Brand Strategy Fundamentals

A strong brand is built on a strong foundation. Before you develop your brand voice, identity, or logo, this course equips you to understand the essence of your business and the people you serve. This knowledge will inform every aspect of your brand strategy, ensuring authenticity and customer resonance.

Building a strong brand doesn’t happen overnight. It requires some planning, some research, and some creativity. But because you’re investing time and resources into developing a robust brand strategy now, you’re increasing your chances of success and saving yourself time and energy in the future.

Let’s unpack the six pillars of brand strategy

By the end of this module, you’ll have

• A deeper understanding of the key elements of brand identity: vision, mission, and purpose.

• The ability to differentiate between vision, mission, and purpose statements.

• Knowledge of the importance of a strong “why” (purpose) for brand resonance with customers.

• The ability to identify your brand’s core values and how they inform your vision, mission, and purpose statements.

ACTION STEPS

Define your brands purpose. Uncover the “why” behind your brand. Your purpose statement goes beyond profit and defines the positive impact you want to create in the world.

• Why does your brand exists beyond making money?

• What positive change do you want to create?

• How will your brand make a difference?

ACTION STEPS

Define your brands vision statement Paint a picture of your brand’s future. Your vision statement outlines the kind of impact you want to make and the world you aspire to help create.

• What kind of impact do you want to make in the future?

• What kind of world do you envision?

• How will your brand contribute?

ACTION STEPS

Define your brands mission statement. Crafting your mission statement is a powerful step. It clarifies your brand’s purpose and impact, providing a clear roadmap for your actions and decisions.

So think about:

• What problem you are solving

• What products or services you offer

• What makes your approach unique.

ACTION STEPS

• Define your brands values. Think about the values that summarise what you stand for; inspire your team and resonate with your audience

• Align your brand vision, mission and purpose statements. Step back and look at them as a unit and try to ensure they are interconnected in some way and reinforce each other.

By the end of this, you’ll have the tools to:

• Identify your main competitors and conduct research on their strategies and offerings.

• Analyse your competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, and brand positioning

• Identify areas of opportunity and potential points of differentiation for your brand.

ACTION STEPS

Conduct a competitive analysis of your top 3 competitors. Figuring out what your competitors are doing will help you position yourself for success.

Identify their:

• strengths

• weaknesses

• brand perception

• any opportunities you spot

Include your self on this list too. What do you do super well and where do you have room for growth?

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this, you’ll have

• Developed a deeper understanding of the role of empathy in brand strategy and customer relationships.

• Identified your ideal customer’s pain points and deepest desires.

• Understood how empathy can be used to develop products and services that truly solve customer problems.

ACTION STEPS

Engage in empathy exercises to practice putting yourself in your customers’ shoes and understanding their experiences. Truly understanding your customers needs and pain points will set you up to craft a brand and brand messaging that speaks directly to them.

Identify your customer’s:

• Paint points

• Desires, wants or needs

• Goals. What are the problems they’re trying to solve?

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this, you’ll have

• A step-by-step guide to creating customer personas, even if you’re just starting out.

• Developed customer personas for your target audience segments.

• Gained a clear understanding of who your ideal customers are and what motivates them.

• Learned how to use customer personas to craft a targeted brand voice and identity.

  
  

ACTION STEPS

Identify Your Customer Segments: You might segment your audience based on demographics, behaviours, needs or something else. How you segment will depend entirely on your business and your customers. But make sure you focus on creating personas for your most important customer segments.

Competitors: Analyse your competitors’ target audiences and identify potential gaps in the market. Who are they targeting? What needs are they addressing? Use this information to identify potential customer segments for your own brand.

Creating Persona Profiles: With your segments identified, create a detailed persona profile for each group. Give each persona a relevant name and write down their:

• Behaviours & Media Consumption: How does your customer spend their time online and offline? Where do they consume information?

• Background and Demographics: What’s their age, gender, job? Are they single, partnered? Do they have kids?

• Goals & Aspirations: What does your customer want to achieve? What are their dreams and ambitions?

• Needs & Pain Points: What challenges does your customer face? What are their frustrations?

• Values, Beliefs & Motivations: What is important to your customer? What motivates them?

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this, you’ll have

• A clear picture of your customer’s journey: Understand their touchpoints with your brand.

• A solid grasp of the concept of the user experience (UX) journey.

• An understanding of the six key stages of the customer journey and their characteristics.

• Practical tips for creating your own user journey map.

ACTION STEPS

• Select a buyer persona you created.

• Map the feelings and pain points: How does your customer feel at each stage? Excited? Frustrated? If you can understanding their emotional journey it can really help you tailor your approach.

• Identify the actions and touchpoints: At each stage of the journey, what are the different ways a customer might interact with your brand? This could be your website, social media or even talking to a friend. And what are the trying to find out?

• Identify opportunities: How can you move them along to the next stage in the journey? Are there any steps where customers are dropping off? Are there places where you can do better? See how you might be able to improve their experience at these touchpoints?

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this, you’ll have

• Developed a clear understanding of what a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is and why it’s essential for your brand.

• The ability to identify the key elements that contribute to a strong USP.

• An understanding of the “identifying your USP Venn diagram” and its role in uncovering your unique value proposition.

ACTION STEPS

Identify your USP.

• Do you have special features your competitors don’t offer?

• Is your product known for exceptional craftsmanship or materials?

• Maybe you prioritise personalised support and build strong customer relationships?

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this you’ll be able to:

• Differentiate between product or service features and benefits.

• Understand the importance of focusing on benefits in brand strategy.

• Translate product or service features into compelling benefits for customers.

• Apply the concept of “What’s In It For Me” (WIIFM) to customer-centric communication.

• Recognise the emotional connection between benefits and customer purchasing decisions.

• 
  

ACTION STEPS

Translate your features into benefits.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this you’ll have:

• A solid grasp of the concept of a value proposition and its importance in marketing.

• The ability to identify the key elements that contribute to a strong value proposition.

• Knowledge of the Value Proposition Canvas and its role in building a customer-centric message.

• Developed a draft of your own value proposition for your product or service.

ACTION STEPS

• Craft a Compelling Value Proposition that explains the unique value your business offers and the problem you solve for your ideal customer.

• BONUS: Incorporate your value proposition and benefits-focused language into your marketing materials, website, social media, and other communication channels.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this you’ll have:

• An understanding of what brand personality is and why it’s important for building a strong brand identity.

• The skills to craft a unique and compelling brand personality that resonates with your target audience and sets you apart from the competition.

ACTON STEPS

Create a brand personality statement. Consider:

• What are the personalities of your customer personas?

• What attributes are they seeking?

• What are your competitors brand personalities?

• What personality traits do you want your brand to embody?

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this you’ll understand how to:

• Define brand voice and its relationship to brand personality.

• Understand the importance of consistent brand voice across all communication channels.

• Identify key elements of brand voice (tone, style, language).

• Analyse examples of strong brand voices

• Recognise the impact of brand voice on customer perception and engagement.

ACTION STEPS

1. Consider the brand personality you’ve developed

2. Then choose your tone: Informative, humorous, inspirational – what emotional response do you want to evoke?

3. Then think about your language Formal or casual? Will you be using a lot of technical jargon or pop culture references? Think about words that align with your brand image.

4. Find your rhythm: Develop a consistent writing style so your customers will recognise your brand personality in the writing.

5. You might then want to develop a brand voice glossary: There may be key words, phrases, or tones you use to maintain consistency across your marketing.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this, you’ll:

• Understand the techniques and the traps for developing a targeted brand name for your business

• Developed a clear and concise brand name for your business.

ACTION STEPS

Develop a brand name shortlist and research domain name availability and potential trademark conflicts.