What is a brand strategy?

Learn what a purpose-driven brand strategy is and how it builds a strong foundation for your ethical business.

For small businesses with big hearts, a clearly defined brand strategy can help you connect with customers who want to make a difference.

Taking the time to lay down strong brand roots will set your business up for sustainable growth, helping you create a consistent and memorable experience of your brand, shine a light on the values and beliefs that nurture your business, and inspire long-lasting and authentic connections with your customers.

What is a Brand Strategy?

A brand strategy is everything your business is, does, looks like and stands for. It’s those tangible and visual elements of your business like your products, your logo, your business name, your shop and your website. But, much more than that, it’s also the intangible, ethereal elements of your brand, which help build your identity and set you apart from other businesses selling similar products or services. Things like your purpose, your values, your tone of voice, your social media presence, the ways and places you connect with your customers, and the way you make people feel.

What does a brand strategy include?

A brand strategy can be a wide-reaching document that covers all areas of a company’s marketing and business strategy, including:

• Brand personality: what makes your brand unique, your archetype, how you will convey your personality
• Brand positioning: how your business stands out among its competitors
• Target audience: the people your business seeks to connect with; who they are, what they care about, where they will find you
• Brand impact: how your brand helps people, what problems you solve
• Brand identity: your brand name, logo, tagline and other visual elements
• Brand messaging: the things you say and how you say them to communicate your identity, your values and your personality in a way that resonates with your target audience
• Brand touchpoints: where your brand will connect with people – website, social media, packaging, advertising, etc. – ensuring a consistent identity and experience across them all
• Brand guidelines: the ‘rules’ for how your brand identity and messaging should be used across channels, to ensure consistency and support a strong brand identity

Just as your business will grow and change over time, your brand strategy should evolve organically. It’s a living and breathing document that will sprout new shoots and grow in unexpected ways, alongside your business and the changing needs and expectations of your customers.

Why is brand strategy important?

In many ways, your brand strategy is your business. Because it encompasses and affects so much of what you do and how you do it, it can really contribute to the success of your business. I like to think of brand strategy like the roots of a tree – the deeper those roots go and the more nourishment they receive, the stronger they will be. Without strong roots, a tree is vulnerable to changes in the weather or the land. 

As soon as the wind picks up, or rain washes away any earth, the tree’s foundations can falter and the tree can topple over. If you take the time and care to plant your brand’s roots deeply, with a well-defined brand strategy, your business will not only be able to stand strong through any storms, it will have the best possible foundations to support sustainable growth for many years to come.

what is a purpose-driven brand strategy?

For small, sustainable and ethical businesses, a purpose-driven brand strategy is about putting your business’s values and beliefs at the very centre of your identity.

A purpose-driven brand strategy is one that recognises that consumers are increasingly looking to buy from businesses that align with their own values and beliefs, and being proud, open and honest to share your business’s values with the world.

By focussing on a purpose higher than profit – the sense of a calling to do something that makes a tangible and lasting difference in the world – even small businesses can find their tribes, resonate with consumers who are kindred spirits, and build deep connections with customers who become loyal and committed followers.

How is a purpose-driven brand strategy different from a standard brand strategy?

For most larger businesses, brand strategy is all about driving growth. Of course, all businesses want to make money; it would be disingenuous to suggest otherwise. But purpose-driven brands are committed to the idea that doing business doesn’t have to cost the earth.

Where a standard brand strategy might put profit above all else, a purpose-driven brand strategy will focus on the ways that business is a force for good in the world. Perhaps they stand for climate issues, or sustainable business practices, or even social justice issues. Whatever it is, this purpose is woven through the fabric of the business, and through every fibre of the brand strategy.

Why is brand strategy important for purpose-driven businesses?

People are consuming more consciously, and they are looking for businesses that can help them make more responsible buying choices. Research by YouGov has found that almost two thirds (62%) of UK consumers now consider sustainability when making purchasing decisions, and that 61% actively seek out environmentally friendly products.

For purpose-driven small businesses, that means it’s no longer just good for the soul to shout about your values and beliefs, it’s good for business too. A well-defined brand strategy can support you to do that.

how to build a purpose-driven brand strategy for your business 

For small businesses that are passionate about sustainability and environmental issues, it can be the easiest thing in the world to put your purpose at the heart of what you do. Small businesses often have small (or even one-person) teams who have gathered around a common goal and a shared mission – the purpose is easy to identify and, in a way, highlights itself. But building a brand strategy around your purpose takes work, and sometimes a level of expertise you might not have within your team.

Some key steps might be:
· To define your purpose
· To understand your audience
· To develop your brand identity
· To craft your messaging
· To put your values into action

I find it almost always helps me to get a different perspective on my business if I take time away from my business. Getting out into nature is a great place to start, and I’ve seen the power of this countless times when working with clients. Giving your head, your heart, and your creativity that time to breathe can help unlock new insights, new inspiration and new ideas that simply wouldn’t come if you were stuck behind a desk

Plant your brand roots with a brand strategy workshop

Nature and intuition are at the heart of a Creative Wilderness brand strategy workshop. There is often so much ego and ‘you have to do this’ around business, but I believe a truly powerful and authentic brand strategy comes from tuning into our deepest selves to uncover the heart and purpose our customers will genuinely connect with.

Together, we’ll get out into nature to explore what makes your brand different; to clear the noise of busyness and ask purposeful questions about business; to dig deep into your purpose and nurture the inner wisdom that can unearth a brand that grows organically with you, and with your business.

Explore working with me on your brand strategy

Learn how to improve your brand connection and connect on a deeper level with your customers.

 

DIY your Brand Strategy on The Brand Builder Course

The Brand Builder online branding course will guide you on how to build (or improve) your authentic brand.

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