Reference Notes for Students
Brand Strategy -Brand Building Process
Isha Patel
ishapatel@karnavatiuniversity.edu.in
Date: March 2024
_________________________________________________________________________________
How do you define branding?
Customer perceptions
Promise
Visual identity, symbol or trademark
Tangible and intangibles
Holistic system
Vision, values and actions
How do you different from a brand?
“A brand that captures your mind gains behaviour.
A brand that captures your heart gains commitment.”
- Scott Talgo, Brand strategist
How do you different from a brand?
From marketing insight and/or gaps identified in a market
To change gaps identified in a market behaviour/perceptions of a particular segment
To meet rising consumer and demands
To invest in an idea that you believe is the need of the hour
To make innovations accessible for purchase to consumers
To outperform existing product/service and provide variants in the category
What can Branding do?
It can transform the fate of ailing and falling services and make them relevant, wanted or understood
Branding in the age of ubiquity
Brands enable decision making from the various choices we have today.
What ‘brands’ stand for, thus becomes an important factor for us today
Brand building process
1. INVESTIGATE/DISCOVER
Initial and most vital stage of the branding process, this phase focuses on an indepth research into
the product/service or the big idea that a brand is built upon. Only by ‘mapping’, interrogating and
understanding the industry, consumers, gaps and trends, can a idea be strategically identified and
further be developed. The plan of where to go next, is defined in this phase.
Where to start?
1. TRENDS IN THE CHOSEN INDUSTRY - GLOBALLY & LOCALLY
For example the AIRLINE industry. To understand the industry’s past, present and future perceptions.
2. AVAILABLE BRANDS IN THE CATEGORY
An overview of brands existing in the airline industry - their segmentation, offered service/product, ideology,
position, brand story, consumer perceptions, internal and external strategy and its valuation.
3. COMPETITION ANALYSIS
A comparative analysis of the identified brands and audit it verbally, visually, its behaviour and positioning with
reference to competition. Unspoken trends, patterns and gaps should be identified through this.
4. IDENTIFY GAPS AND LOCATE YOUR BRAND’S POSITION
Identify gaps and delve deeper into the opportunities and challenges that can support a defined position for
the new brand.
5. UNDERSTAND AND IDENTIFY THEROLE OF MAPPING:
Pick a differentiating feature. Can be a behavioural problem in the industry that needs to be addressed, can be
nostalgic relevance, can be understanding the target audience, can be digging to history and legacy and using it
as an anchor for communication or it can simply be dissatisfaction with products/services in the category
Exercises:
1. Overview of the industry
2. RDE Trends of the industry (Redundant, Dominant, Emerging)
3. Overview of competitors
4. Competitor analysis
5. Perceptual mapping
6. Cloud mapping
7. Defining scope
2. STRATEGY/NARRATIVE/DEFINE
The phase after building a contextual understanding, it focuses on defining what the brand idea
stands for. From defining the nomenclature, identity, philosophy and process, this stage will be the
fundamental of any brand development.
An articulated description of the aspirational image for the brand that brand custodians want the
brand to stand for the customers, employees and partners.
2A. PURPOSE: the Why
A brand purpose is essentially a brand's reason for being beyond making money. It outlines ‘why’ you
exist. Your brand purpose is the meaning behind your existence, an idealistic view of what you want
to become to your audience.
What’s your brand’s ultimate reason for being?
Should last at least 100 years.
Should not be confused with specific goals or business strategies
Whereas you might achieve a goal or complete a strategy, you cannot fulfil a purpose; it’s like
a guiding star on the horizon—forever pursued but never reached.
Although purpose itself does not change, it does inspire change.
2B. VISION: The What
A Vision Statement describes the desired future position of the company. It is multidimensional.
Every element should have proof points, capabilities and strategies in place that enable the
organisation to deliver the promise of each brand vision element and its associated value
proposition.
A single-minded idea, collection of many, that states what you want to accomplish
Should be original
Will be a defined path for the future
2C. MISSION: The How
A brand mission defines the company's business, its objectives and its approach to reach those
objectives. It often combined to provide a statement of the company's purposes, goals and values. It
is actionable/action-oriented. It also shapes the brand culture.
Intangible and emotional aspects of the brand
Beliefs and values drive behaviours
It’s the plan that helps you achieve/work towards a vision/goal
2D. BRAND POSITIONING
It determines what makes a brand distinct and relevant.
It is the art of designing a brand offering and image to occupy a distinctive, desirable and credible
place in the minds of a target market.
Brand Positioning can be determined through:
Understanding needs of target audience
Understanding the stage the market is at
Understanding the competitors and their strategies
Create relevance and articulate the differentiator!
A robust brand will be relevant to external stakeholders, but differentiated to the competition
Brand Positioning is critical because:
Maximising stand out creates Awareness
Unique positioning creates Consideration
Great experience creates Advocacy
2E. BRAND CORE
It is the blueprint for the brand. It drives creative strategies and execution and makes a strong link
between the ‘why’, ‘what’ and the ‘how’ for a brand.
2F. BRAND PROMISE
A promise to a customer to deliver what the brand stands for.
Delivering not only functional benefits but also emotional, self-expressive, and social benefits
Examples:
2G. BRAND PERSONALITY
A set of human characteristics associated with the brand.
Personality is an important dimension of a brand. It is an identifier of a brand and is both
differentiating and enduring Represents and communicates functional benefits
It defines a brand relationship
Provides energy to the brand
Helps guides strategy
Understand consumers
Advocates the brand
Tools to develop a brand personality:
1. A day in the life of
2. If the brand was a human, how would the day look like?
3. If the brand were different objects, what would they be?
2H. BRAND MESSAGING
1. Tagline Architecture
2. Value proposition
3. Brand messaging pillars
Why does it matter:
Your content tells your brand story
Consistency is key for high impact
Consistency builds a team culture
How to create a brand messaging framework?
1. Use the defined brand core
2. Position your brand: brand messaging - What niche do you fill? framework? How are you different?
3. Articulate the brand message
Tips to create a strong brand messaging:
1. Identify all of your emotional and functional benefits
2. Write a large paragraph and then distill it
3. To win the positioning game answer - What makes you the ‘only’?
4. For a good Value proposition: Speaks to your audience; Be clear and concise; Communicates a
brand promise; Be descriptive
5. Think of your target customer and the problem you’re solving
6. Don’t get too fancy
7. Translate it into your brand voice
Defining the brand voice:
1. When people interact with our brand, how do we want them to feel?
2. What adjectives would we use to describe our brand?
3. What does our competition sound like/how can we differentiate?
4. What is another brand with a voice we love?
5. If our brand were a celebrity, who would we be?
6. How do we want to talk about ourselves?
7. Who do we NOT want to be/what do we want to avoid?
3. TRANSLATE/IMPLEMENT/DESIGN
The third phase is the tangible phase, a phase visible to the consumer and therefore no gaps should
be left in translating the brand narrative to a visual design. Creation of design brief from a strategy
will take place and implementation through design will be witnessed. The design is the first and only
visual/tangible impression a brand will have on its consumer.
Strategy>Manifestations
Brand is Experience. Experience is Brand
“All the interactions people have with a product, service, or organization; the raw material of a
brand.” - Marty Neumeier, author of The dictionary of Brand
Just as your perception of someone is formed by every direct or indirect interaction with them, so is
your perception of a brand. It is literally everything you have seen and heard - or even felt or smelt or
tasted - about it. The brand experience is everything you know about a brand.
1. Orchestrate the message
Keep repeating the message of your brand - consistently and frequently - to minimise cognitive
strain. Make it so familiar to audiences that they recognise it immediately.
2. Effective touchpoints
Find the best approach for your targeted audience, one that will deliver your message in the most
cost-effective manner.
3. Create a meaningful, relevant and distinctive touchpoint execution
Make the most of every product’s concept, appearance and user-interaction to grab the audience’s
attention and fully communicate the message of your brand.
4. ENGAGE/DELIVER
The last phase is a perpetual in nature. Constantly evolving and engaging the consumers in the
brand’s philosophy, using the visual design as touchpoints and curating a memorable brand
experience which enhances a consumer’s loyalty with every engagement. This is also the nurturing
phase where a cohesive, constant and omnipresent dialogue keeps the connection between the
brand and its consumer at an all-time high.
______________________________________________________________________________
Alongside, sharing a few references for students as well:
Brands to check out:
1. Soul Cycle
2. https://www.kontrapunkt.dk/journal/crown-jewels-do-not-age
3. Brand Failures
4. Brand Gap
5. Branding in 5 and a half steps
6. Building a Brand Story
7. Builfing a Strong Brand
8. What Makes a Strong Brand
Studios to check out fro their process:
1. Elephant Design
2. Lemon Design
3. IDEO
4.Wolff Olins: https://wolffolins.com/news/the-wolff-olins-way-creating-transformative-
brands-that-move-the-world
5. &Walsh__
