Unlock Your Brand’s Potential: How to Create a Winning Strategy

What is a brand? Hint: it’s not the same as a logo.

If anyone knows how to build a successful brand, it is the Founder and CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, who famously said, “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

Let’s start by clarifying one major point of confusion—the role of the logo. You probably know this, but it’s worth reiterating: your brand is more than just your logo.

Your brand represents the whole ecosystem of your business, which is primarily concerned with conveying your identity. For example, this includes your website, mobile app, marketing materials, employee uniforms, office or store space, meeting spaces, and presentations (we know there’s a lot more here)—it’s how your business influences people’s decisions and shapes their expectations.

In other words, your brand is a living, breathing entity whose purpose is to communicate your business story, values, and personality—whether through visuals or interactions (human or digital).

How effectively your brand conveys your key messaging will determine how you connect with your target customers and to what degree they will understand what sets you apart from the rest of the competition.

So what’s a logo?

In contrast, a logo is a far more static object. Sure, there’s no arguing that it’s a critical aspect of the brand.

However, the logo is just one actor on a stage of many. Those other actors include your website, products and services, company culture, mission, values and purpose.

So, when it comes to your logo as a stand-alone entity, its value and power stem from having a strong backing band to support it.

Now you know the difference between brand and logo, it’s time to start crafting your brand identity. In the next section, you’ll learn how to create a brand strategy that ensures your customers fully get you.

How to develop a brand strategy in 6 steps

Defining who you are and where you want to go becomes the reference point for your company’s culture, communication, and operations.

Whether you’re a new company without a logo or an older business with an established brand, developing a brand strategy will align your business so you can reach your goals faster, more efficiently, and together.

Kicking off the process with brand strategy workshops with key stakeholders can be particularly beneficial as they help you define the story you want to tell and how you’ll tell it.

By aligning your mission, vision, and values with your operational goals and market positioning, you create a cohesive and compelling brand that resonates with your target audience and stands out in the competitive landscape.

Here are six easy steps to follow:

Step 1: Research your market and audience

If you want to connect with your audience, you need to get to know them. Not just where they like to shop or go on holiday, but you need to dig deeper and understand their motivations and personal drivers. According to Salesforce, 94% of marketers believe personalised marketing positively affects brand-building.

Tip

• Conduct market research focus groups, gather customer feedback, and listen on social media to learn your audience’s needs and pain points.
  

Step 2: Define your brand position

To identify your Unique Selling Point (USP), start by mapping out who you are as a business, what matters to you and what you care about. 

Think about what sets you apart from your competitors.

What is unique about your story and purpose?  For example, research by the global communications giant Edelman found that 53% of consumers wanted brands to take a stand on at least one social issue.

Tip 

• Apply the 3 P’s of brand positioning: Purpose, Power and Personality.
  

Step 3: Get to know your competitors 

Understanding your competitors is vital for positioning your brand. You need to know what others are doing in your industry to determine your position in comparison.

Start by identifying your key competitors—the top three to five will suffice. Then, they analyse their strengths and weaknesses by examining their website, customer app and portals, what products and solutions they offer, and how these are marketed. This will also help you better understand their market positioning.

Tip:

• Gather qualitative feedback through, e.g., customer focus groups, interviews, online reviews, and competitor visits, as well as quantitative data through surveys, polls, and questionnaires.
  

Step 4: Craft a compelling brand story

Your brand story is a narrative that encompasses your company’s history, values, and mission. It is the story you want to tell your customers and how you want them to interact with you.

Tip:

• Focus on what makes it unique. Ask yourself: Why does your brand exist? What problems are you trying to solve? What values do you want to represent? For example, Coca-Cola stands for happiness, togetherness and celebration.
  

Step 5: Build and implement your brand architecture

Brand architecture is the organisational structure of your brand portfolio. It outlines how different sub-brands, products, and services relate to and support each other.

Tip: 

•  List your product and service features, identify their benefits, and evaluate the importance of each feature and benefit to your target market.
  
  

Step 6: Assign roles and responsibilities

Lastly, don’t forget to define roles and responsibilities within your company so everyone understands their part in delivering the brand promise.  Key teams that are involved in brand management include marketing, leadership, product design, sales and customer support.

Tip:

• As marketing trends change, you should regularly re-evaluate your brand strategy to ensure you are adapting to shifts in customer needs and expectations. 

Maintaining brand consistency with a brand identity system

Great!

You’ve successfully defined who you are, your core values, and what makes your brand unique.

Now it’s time to start building your brand identity—this comprehensive framework ensures consistency across all brand touchpoints.

To get you started, here is a brand identity system checklist.

• Logo— a visual symbol of your brand
• Colour palette—the chosen set of colours representing the brand
• Typography—the fonts and styles used in brand communications
• Imagery—the style of photos, illustrations, and graphics
• Voice and tone—the style of communication, including language and phrasing
• Design Elements—the additional visual components such as patterns and shapes
• Guidelines—a document that outlines how all the above elements will be managed and governed

Key advantages of a brand management system

Deploying a brand management system, such as Brandfolder, Bynder, or Canva, is essential for consistently maintaining and scaling your brand across all touchpoints.

These systems house your brand strategy, logo and identity guidelines, and all your brand’s assets and components, both print and digital.

Remember, a professional, well-built, and well-maintained brand management system pays huge dividends in the short, medium, and long term.

How?

Well, it helps you streamline processes, enhance brand consistency, and support efficient, collaborative work environments. Leaving you free to focus on the creative and strategic stuff that will help your business grow.

Here are 6 reasons why you need a brand management system 

Reason 1: Efficient and consistent asset creation

A brand management system allows assets and components to be created efficiently, at scale, and consistently across multiple touchpoints. This ensures better collaboration and consistency over time.

Reason 2: Clear implementation Guidelines

Don’t leave designers and developers guessing by having implementation guidelines. These will ensure clarity, reduce errors and help you adhere to brand standards.

Reason 3: Scalable output with consistency

Scaling output while staying consistent reduces design debt and ensures all materials remain on-brand.

Reason 4: Improved remote collaboration

A brand management system enhances remote working collaboration by providing a centralised platform where all team members can access necessary assets and guidelines.

Reason 5: Single source of truth

Maintaining design principles, components, and accessibility standards in a single, easily accessible location ensures everyone is on the same page.

Reason 6: Secure asset management

Maintaining design principles, components, and accessibility standards in a single, easily accessible location ensures everyone is on the same page.

Final thoughts

Unlocking your brand’s potential requires a comprehensive approach beyond just creating a logo. It involves developing a well-rounded brand identity system, a strategic plan encompassing every aspect of your business, and leveraging brand management systems to maintain consistency and efficiency. Doing so enhances your brand’s perception and ensures all efforts align towards achieving your business objectives.