Your guide to building a brand strategy

¹ Source: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-retail-study-shows-marketers-under-leverage-emotional-connection-300720049.html 

Of course, higher lifetime value is the main but not only benefit for strong brands. Let’s have a look at the others.

Benefits of a strong brand

Competitive edge and strong market position

A brand strategy helps a company stand out from the competition. With a clearly defined mission, values, and unique selling proposition (USP), a business becomes more recognisable and memorable for customers. This is one of the fundamental steps in building a competitive advantage in a market where many companies offer very similar products and services.

Greater customer loyalty

Customers are more likely to return to brands that have a consistent image and well-defined values. In fact, 63% of them admit they are willing to pay more to companies they are loyal to². Thoughtful communication and high-quality service are the results of a well-crafted brand strategy, helping consumers identify with the company. This leads not only to repeat purchases but also to word-of-mouth recommendations.

Higher brand equity

A strong brand holds greater value in the market. Consumers are willing to pay more for products or services from companies that are well-known and respected. Luxury brands such as Bulgari or Rolex are prime examples. Not only can they maintain high prices, but they also find it easier to attract investors and business partners.

Easier decision-making

A clearly defined brand strategy serves as a practical marketing tool, helping businesses choose new products and services, set pricing policies, and communicate with customers on a daily basis. As a result, their actions are more effective, and the risk of poor investments and misguided decisions is significantly reduced.

Enhanced employer branding

Brand strategy is not just about external interactions – it also impacts internal communication. It influences employee engagement, motivation, and loyalty. A strong brand also makes it easier to attract top talent, as candidates are more likely to apply to companies with an appealing image and organisational culture.

Now, let’s have a look at how to build a brand strategy for your business.

Building a brand strategy: Our step-by-step guide

Step 1: Define your target audience

To communicate effectively with your audience, you first need to understand who they are. A strong brand strategy cannot be developed without defining the target group. This segmentation is based on two types of criteria:

• Hard variables: These are objective demographic factors such as gender, age, location, income level, education, or employment status. These key details help a brand establish its primary customer profile.
• Soft variables: These include subjective factors such as lifestyle, values, behaviours, motivations, needs, and challenges. They provide insight into why customers choose certain brands and the emotions associated with those choices.

To structure their understanding of the target audience, companies primarily use segmentation models (grouping similar consumers) and buyer personas (descriptions of ideal consumers). Both approaches should incorporate not only demographic data but also behavioural, psychographic, and geographic insights.

To illustrate, take a look at different approaches to defining target audiences that can be observed in the smartphone industry:

• Apple targets premium customers, professionals, and creative users, and this approach is clearly visible in their marketing and branding.
• Samsung offers different product lines for various segments, from premium (e.g., Galaxy S) to mid-range (e.g., Galaxy A) and budget options (e.g., Galaxy M).
• Xiaomi focuses on budget-conscious and pragmatic consumers.

Source: https://www.apple.com/ca/iphone-16-pro/ 

Step 2: Define your brand values

Brand values are the fundamental principles that shape a company’s purpose, mission, and vision. Establishing them helps create and maintain a consistent brand image, making it easier to stand out in the market and build customer loyalty.

Brand purpose is the overarching reason for the brand’s existence. This is not about selling products or services—any company can do so. Instead, it should answer how the brand impacts its customers, industry, region, or even the world.

A strong brand purpose fosters an emotional connection with the audience, as people are more likely to engage with companies that share meaningful values. A great example is Adidas with its official purpose: “Through sport, we have the power to change lives.”

Source: https://www.adidas-group.com/en/about/profile 

The brand mission takes this a step further by defining how the company intends to achieve its purpose. This is expressed through concrete actions, typically in one or two concise sentences. A clear example is Google: “Google’s mission is to organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”

The brand vision outlines long-term ambitions and aspirations. It describes the future the company is striving towards through its purpose and mission. LinkedIn, for example, envisions “Creating economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce.”

Before proceeding with the next steps, ensure your company is guided by the right values. This is the foundation of a consistent and effective brand strategy.

Step 3: Position your brand in the market

When you assign specific values to your brand, positioning it in the market becomes easier. This process involves defining how the company wants to be perceived by customers compared to its competitors. Essentially, it is a deliberate effort to shape the brand’s image in order to stand out and attract a specific group of customers.

Brand positioning largely revolves around establishing a Unique Selling Proposition (USP). It’s a distinctive factor that sets the brand apart. This could be superior quality, affordability, or innovation. When developing a USP, it’s important to analyze trends, market changes and competitors’ offerings and USPs to ensure we don’t replicate their positioning.

For example, Volvo’s USP is safety.

Source: https://www.volvocars.com/en-ca/safety/culture-vision/ 

As part of brand positioning, you must also define your market category or even create a new niche. This is exactly what Red Bull did, establishing itself as the first premium energy drink brand associated with extreme sports.

Step 4: Develop your brand identity

For many people, a brand strategy is primarily associated with visual identity. This is understandable, as these are the most visible and recognisable elements that differentiate a company in the market. Developing a brand identity can be a creative process, but it should always be based on the research of the target audience and the brand’s core values.

Key elements of brand identity include:

• Naming: The process of creating names for the brand itself as well as its products or services.
• Design: The overall look of the brand’s products and materials (e.g. IKEA’s minimalist furniture).
• Logo: The most recognisable element of brand identity (e.g. Nike’s Swoosh or McDonald’s Golden Arches).
• Colour Palette: Selecting a set of colours to evoke specific associations (e.g., Coca-Cola’s red symbolises energy, passion, and joy).
• Typography: Choosing fonts used on the website and marketing materials.
• Photography: Defining the aesthetic of images used in marketing and branding.
• Illustration: Establishing the style of illustrations, which may serve educational or marketing purposes (used by brands such as Dropbox or Mailchimp).
• Motion: Guidelines for the use of video and animation in brand communication.
• Audio: Rules regarding sounds and music, often including signature jingles (e.g., Old Spice’s classic whistle jingle or Intel’s official sound logo).
• Messaging: A collection of slogans and key messages the brand wants to communicate.
• Personality: A set of traits the brand aims to embody in the eyes of consumers (e.g., Dove’s sincerity and optimism).
• Tone of Voice: The way the brand communicates with its audience (e.g., Oreo’s light-hearted, friendly, and humorous tone).
• Storytelling: A technique used to build an emotional connection with consumers through compelling narratives.

For example, Intel’s signature sound (known as the Intel Bong) was introduced back in 1994, and it’s still recognizable all over the world over 30 years later!