Brand Strategy
Delivering Better Brands
A good brand knows its audience and can educate, uplift, persuade and inspire. A well-articulated and effective brand strategy impacts every part of a business and determines the level of growth that a business is ready to reach. Both startups and established brands face branding challenges that can hinder their ability to grow, evolve and stand out in competitive markets. Before you start fantasising about a new logo, let’s take a look at what really powers a brand.
Brand Identity
A well-thought-out brand identity promotes itself in any medium and creates lasting, memorable impressions. This is true for established brands and young startups. Take the time to think about brand perception and architecture. To arrive at this point, the key is knowing how to ask the right questions. Ask your clients, your staff, your accountant and your delivery drivers what they really think your brand represents.
A well-defined brand ensures consistency across all brand touchpoints and allows for broader organisational alignment. When executed effectively, a brand’s identity will become the template for all aspects of your advertising, as well as your online and in-store presence, so your strategy speaks to all stakeholders. According to Forbes, consistency across all platforms can increase revenue by up to 23%.
Market Research
Competitor analysis plays a crucial role in this assessment. It provides insights into the broader patterns and trends present in an industry segment and your competitors’ visual identities. This knowledge heavily informs the design intent by helping determine current trends, which, in turn, highlights where gaps in the market lie.
Let’s take Ecosa as an example. This brand had its eyes set firmly on the future as one of Australia’s fastest-growing businesses. Our market and competitor analysis revealed a need for designs that romanticised the new way people shop for beds: online. The market lacked a brand that truly made shopping for a new mattress seem easy and hassle-free. To marry this idea within their market, a clean and stylish suite of branding tools, website, and product packing was required. We chose imagery and text that aligned with our strategy: smoothed off edges for text boxes and website buttons filled with a typeface that was both calming and sophisticated.
The Audience
Brands are different, not all brands need a suite of branded elements in their brand toolbox to help them evolve as the business grows or adapt to a changing consumer landscape. For a brand to succeed, it needs to be able to connect with its audience and create a sense of belonging.
While consistency sets the benchmark for a brand, flexibility allows businesses to leverage any changing market trends and stay relevant to their intended audience.
Our collaboration with Reimagine Talent, a Melbourne based talent consultation agency, exemplifies the benefits of adaptability. We tapped into Marketing Intel, a crucial component to understanding the state of an industry and the direction their target market was heading in.
With newfound flexibility to secure its place in the market, we positioned Reimagine Talent as an agency that provides care, support and a transformative journey for its clientele. Secondary branded elements also supported both the intricacy and boldness of their offering, creating consistency and better alignment across all areas of the brand, helping to connect more deeply with their audience to support growth.
The bottom line is, brand strategy is everything. A comprehensive brand strategy will set you on the right path to achieve bigger, better sales.
Get in touch with one of our branding experts to see how we can help you unearth your brand’s identity and ensure consistency throughout your brand.
