
A catchy phrase to capture the essence of your brand.
Mission Statement and Core Values
A principle statement describing the organisation’s existence and what customers can expect from interactions with your staff.
Colours
A colour palette that reflects the brand’s core message and attitudes.
Font
The look and feel of the words on your pages plays an important role in user perception. It is important to consider how these fonts are used in different media.
Imagery
Carefully selecting the right images goes a long way to effective brand communication.
Elements of Brand Strategy
Strong brands are the product of a long-term strategy informing the way that a company does business and is closely connected to the needs of their clients. A successful brand strategy allows businesses the opportunity to build an experience that will remain with their clients for a long time. Consider the following parts of a great brand strategy:
Purpose
While the practical purpose of any business is obviously to generate money, the philosophical meaning will be something more along the lines of adding value to the world around you. Think about what sets you apart from other brands and what unique traits your company has to offer.
Consistency
Ensure that you’re always sending the same message about your brand, regardless of the platform. Don’t merely post an entertaining meme on Instagram, if it will not enhance your brand or align with the vibe you wish to create on social media. This, of course, applies especially to visual elements such as logos, colours and fonts, which should form a cohesive whole across all types of media.
Emotion
Remember that consumers are not always rational. Feeling a certain way about a brand can cause them to make decisions that are not only based on a concrete list of features or a price tag. The best branding strategies channel the positive emotive responses of their potential customers to offer them what they are looking for.
Employee Involvement
Your staff should be well aware of how to represent your brand and communicate with customers. Through their involvement, communication and behaviours, they should portray a consistent brand narrative. This will determine whether clients feel your brand is delivering on its promises.
Customer Involvement and Loyalty
If you already have happy customers, reward their loyalty. Nurture the positive relationship as this shows potential customers the benefits of choosing to do business with you. Once you’ve sold a product and provided a service or finished a project attempt to get your customers to promote your business with a review or sharing photos on social media.
Your brand promise
It should form a crucial part of your overall strategy and will ensure strong activities and new behaviours across the business to embrace purpose and allow for meaningful change to happen. Aim to fulfil your customers’ expectations every time. Even the best brand strategy will fail if your actual product or service does not deliver. Believe in what you have to offer and approach each interaction as a chance to show your commitment to excellence.
A successful brand strategy can be the difference between a remarkable one and a brand that disappears into the crowd.
Conclusion:
Brand strategy plays an important part in meeting business goals. Developing a results-driven strategy means that you understand the market and customer’s needs. It is important to keep the end goal in mind and ensure that you have all hands on deck. Contact Azapi on support@azapi.co.za or 087 820 0780 to arrange a quick chat about your brand strategy.