Brand Strategy: Definition and Criteria

Brand Strategy

• A brand strategy is a plan that guides a brand's actions and answers who, where, why, what, and when.
• Brand criteria includes purpose, vision, values, mission statement, proposition, positioning, personality, and audience.
• It helps businesses present themselves and stand out.
• A brand strategy is a roadmap to success and can be used alongside a business plan to develop a thriving business.
• Brand strategy allows you to build your business, reach customers, market effectively and increase brand awareness.
• Consistent branding ensures that customers will recognize, prefer, build relationships, and use/love the brand.

Brand Criteria

• Brand criteria are the core components of a brand strategy.
• These include the brand's purpose, vision, values, mission statement, proposition, positioning, personality, and audience.

Purpose

• A brand's purpose answers, "What does the brand do?"
• Elements of successful brands include a well-defined sense of purpose and authenticity, something you feel compelled to do and are passionate about, and the provision of emotional value.
• Share a sense of purpose with the audience, because a sense of purpose attracts customers, employees, investors, and suppliers.
• The brand purpose should be an authentic extension of beliefs and contribute to the world, stimulate employee engagement, and boost the organization's reputation.

Vision

• Brand vision answers the question, "What is the brand's ambition?"
• It should be inspirational, achievable and regarded as the "big picture".
• Easy to comprehend, it focuses on the destination, not the journey.
• Avoid words like "best", "leading", "first", and "number one".
• A great vision can inspire a community in its mind.

Values

• Values answers the question, "What does the brand stand for?"
• Values provide a direction through the moral maze of life.
• Values must be relevant to employees' job descriptions to effectively empower employees and guide behavior.
• Trust should be implicit in every brand, with employees trusting managers and customers trusting products/services to develop long-term relationships.
• Brand values should be sincere, memorable, differentiating, relevant, realistic, and provoke measurable behaviors.

Mission Statement

• A mission statement communicates how the brand is going to achieve its vision.
• Effective mission statements summarize the key brand criteria in 100 words or less, is strategic, communicates clearly, and clarifies the brand's ambition for the future.
• A mission statement should be clear, summarize the key brand criteria, leave movement for growth, provide a measure for achievement, and get straight to the point.

Proposition

• Brand proposition answers the question, "Why do I need the brand?"
• It is the unique selling point (USP) or big point of difference that distinguishes the brand from competitors
• A good brand strives to keeps its promises.
• A brand proposition progresses through promise, experience, and relationship phases.
• Brand proposition should meet customer needs, be short, relevant, distinctive, truthful, and help customers ease into the brand.
• It should promote innovation, focus on the user experience and have a unique tone of voice.

Positioning

• Brand positioning examines how the brand compares with competitors.
• Brand positioning is the place a brand occupies in the customer's mind.
• This can be achieved by brands being the first and most visible .
• Brand positioning enables visualization of the position of business, product, or services compared to competition.

Personality

• Brand personality answers the question, "What's the brand character?"
• Helpful as it makes you think of the brand as an archetype of a famous person
• Should be considered with celebrity brand ambassadors and paid endorsements

Audience

• Brand audience answers the question, "Who is interested in the brand?"
• Brand audience can include employees, management, resellers, advisors, competitors, charities, media, investors, government, associations, customers, prospects, suppliers, and partners.
• This can be illustrated with employees onstage performing to the stakeholders in the audience.
• Profile each audience sector before marketing the brand.
• Think about the lifestyle habits of influencers and their relevance, like their car.

Brand Essence

• Brand essence is the essential nature and character of the brand and has a hierarchy of benefits.
• The essence of the brand's the value that drives its performance.
• Emotional benefits result from interaction and functional attributes are the features, services, or goods the brand provides.

Explore brand strategy: a roadmap guiding actions and defining brand identity. It encompasses purpose, vision, values, mission, proposition, positioning, personality, and audience. A solid brand strategy builds businesses, attracts customers, and boosts brand awareness.