Considerations in Crafting Brand Strategy

These are just some of the considerations when crafting brand strategy:

• Who are this brand’s target customers and other audiences and why?
• Which customer groups are the largest, fastest growing, most profitable and most loyal to the brand?
• How aware are target customers of this brand within its most relevant product/service categories? Is it the first brand recalled within these categories?
• Have we defined the brand’s product/service categories in the most beneficial ways?
• How are the categories in which the brand operates changing? What are the brand strategy implications of this?
• What is this brand's competitive set? How are those brands positioned?
• What is this brand's mindshare?
• What does this brand stand for in the minds of its target audiences?
• Is the brand unique and highly desirable to the most important target customer groups? That is, does it have a unique value proposition?
• Is the unique value proposition sustainable? Can its value proposition be expanded upon and protected?
• What are the proof points for the brand’s promise or unique value proposition? What are the opportunities for additional proof points and reasons to believe?
• Does the brand connect with people emotionally?
• Does the brand stand for something?
• Does the brand have a unique set of values that align with its customers’ values?
• Does the brand’s meaning allow for growth across relevant new product and service categories?
• Are there also sub-brands, endorsed brands and named products in the brand’s architecture? Does each of these other entities serve a useful purpose?
• Can the brand architecture be simplified?
• Have we articulated the brand’s unique value proposition in a pithy tagline?
• Does the brand have a well-crafted story and elevator speech?
• Is the brand’s identity system powerful, nuanced, robust and flexible?
• Does the brand’s organization design reinforce the brand’s promise or work against it? If the latter, what must change?

As one can see from this list of considerations, brand strategy is much more than brand identity or communication strategy. I wish you great success in crafting your brand strategy.