The Three Big Questions of Brand Strategy
Previously, I shared a case study on Barnes and Noble that showed how strategy should always start diagnosis.
In the Harvard Business Review, Freek Vermeulen shared, “A real strategy involves a clear set of choices that define what the organization is going to do and what it’s not going to do. Many strategies fail to get implemented … because they do not represent a set of clear choices.”
From a proper diagnosis and strategy, three key questions follow.
Who are we targeting?
Segmentation divides your market into distinct groups and targeting is the decision of which ones to pursue. Answer this question with wise choices based upon your strategy. It is just as important to understand who you are not targeting.
Reviewing your market, your competitors, and your resources. Somewhere in the intersection you should apply the bulk of your efforts. No organization has unlimited resources, so make wise choices on your targets.
As you consider your targets, ask:
Is this target heavily owned by our competition?
Do our organizational strength best align with this target?
Which targets should we ignore for now to protect resources?
Experts (Field, Binet, Ritson) suggest a dual approach of long- and short-term marketing. A strong place to begin is a 60/40 split with 60% of your budget on broad market campaigns and the remaining 40% on shorter-term performance marketing.
By answering “who are we targeting” as it applies to your strategy, you’ll know where to apply the smaller percentage toward customer activation and how to adjust based on your category.
What do we stand for?
You can’t answer this question without first knowing who you are targeting. Once that’s identified, you need to ask, “what do we want to stand for in their eyes?”
This is the root of your positioning: What do you want them to think of when they think of your brand?
At most, this should be two or three things that align with what the customer wants and the promise your organization makes.
How will we achieve this?
What actions necessary to make success likely? Soft goals like “increase brand awareness” or “improve customer satisfaction” will not yield results you’re looking for.
Use SMART objectives (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) to create three or four objectives that have moving power. An example:
Increase the conversion rate of our email marketing campaigns from 2% to 14% in the next 12 months by implementing targeted segmentation and personalized content.
With three or four objectives (but no more) that align to your strategy, map out the tactics to make them happen over the next year.
Get crackin’
Bing, bang, boom—now it’s time to align budgets, get agreement, and get moving.
This strategy work can feel unglamorous, but it’s the most important thing you can do. Your job is to fight a world of distraction, unplanned emergencies, and sometimes even boredom to stay focused and apply pressure to the strategy you’ve built.
3 ways I can help:
Brand Strategy: Build your brand holistically to create favorability with your target market.
Brand Identity: Confidently market, internally and externally, with a toolbox of visual and verbal assets that make your brand distinct.
Brand Marketing: Establish a distinct relationship with your current and future customers.
