How Brand Strategy can support your Business

Branding

Jan 25

Breaking down the benefits of brand strategy

Brand strategy is THE buzzword in the design community right now. But there’s so much confusion around what brand strategy even is because there are no rules to what makes strategy brand strategy. For some designers, it’s brand strategy when they put thought into the logo or create a moodboard. But I believe brand strategy needs to be much more: Watch the video below to learn more about my approach and how it can support your business.

No. 01/02

Your brand is more than its design

As a brand designer I know how important brand design really is, but a lot of business owners think that their brand is just their logo or just their overall look. It’s absolutely a crucial part of your brand, but it’s important to understand that a brand is the perception people have of your business. And that perception is created by what you say and write, your actions and beliefs, as well as the design. So there’s a lot more that goes into branding your business than just design.

Brand strategy should therefore take the big picture into account to understand your brand instead of focusing just on one piece of the puzzle. Only when you look at your brand in its entirety can you see if your brand is cohesive, or where you need to fill in the missing pieces. A brand strategy should give you a game plan for how you can build a consistent and cohesive brand. No matter how pretty your brand looks, if you can’t back that up by matching good quality content, consistent messaging and clear positioning it’s merely cosmetics to cover up the flaws. It won’t turn your business into a successful brand.

In short: Brand strategy helps you to assess how you can improve your business’s perception. You’ll walk away with more clarity and confidence.

No. 02/02

Branding is not a one-and-done thing

Most business owners think that branding is a one-and-done thing. Once you hired a brand designer, BOOM you’ll have a brand. This stems from the same misconception again that branding is the same as brand design. But again, your brand is how people perceive your business. And that means every interaction with your audience builds that perception. You’re constantly shaping and forming your business’ perception, whether you realize that or not. Branding is a continuous process.

Your work doesn’t stop once the designer hands over your new brand identity. That is when your actual work begins! Because that’s when you need to bring it all together: design, message, communication, and actions. But if you don’t have a roadmap, it’s easy to get off track. That’s where the brand strategy comes in. You want to take your brand from where it’s at now (Point A) to where you want it to be (Point B). The brand strategy is your roadmap and it makes it easy for you to see if you’re still on the right path to Point B. It’s your brand’s north star.

If you are looking for a brand designer, make sure to ask them about their approach to brand strategy. You will quickly be able to figure out if their understanding of brand strategy is purely focused on design or not. And don’t get me wrong, it’s important to look at the design too. And if you’re just starting out, it might be best to focus on this, because your goals and your audience will probably change in the beginning. But if you really want to take your brand to the next level, you want to make sure that your brand designer has a deeper understanding of the power of brand strategy.