As a new brand, or perhaps one that is wishing to change the way they are currently being perceived, venturing into the branding arena is certainly an exciting prospect. Similar to any business processes however, you first need to have a clear understanding of where you’re going and how you intend to get there.
Developing a ‘pre-game’ strategy is not just a good idea, it is absolutely essential if you intend your new brand to be perfectly positioned and to fully engage your audience.
Below are a few areas often covered during the discovery and strategy phases of a branding project:
Customer Profiling
Customer profiling is a large portion of the Graphic Evidence branding process. We believe that generating a clear picture of who a client’s customers are, forms the foundation on which a successful brand can be built.
When profiles are created (we often give names and faces to them) we can devise a strategy on building a brand that best engages the target audience. The profiles are also used during the design phase. Our creative team regularly compare their concepts against the profiles, is ‘design two’ something ‘profile A’ would like or choose to buy, for example.
It is important for clients to be conscious of the fact that we are creating a brand for a their customers, not necessarily the business owners/managers.
Self Analysis
Just as important as knowing the competition and customers, is understanding yourself, especially within a large organisations. Interviewing partners and employees to find out their thoughts into what they believe their company does, its values and ambitions provides a holistic picture of the company, front end and back.
Competitor Analysis
It goes without saying, one of the primary goals of any company is to be competitive within a particular market sector. Understanding the competition inside and out is only going to assist in the branding process.
How are your competitors faring? Are they missing anything crucial in terms of what they offer, their outreach, client interactions? What are they doing well? Analysing the moves of similar companies in your industry provides insight into market trends, marketing activities and common brand touch points.
Brand Positioning
Now we know you, your customers and your market sector we can decide how your brand should be perceived to achieve ultimate engagement and success. Should it be rustic and friendly or should it convey an air of corporate authority?
Successful brands are built upon insights, they’re not just designed. Yes, a brand can simply be created, but why gamble? Why take the risk when there is a proven process to put the odds in your favor? Investing in the discovery and strategy phase of a branding project is playing it smart, a way of insuring your overall investment in the branding process, it is not needlessly wasting time and money.
