Managing Brand Development
Our website design and branding packages begin with a Discovery Call to talk about your website goals and challenges. We then initiate a Brand Intensive Brief to review, research and launch the development of an in-depth and cohesive BRAND MARKET STRATEGY. Managing brand development - because markets change and successful companies pivot - strengthens your brand by providing a solid foundation that your organization can refer to and ensure that the implementation of operational, marketing and sales initiatives are in alignment.
This process is a crucial step before beginning any design work, as it provides strategic clarity that ultimately impacts the direction and design of your brand identity, website design and brand collateral.
BRAND MARKET Strategy
Successful branding and website design is highly effective and more consistent, when the BRAND MARKET STRATEGY framework is implemented and used as an integral part of your planning. The basis is to provide your organization with a solid brand foundation that guides both internal and external communications, and heavily influences Business and Marketing Plans.
BRAND MARKET STRATEGY is concerned with understanding your industry's market dynamics, competitor strategies and consumer behaviors and acts to inform strategic decision-making while also ensuring that your unique value proposition is effectively and consistently communicated. It also encompasses and impacts strategic initiatives and activities aimed at building brand awareness which will help drive customer engagements and foster brand loyalty with customers and stakeholders.
WHY DO YOU NEED BRAND MARKET STRATEGY?
"MARKETS Change; SUCCESSFUL Brands PIVOT."
To Affect and Implement Change
Seth Godin, Entrepreneur and Marketing Expert shared his insights as a guest on Stephen Houraghan's BRAND MASTER PODCAST, Episode 296: The Difference Between Brand Strategy and Marketing.
Seth Godin, "inventor of email marketing", squarely puts it, "Strategy requires the desire for a change. That, how are you going to move pieces on the board, so that your share of whatever it is, the difference you seek to make the change you're making, will go in the direction that you want? Whenever we talk about strategy, it's about positioning, it's about game theory and it's about time. How will tomorrow be different than today? What are you doing today that is going to change the dynamic in the marketplace? Because people have choices and they're not going to pick you because you want them to."
2. To Serve as a Compass for Decision Making
BRAND MARKET STRATEGY impacts every aspect of your organization and acts as a compass for decision-making. Many of these elements improve management alignment by clarifying your internal and external brand, fostering a renewed shared purpose within your brand that expands to your stakeholders.
3. To Serve as a Catalyst to Evolve Your Business
Regular review of your BRAND MARKET STRATEGY ensures that significant brand changes are updated to clearly align with your current brand culture, products and services, website, collateral and media, as well as to make strategic shifts in response to the market. Strategic planning is an essential driver of growth and transformation. A well crafted Brand Market Strategy helps align the business's identity with its goals, and ensures that all efforts are focused on evolving and scaling the business effectively.
Here are events that may require you to review and refine your brand:
New Website
New Brand / Business
Rebranding
New Products + Services
Evolutionary Changes: Shifts in Market Trends, Cultural Norms, Marketing Strategy or Positioning
Adaptation to New Markets: New Demographic Segments + Values
Mergers + Acquisitions: Integrate Multiple Brands, Services and/or Systems
DEFINING YOUR INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL BRAND
BRAND MARKET STRATEGY involves the development of both your Internal and External Brand. These core components ensure that your brand is fully aligned with clear and concise messaging. Ignoring this straightforward yet powerful framework is akin to "putting the cart before the horse." This framework helps develop more effective messaging, marketing initiatives and business decision-making that will keep your brand on target by "checking in" with the core elements of your Brand.
1. internal brand/strategic direction
Internal Brand: Brand Substance + Brand Positioning focuses on creating an authentic brand based upon values that resonate and align with your audience, developing a Unique Value Proposition that differentiates your brand from competitors and targeting ideal customers.
In today's ever-evolving world of business, a robust Internal Brand is more than a luxury—it's a necessity. As a business owner, understanding and defining your Internal Brand's Vision, Mission, Purpose, Values, and your unique position against competitors—forms the backbone of a strong Internal Brand.
Alignment & Authenticity: A well-defined Internal Brand ensures that your Vision, Mission, Purpose, and Values are not just words on paper but are actively reflected in every aspect of your business. This alignment fosters authenticity, which resonates strongly with both your team and your customers, creating a genuine brand experience.
Comprehensive Competitive Analysis (SWOT): Reveals market gaps, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
Differentiation of your Brand from Competitors: Defines your Unique Differentiation Point (UDP) in order to position your brand distinctly in the market. This differentiation is crucial for standing out in a crowded marketplace and establishing a compelling reason why customers should choose you over competitors. This could be a unique product feature, approach to customer service or any other element that makes the brand stand out in the marketplace.
Customer Persona Analysis: Developing detailed Customer Personas helps tailor your brand’s messaging and website design to meet the specific needs and preferences of your target audience. This customer-centric approach enhances engagement and helps drive conversions by addressing what matters most to your potential clients.
This legwork is key to the refinement of your "unique brand" and also includes leadership team sessions to refine what your company does, the way it does it and how it is different from competitors. JCREATIVE-DESIGN facilitates this process which will breathe a fresh, new perspective into your organization propelling it towards positive growth. These components of your Internal Brand influences the development of your External Brand which is what most business owners consider "branding" - the visual brand identity.
2. EXTERNAL brand/STRATEGIC EXPRESSION
External Brand: Character, Verbal Expression, and Visual Expression are core elements that define your brand's character, development of compelling messaging and design of a cohesive visual identity that creates meaningful connections with customers and stakeholders.
Branding is multi-faceted. It connects with existing and potential customers, employees, vendors, affiliates, suppliers and other stakeholders, while engaging them through multiple touchpoints across your business. When providing Branding + Website Design Services, JCREATIVE-DESIGN will develop and/or refine your BRAND MARKET STRATEGY for your business. This ensures clear brand messaging and builds a solid brand foundation that helps manage your brand across all touch points, such as:
Products and Services, Website, Apps, Blog, Newsletter, Social Media, Video, Podcasts, Internal and External Communications, Presentations, Marketing Materials, Sales Materials, Email, Investor Materials, Public Relations, Loyalty Programs, Affiliate Programs, Events, Trade shows, Signage, Endorsements, Supported Causes, Uniforms, Stationary, Packaging, Product Development, and more.
IMPORTANCE OF BRAND MARKET STRATEGY
BRAND MARKET STRATEGY is a catalyst for growth and improvement in many areas of business, both internally and externally. As the fundamental pillars of BRAND SUBSTANCE: Vision, Purpose, Mission and Values and BRAND POSITIONING: Audience, Competitors and Differentiation are refined or developed, you will immediately understand how valuable, insightful and powerful it is to establish a BRAND MARKET STRATEGY! The compilation of data through competitive analysis, brand monitoring and tracking always reveals opportunities for growth, sales, and improvement.
By maintaining your brand and communicating your brand messaging in a clear, consistent manner throughout your website, media, internal and external communications, your business will:
Build its reputation within the industry
Gain trust and loyalty with your customers
Generate excitement and belief in company culture internally and externally
Increase Innovation within the organization
Connect employees with customers
SUMMARY
Strategically building a solid BRAND MARKET STRATEGY opens the door to discovering ways to align your business objectives and culture, improve your products and services, position your brand competitively, determine marketing strategies more effectively, pinpoint customer segmentation, become more efficient and profitable, and even discover some golden opportunities! That's a lot and WHY it is such a big deal!
JCREATIVE-DESIGN uses BRAND MARKET STRATEGY as a valuable and strategic tool for our clients when handling branding and website development projects. Each project is tailored to your unique business and branding is provided with our Website Design Packages. The process is an effective and comprehensive system that includes data analysis about your website, business, competitors and industry.
Get In Touch to Schedule a Discovery Call.
NEXT UP | DEVELOPING YOUR BRAND: Brand Substance
JCREATIVE-DESIGN Blog | WEB DESIGN MEETS STRATEGY explores the importance of defining, articulating and reviewing your company's Brand Substance: Purpose, Vision, Mission, Values.
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