Create or Refresh Your Brand Strategy

This article is part of a series about the core services Cheek Marketing & Insights offers. In it, we provide some basic details about the challenges we solve, the techniques we might use, and the general results you can expect. Since every situation is different, please get in touch if this sparks your interest. We’ll discuss your circumstances, and how we can help.

Why You Need a Brand Strategy

For consumers, the buying process is one of finding and narrowing all the possible solutions to their problem or need. Brands serve as anchoring points. They give shoppers something clear and recognizable in the sea of choices. They help buyers build trust and loyalty, making future purchases feel more certain and efficient. In the most successful cases, brands turn into a shared language that shapes culture (do you take a car-share, or do you Uber?).

Great brands come from everything your firm does. You’re probably already doing the work to make quality products, deliver an excellent experience, and create value for your customer. A solid brand strategy is a framework for communicating these qualities. It helps buyers understand and associate them with you. By shepherding buyers toward a purchase, and promoting future loyalty, brand strategy also increases sales and growth.

Elements of a Strategy

A brand strategy consists of several parts. Together, they help guide your internal decisions, as well as how you express your brand to buyers.

Some are more inward-facing, guiding your company:

Mission, vision, values: these help clarify what you do, and why (beyond the obvious goal of profit).

Positioning: with which companies you compete, and on what terms.

The following are more outward-facing, affecting your communication with the public. These are the elements people tend to think of, when they think of “branding.”:

Name: what’s in a name? The right brand name helps make you stand out. It also helps avoid legal issues or customer confusion down the road.

Personality: human qualities that personify your brand.

Voice: how your brand “sounds” when it speaks or writes.

Visual identity: visual elements like color, typography, and logo that distinguish your brand.

How We Create Brand Strategy

Whether starting from scratch or refreshing, your brand strategy needs YOU. We create a workshop that brings together experts in branding, design, and other facets of brand strategy with the foremost experts in your business: you and your key colleagues.

Through a structured brainstorming process, we will create and refine each element. From there, our team will go forth and create all the documentation and creative assets, ensuring your satisfaction with the final deliverables.

Because a strategy is nothing without execution, we will also work with you to develop action plans and goals aligning with the strategy. You will be able to begin living your new brand and using it to drive results. If additional marketing needs arise, we can coordinate a total solution.

If building or renewing your brand strategy sounds like a fit for you, let’s talk!