how to create a brand strategy framework for success
A man walking down a city street, facing away from the camera, wearing a Patagonia t-shirt with the brand's iconic mountain logo on the back.
what is a brand?
I kick-started this blog post with an image of a man wearing a Patagonia t-shirt. Why? Because the Patagonia brand has become the most reputable, trusted, and game-changing brand in the USA. In short, Patagonia recently pivoted from being more than just a clothing business - it’s now an activist company, too. They changed their brand purpose to: We’re in business to save our home planet and donated all of its 3 billion fortune to the Patagonia Purpose Trust and Holdfast Collective - both of whom are on a mission to fight the environmental crisis. Patagonia’s founder, Yvon Chouinard, told a moving story about his road to becoming an owner of a company, even though he “never wanted to be a businessman.” The story follows several plot twists that inevitably led Chouinard to change the future of business for the sake of the planet. If that isn’t a winning brand strategy, I don’t what is! So, how did Patagonia get there? By creating an exceptionally innovative and engaging brand strategy framework. It might seem like a huge feat, but it’s also totally possible to build a brand in 5 days! Let’s find out how..
What is a brand strategy?
Before we start, let’s define a brand strategy. A brand strategy determines how your brand is seen, felt, and heard by the rest of the world. If executed well, a brand strategy sets you apart from your competitors and ensures you stand out among the crowd. When we talk about a brand strategy framework, we're talking about the building blocks that hold up your brand like scaffolding. It simply defines who you are, what you believe in, and how you wish to be perceived - your brand core values. The question is: how do you go from not quite knowing what your brand stands for or how it behaves, to building an airtight brand strategy framework for success? Asking yourself a bunch of fun, albeit strategic questions, that's how!
“If executed well, a brand strategy sets you apart from your competitors and ensures you stand out among the crowd.”
questions to ask when developing your brand strategy
Let's start by using the 5 Ws. The 5ws is a checklist that journalists use to ensure all major points are covered within the first paragraph of a news story: Who? What? When? Where? Why? And to spice things up a little bit, let’s throw in a sixth question: How?
Who is your target audience?
What dream are you selling to the world?
When are you going to sell it to them?
Where does your brand sit within the market landscape?
Why should your audience choose your brand over another brand?
How will you grab your audience's attention?
Once you've answered those basic questions, you can take the next step and begin to develop your brand: core, positioning, and persona.
Brand core
The brand core includes your brand purpose, brand vision, and brand value. This is where you get clear on what your brand stands for - the core message - and what its mission in the world is. Storytelling. Is. Everything. Think of your brand as the hero in a movie on a quest to solve a problem that only your hero can solve!
Brand positioning
Who your target audiences and competitors are, as well as where your brand sits in the market landscape, are crucial to a brand strategy framework. Do research, hold interviews, and create surveys to capture who and what you’re up against.
Brand persona
The brand persona incorporates verbal and visual identity, personality, and style. I've often witnessed clients freeze up at this stage. "But how do I know what my brand sounds, feels or acts like? It's not a human!" True, but your brand is almost certainly showing personality traits. Is it an adventurous, thrill-seeking brand with a humorous edge? A loving and caring maternal figure? A wise and knowledgeable elder? A great way to uncover your brand personality is by using Archetypes. Archetypes, first coined by the Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, Carl Jung, represent universal patterns of the human psyche. They are:
Ruler
Creator/artist
Sage
Innocent
Explorer
Rebel
Hero
Wizard
Jester
Everyman
Lover
Caregiver
Which archetype does your brand most closely align with? Another way to find out your brand’s persona is by simply going inward (I’m looking at you entrepreneurs and business owners) - what do you sound like? What do you value in life? Because the brands we create almost always reflect the people we are.
final thoughts
A brand strategy framework is not a static process. You’ll periodically need to evaluate, improve or sometimes change it all together (also known as a rebrand).
It’s an intricate process that takes a lot of time, energy, and I would argue, courage. You’re about to dive deep into the very fabric of who your brand is and what it stands for. If you feel overwhelmed at the thought of taking this work on alone, I’m here to support you!
