Do you remember being a kid and wondering which superpower would be the best? I sometimes wonder the same thing about brands. If you had a magic wand, which superpower would you choose for your company? Clear focus and prioritisation? Better ROI? An empowered team? Having the ultimate argument to convince customers to choose your brand?
Fortunately, there's no superpower needed to achieve all this and more. A strong brand strategy is all it takes — but I get that this is no small task. A strong brand strategy is valuable and essential in a highly competitive and polarised environment. But unfortunately, most companies find it challenging to stand out from their competition. Very few can see a difference between brands in a given competitive set.
Brand strategy is essential
There are a few things that make brand strategy essential:
Focus and prioritisation
When your organisation and marketing team align around a brand strategy, you get clarification on where to allocate your resources. "Is this building our brand?" should be a common question when you evaluate new opportunities. The correct choice is easy if a good case can't be made or a better brand opportunity is available.
ROI and efficiency
A strong brand strategy will enable you to focus your messaging on vital strategic points. As a result, your messaging across all channels will build upon itself. This fosters ROI and efficiency gains because messages are aligned to support a more meaningful message and thus have a more significant impact.
Team empowerment
Your brand strategy should be your North Star. With a brand strategy in place, you will spend less time aligning priorities and more time executing plans effectively. In addition, a clear strategy gives target audiences a consistent brand experience that is uniquely yours, making it easier for them to understand your brand profoundly and what makes it unique. Because of this, your colleagues will have a license to bring the brand to life in every customer interaction.
Loyal customers
Internal marketing conversations often revolve around which customers to focus on. But ideally, it should be so clear that your brand and company are the best and only choice. A strong brand strategy relies on deep customer understanding, which drives your target audience to your brand.
A clear innovation roadmap
With a strong brand strategy, you know what customers want — now and in the future. It provides insights into how innovations will be perceived in the market amid competitive forces. This focus and understanding give you an objective way to prioritise and deprioritise ideas and projects.
Better partnerships
A well-constructed and executed brand strategy fosters stronger partnerships with partners, channels or other brands. A strong brand gives them a clear understanding of what you stand for and where you are headed, so they can quickly suggest appropriate collaborations. In addition, you and they can look objectively at future collaborations to ensure they adequately support your brand ambition and objectives.
Good luck acquiring your superpower - if you're looking for help building it up, make sure to take a look at our in-depth guide to branding and download the brand loyalty presentation to get more insights.
