How to Build a Brand Strategy

So you need to build a brand strategy that will deeply connect with people and drive growth. Before we talk about how to build a brand strategy, let’s first align on what a brand model even is! 

In the past – before people had such a vast array of options to choose from – building a brand strategy was a more simple thing. The old model was more one-dimensional; all a brand had to do was tell the customer what it was, and then quality, preference, and accessibility would play a larger role in purchase decisions over brand names, attributes, and personas.

Back then, people were more easily able to determine the functional differences in products. Today, brands have to do a whole lot more. 

 

What is a Brand Model, today?

The new model of brand is multidimensional. A brand is a continuous collaborative conversation between people and the brand. Your brand is the sum of who it wants to be and who people perceive it to be. In essence, it’s the emotional and psychological relationship you have with your customers. 

A brand is not just about slapping a cool logo on your stuff or coming up with a catchy phrase. Rather, it’s the whole vibe people catch when they dive into what you’re all about—your company, your products, your everything. It’s that gut feeling they get and the expectations they have for your product and services. Think of your brand as the soul of what you’re offering, making a bold promise to your target audience. It’s your way of saying, “Here’s what you’re in for,” setting you apart from the crowd.

 

What is a Brand Strategy?

A brand strategy is your guiding light; your “why” and “how” rolled into one. It’s about making smart, bold choices that align with who you are in the market, who you’re chasing, and how you plan to catch their attention. This isn’t about shooting in the dark; it’s strategic gameplay, fueled by solid market research to point you in the right direction.

Think of it as the ultimate game plan, encompassing your purpose, values, voice, tone, and design. It also sets the stage for how you divvy up the budget pie, where you splurge, and the moves you’ll make to stand out. It’s not just about the big decisions; it’s about ensuring that every choice and tactic stands out and expresses your intentions. 

 

Why is Building a Brand Strategy Important? 

Without a brand strategy to highlight what makes you different and help you build a deep connection with your audience, you blend into the background. It’s like being the wallpaper at a party. Everyone’s there, and no one is noticing you. Or worse, people do notice you but not in the way you want them to. 

And throwing money into marketing without a brand strategy is like playing darts blindfolded. You might hit something by chance, but more often than not, you’re just wasting your cash. 

Here’s why nailing your brand strategy is a game-changer:

• Stand Out: In a sea of me-toos, your brand strategy is your neon sign. It’s what makes people pick you out of the lineup.
• Real Connections: This is about turning transactions into relationships. Your brand strategy is how you get into people’s hearts and stay there, turning customers into your biggest fans.
• Clear Direction: Without it, you’re wandering in the dark. A solid strategy lights the way, ensuring everyone at your company knows who you are (and who you’re not) and keeps your intended audience at the heart of everything you do. 
• Fuel for Growth: It’s not just fluff; it’s rocket fuel for your business. It enables you to attract the right crowd (and more of them!) and identify the opportunities that will align with your purpose while propelling the brand forward. 

Bottom line? Your brand strategy is the backbone of your hustle. It’s what makes you memorable, magnetic, and miles ahead. Without it, you’re just another face in the crowd. With it, you’re a force to be reckoned with.

So, let’s talk about how to create a brand strategy! 

 

How to Build a Brand Strategy

Embarking on the brand strategy journey is crucial for both new and existing brands aiming to make their mark. It’s about defining who you are, understanding who you’re for, and carving out your unique space in the market. This guide simplifies the journey into 5 essential steps:

1. Setting clear brand objectives
2. Defining your audience, from segmenting the market to identifying your target(s)
3. Crafting a brand purpose that will resonate
4. Positioning your brand distinctively, and finally,
5. Codifying all these elements into a strategic blueprint for all marketing activities.

 

1) Objectives for Building a Strategy 

Brand and marketing objectives might look different depending on whether you’re launching a new brand and want to start off on the right foot, or you’re an existing brand looking to plan your next steps and refine/redefine your direction. Either way, it’s critical to establish your business strategy, and build alignment on what you want your brand to achieve in the marketplace. Examples of objectives might include:

• Grow with a new target audience
• Break into/disrupt a new category
• Challenge the industry leader

If you’re setting objectives for a brand that already exists, this is a crucial moment to assess the health and heartbeat of your brand. It’s about gauging not just sales and market share but also mindshare. How do people today perceive and feel about your brand? 

From there, you can then design where you want to propel your brand, and define the steps (short and long-term) that will get you there, such as:

• Do we have a meaningful brand purpose to act as our north star? 
• Have we clearly defined our audience? 
• Do we need to target a new segment to achieve continued growth?
• Do we need to strengthen our positioning to connect more deeply with our target? 
• How far can we stretch our brand without losing credibility, relevancy, or resonance?

 

2) Define your Audience 

Your people are your everything. Research shows that companies that are customer-focused or “market-oriented” are more successful than companies that are product-oriented, sales-oriented, etc. So the most important place to start is figuring out who your audience is. This way, you can whip up products and services that you know your audience will care about, and channel your marketing energy where it really counts.

Segmentation

• What is segmentation? Think of it as slicing up your market pie into bite-sized pieces that actually make sense. You’re looking for slices that share the same hunger—needs, interests, and what gets them ticking—while making sure each slice is distinct enough to stand out from the others.
• How do you segment the market? Mix up some quant and qual magic. Use quant to cluster your segments and find your slices, then dive in with qual to illuminate who these folks are, bringing their stories and quirks into the spotlight. Keep in mind, the effectiveness of a segmentation is directly linked to the quality of its inputs, which need to be customized for your product or service. 

Targeting

• What is targeting? Armed with knowledge from segmentation, you can now decide which group needs or wants what your brand can provide. You can’t afford to target everyone, nor should you—given what resonates with one group may be totally different from what resonates with another! So, pick a primary segment and perhaps one or two secondary segments that share qualities with that primary segment. These are the folks you can solve a real problem for, and will really dig what you’re laying down.

• How do you identify your target audience? Look at what makes a segment sparkle—size, spending power, potential for growth—and how snugly they fit with what you’re offering. Do their needs align with the emotional and functional benefits your product/service provides? If yes, you’re on to something. But don’t stop there. It’s important to do proper research to get to know them like the real, complex people they are. 

• How do you get your team on board? One-pager Personas and film are a great tool to bring your target segment(s) to life, so everyone at your organization can build empathy for them. Think of them as a vivid, almost-living portrait that highlights the specific characteristics, behaviors, needs, and motivations of your audience. 

 

3) Define your brand purpose 

Once you know who your audience is, you can really define what your brand is all about, with that audience in mind. A brand’s purpose should genuinely reflect the core values and passions of its target audience. Sharing your brand’s reason for being helps you form meaningful connections with people, which impact your bottom line. In 2019, Unilever announced that its purpose-led brands were growing 69% faster than the rest of the business.

• What is a brand purpose? It answers the question: why does your brand exist? It’s a brand’s “true north”. It’s not just what the brand does, but something it can uniquely offer your audience that no one else can. And it acts as the foundation for defining more specific guidelines for everything your brand does, from communications to innovation.

• How do you create a brand purpose? Mine existing research, conduct stakeholder interviews, embark on trend treks, and conduct research with your target segments to identify cultural, category, company, and consumer truths. Ideate your brand purpose at the nexus of these “4Cs.” It’s typically expressed via a few words (often brand category agnostic) which show what the brand stands for and the role it can play in the world.

 

 

However, brand purpose has to be something you commit to for the long-haul vs. a one-time marketing campaign. People do not look kindly upon brands not backing up their messaging with action, e.g. greenwashing – which can take time. So if you are going to create and communicate a brand purpose, make sure you live up to it, both within your own walls as well as out in the world! 

 

4) Position your Brand

On the journey of building a brand strategy, brand positioning is the transition step from how you are internally thinking about your brand to how you are communicating it externally. Think of it as how you message your brand purpose into the competitive landscape. 

It’s all about finding a distinct place in your target audience’s mind based on the uniqueness of your offering–so whenever they think about you, their minds go to that place! Your brand positioning will inform how you talk about your brand to the world, whether through campaigns, copy on your website, packaging, etc. 

• What is brand positioning? A good positioning strategy considers the target audience, the points of difference of the product or service, and the competitive landscape…and finds the white space. There are many ways to structure a positioning statement. Our favorite statement framework includes:

• How do you create a brand positioning? If your segmentation and targeting game are strong, you should have a pretty solid grip on what makes your audience tick – their needs, desires, and pain points and everything in between. If not, it’s time to get up close and personal and do some qualitative research, because nailing your brand’s position starts with deeply understanding your people. 

Next up, scope out the competitive landscape. What are competitors nailing, and where are they slipping? You’ll start to see the potential whitespace and sweet spots your brand can own. But don’t just guess, explore those “ways in” with your target with your target audience. Find out what sticks, what feels true to your brand, and what’s got the unique edge to cut through the noise.

 

5) Codify your brand 

After nailing your brand positioning, it’s time to etch your brand’s essence into a strategic blueprint. This is where you transform the soul of your brand into a visual and verbal master plan.

What is “codifying a brand”?

Think of it as all the foundations of your brand (all the elements you’ve learned throughout the brand-building process!) in an easy-to-digest summary, that anyone can pick up and easily understand the key elements of who you are.

How do you codify your brand?

Imagine gathering the building blocks of your brand—all those core elements you’ve unearthed on your brand-building journey—and laying them out on a single canvas. This isn’t just any old document; it’s a visually striking and succinct guide that steers every aspect of your business, from marketing and communications to packaging and beyond.

Start with the gold you’ve mined so far:

• Your Audience: Who you’re speaking to.

• Your Big Insight: The human truth that connects you to your audience.

• Your Brand Purpose: Why you jump out of bed in the morning.

• Your Brand Promise: The core strength you’re known for.

• Your Brand Benefits: The mix of functional and emotional rewards your audience gets.

• Your Competitive Edge: What sets you apart.

• Sprinkle in your brand values, and personality (including tone of voice)

There are many frameworks for codifying your brand, such as a brand key, brand pyramid, brand onions, and brand identity models. Whatever the shape (or vegetable), the components are the same!

6) Continuously Analyze and Refine your Brand Strategy

The world doesn’t stand still, and neither should your brand strategy. Think of it as an ever-evolving beast, constantly adapting to the jungle that is your market and the cultural winds that sway your audience. Staying ahead isn’t just a goal; it’s a must to keep your brand growing and glowing.

Regular heart-to-hearts with your target audience are crucial. Are you still the apple of their eye? Is your connection with them as strong as it could be? It’s all about staying relevant and tightening those bonds. And if you’ve become the go-to for one crowd, maybe it’s time to charm another. This might mean tweaking your positioning to open your arms to a broader crew.

• What is a brand audit? A brand audit is a great way to check in on the health of your brand. It’s like giving your brand a physical! Then, once you understand where the gaps lie, you can create specific objectives to fill them, e.g. evolving your brand positioning.
• How do I conduct a brand audit? There are multiple ways to approach a brand audit. Two of the most popular brand equity models are Keller’s and Aaker’s. Ideally, your audit will give you the measure of your brand awareness, perceptions, loyalty, among other key elements. 

 

Closing

We’ve journeyed from peeling back what a brand truly means today, to laying down the steps to building a strong brand. Every step is key: from setting your sights on what matters, to slicing and dicing the market, getting up close and personal with your audience, and making your mark with a brand positioning that sticks.

And remember, this isn’t a one-and-done deal! Your brand strategy needs to stay fresh, adapt, and grow just like the world around us. Keep tuning in, tweaking, and turning up the volume on your strategy to ensure it keeps hitting the right notes with your audience. With these steps, you’ll know how to create a brand strategy that doesn’t just exist but thrives and connects deeply. 

And of course, we’d love to help you with any of these steps!