Defining Brand – What do we mean when we say brand?
Brand is everything you are... It’s how you behave, look, feel and sound.
But you need to be aware that every brand has 2 sides.
The company side and
The Audience side
The company side:
Has brand assets/tools, that you own such as the logo, your photography style, your graphics, your messaging, how you speak, what you believe in, values, visions and missions etc… Whatever tools you need to help you achieve your business goals, sit on your company side.
The audience* side:
Here is where your brand truly lives—in people's minds!
It's how they perceive your brand.
By using your company-side tools, you can influence the audience perception strategically.
*Your audience might be potential or current customers, employees, shareholders—anyone who interacts with your brand will have an experience, and that's what you need to strategically manage.
How do we influence those perceptions strategically?
Brand strategy is essentially a roadmap for your team. It stops your teams, internal or external, having to reinvent the wheel and wasting time thinking about foundation level details of what your company is all about. It can be as detailed or simple as you need, but think of it as a manual for your comapny to be able to find focus and influence perceptions using your company side brand assets.
For example: Within a brand strategy from us, you would find defined information about your business such as, what you're all about, the challenges you face and your competitor landscape. We like to call this your 'Brandscape'... It's the lay of your land.
Then, once we have all of that research and defined what you are all about, we outline the solution and tools you need to execute the solution. This involves defining your personaility in line with how you want people to think about you and boils down to to 3 simple things:
How you look - Your visual appearance. Your logo, colours, typefaces etc.
How you feel - The experience/feelings you want people to have - Do you come across as safe, happy, rebellious, brave etc...
How you sound - The way you communicate - The tone of your voice, are you serious, lighthearted, conversational or even provocative. Maybe you need a brand sound if you are a restaurant, a podcast or a showroom...
Once you are armed with all of this information and the tools you need, you'll be ready to execute the brand through Marketing & PR strategies, Sales strategies and even Employee advocaccy.
The Importance of Brand
Your brand sets you apart. It affects customer choices, loyalty, provides direction, attracts talent, maintains culture, and grows revenue to name a few. It's essential in standing out and driving growth in a competitive market.
Why? Because you want to be:
Top of mind when someone requires your product/service
Accosiated with positive feelings/experiences such as reliability, friendly. easy, thoughtful, experienced etc.
For example: If I asked you to go and purchase an energy drink, which brand comes to the top of your mind? Was it Redbull...? Job 1 - Top of mind, achieved...
Now imagine, you're in a supermarket and you're faced with 20 different energy drink brands. How do you make a decision about which one to buy without spending 2 hours analysing them all? You notice Red Bull. It stands out on the shelf in it's slimline, silver and blue can and you think, "oh I know that one. I like the adverts and they give you wings. I like their look too. They feel quite edgy and rebellious. I'll get that one." Job 2 - Positive accosiations, achieved...
You've just made a mental shortcut to save you time with all the other brands. Your decision to buy is based on how you perceived the brand before you needed to purchase. If the perception is positive, you'll opt for purchasing. If it's negative, you might try a new brand.
That was a very simplified scenario but you can see the idea and it's the same process wheather you are B2C or B2B, selling product or a service. Once you have a defined brand startegy, you will manage the brand to ensure you are always:
Top of mind - Positioning
Creating associations - positive brand thoughts/experiences
Why would I need a Brand Strategy?
The truth is, brand exists to an extent, whether you're aware of it or not.
But without the intention of building a strong brand, you risk having a weak, inconsistent one that doesn't reflect your business accurately, leading to misalignment, missed opportunities, toxic teams, stunted growth and even bad reputations.
A well-crafted brand strategy not only helps you plan how to shape perceptions it also helps your internal teams make better decisions which are aligned to your higher company goals. Creating a unified point of effort with purpose will make your 'brand' a powerful tool indeed.
The good news is, it's never too late to invest in your brand!
If brand is so powerful why is it often overlooked?
Most people have little understanding as to the extent of brand, but what they do know is that brands are logos, which is true in part. That’s not all they are, but it is the first thing you tend to come across, so many think that's all there is too it. End of story.
But brand is a dark art, generally for the smaller companies of the world, left to the mega corporations so it’s often very misunderstood and in turn, overlooked.
Those SME's who do see the value in brand efforts, often go to that large agencies, who bamboozle them with terminology and the sound of strategy, only to be left with a PDF of ‘rules’ that don't actually reflect reality, no one will ever read and is no more helpful than where they started.
Unfortunately this is a reality us small creative companies have to contend with but at Sprout Creative we are as passionate about your brand as we are ours and will always find the best solution to your unique brand riddle!
At Sprout Creative we can simplify the many moving parts, provide you with a roadmap to success and support you throughout your journey long after the brand is defined.
No matter where you are in your journey, reach out. Let's chat over coffee about how Sprout Creative can help you achieve your goals and ditch the dull!