branding growth brand strategy

1Business growth & branding strategy Little Big Epic - April 2015

B R A N D I N G S T R A T E G Y

&

B U S I N E S S G R O W T H

APRIL 2015

Prepared by Little Big EpicBranding, creative marketing and advertisinghttp://www.littlebigepic.com.au


INDEX

INTRODUCTION

ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS

BUSINESS OBJECTIVES

YOUR TARGET MARKET

ABOUT YOUR BRANDING

YOUR BRAND PERSONALITY

YOUR BUSINESS QUALITIES

YOUR BRAND VISION & STORY

YOUR BRAND MESSAGE

TONE & WRITING

VISUAL IDENTITY

NEXT STEPS


INTRODUCTION

A business needs to overcome the limits of its transactional nature in order to grow. Branding champions the values of the business that will resonate with its best clients and will elevate it over the competition, giving it a marketing advantage that will result in business growth.

Beyond the price point, branding will attract consumers - or turn them away - so it’s imperative to get it right.

Our recommendations are based on your key business objectives, which define the communications efforts by your brand towards selected market segments.

With this Branding Strategy we define your brand personality and image and how your core message can be communicated to your audience in a way that will attract, engage and develop brand loyalty.

This document also gives creative and artistic direction to your corporate identity that will translate to your brand collateral across all mediums.

A brand strategy is a live, evolving document that serves as a guide but allows its owner to decide how much of this document to integrate in the development of the business and to re-align and adjust it as feedback and results start coming in.

This brand strategy is a road map to how a business (yours) can be communicated in a way that will be consistent and attractive to new customers, and thus enable your business objectives leading to business growth.


ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS

We spend qualitative time researching your business in a mix of one-on-one sessions, gathering existing information and doing an assessment of what your business currently stands for.

Can you describe your business in a line or two with clarity and precise words? We define your business first, carefully choosing the right words that will allow you to explain it to potential customers, PR and journalists or potential referrers at networking events.


BUSINESS OBJECTIVES

We base our branding strategy on your business objectives, and it is crucial to under-stand who your best customers are and where the money is coming from.

For example, we take note of the sales performance over the last few months:

- Your current best sellers: quantity and price

- Your ideal best sellers: quantity and price

- Your current best customers: complete profile and how much they spent

- Your ideal best customers: complete profile and how much they would spend

- How many current customers are needed (consider conversion rates)

- How many ideal customers are needed (daily, monthly?)

This will help us define your branding and marketing in order to target your ideal cus-tomers to buy your best sellers, and how many you need to sell.

BUSINESS GROWTH VALUE

If you know you best sellers and how/how are buying, you can refine your brand mes-sage to attract more of them.

Big ticket items should be featured more prominently, and more emphasis given to the qualities that make them worth paying for.

If we know who is a repeat customer vs. single customers, then we know to make it more attractive for shoppers to come back through our communications. VIP passes, using ‘welcome back’ and ‘thank you for choosing us every time’ etc, give recognition to your customers, makes them feel welcome - and also sends the signal to potential customers that your lingerie is so good, they should also consider coming back.


YOUR TARGET MARKET

We explore, research and analyse who your target market is in great detail in order to arrive to highly specific ideal customer profiles. This can vary between 1-3 profiles, each with their own needs.

For example:

The Bride to Be: 19 - 35 y.o. year old females due to be wed. They have large amount of money to spend (via their parents or by themselves) but think of lingerie last. (Profile continues...)


We can get a sense of what your customers are looking for based on their profile, their preferences and motivations. These are all things that can be addressed throughout your social media, advertising and marketing campaigns in order to make a connection with your audience.

It also gives you an idea of where to start looking for display advertising. It helps finding out where your potential buyers are getting their news from, which web-sites they are visiting, which media platforms they are using and what’s important in their lives.

All of this translates into how your photos, posts and ads should look like and read like.

As they are two distinctly different target groups, it is important to consider how they will be communicated with: different emphasis at different times of the year, or different platforms, etc.


ABOUT YOUR BRANDING

Branding has a point of view. To attract and engage your customers your brand must express a unique personality and a message they will feel strongly about.This message is derived from who you are, who you want to be and who people perceive you to be – and it needs to be summed up in a single, concise line that’s appropriate and attractive to your prospective clients.

A strong brand builds a strong loyalty and a place above the competition in the minds of your audience.


In order to attract customers and retain them, you need to give them a reason beyond a price-point.

‘Service’ only works when the customer is already in your store, and it’s not a distinguishing feature when advertising your business, as everyone also does the same thing.

Therefore we need to find those reasons that will attract prospective customers from the distance, through advertising and online, as well as by reputation.

Brand is emotional: ‘quality’ simply describes something, while ‘elegance’ de-scribes the attitude.

This also means you are focusing your efforts in a concerted manner, so your brand starts being recognised. Doing too many things at the same time makes it hard to remember.

What is Volvo known for? What is Dove known for?

Strong brands send out a strong message. Your business needs to become a pre-ferred provider for all the right reasons.


While not strictly a tagline, this sentence drives your brand. It explains what makes your business different to all others, and the attitudes it embodies.

Y O U R

B R A N D E S S E N C E

[ 2 - 4 w o r d s t h a t d e s c r i b e t h e

e s s e n c e o f y o u r b r a n d ]


YOUR BRAND PERSONALITY

BRAND PILLARS Between 3-5 brand core values that power your business. They represent the attitudes and philosophy that your business holds dear, and which your consumers will align with.

These pillars will be expanded individually to explain in detail how they influence your brand, and the business growth opportunities they lead to.

Brand pillars are good for marketing, advertising and engaging your audience.

Here are the elements of your brand that appeal to the emotions and establish a relationship with the consumer.


YOUR BUSINESS QUALITIES

CORE QUALITIES Many of these qualities should be a given, but will vary for every single business. Service, trustworthiness, cost, personal vs DIY qualities.

For example, all bakeries will claim their pies are the tastiest, but if taste is one of your business qualities - then you need to make sure you can prove it every step of the way.

Qualities will not attract new customers (most businesses will claim they offer great service) but will help in making the sale, and should be included in your communications.

These are the qualities that prospective clients will look for in the delivery of your business. They need to be communicated at some point, via website, flyers or social media to reassure the buyer.


These qualities, when made obvious (on your website’s FAQ, flyers, Facebook, etc) give you an edge towards making that sale. They are qualifiers your customers look for when deciding to purchase from you.


YOUR BRAND VISION & STORY

The Brand Vision is the essence of what you stand for, the promise that you make and the personality that you convey. The Brand Story is a more detailed explanation with a nuanced narrative.

A great story is when the following elements come together:

A story you can confidently tell and The world view the buyer tells him/herself


The brand vision & story is the basis for your ‘mission / vison’ pages on your website, it helps in writing the profile of your business on directories and listings, on social media profiles, on flyers and posters, and explains why your business is the best one for your clients.


Geezabella & Petrucio brings you a unique experience of sensuality and elegance through hand-picked lingerie of silk and lace from around the world - and expert guidance through the sensual experience.

With a strong focus on sensual empowerment, G&P offer outfits and accessories to fit every occasion and to accommodate the changing seasons in a bespoke and intimate manner.

For example:


Flaky Tart says, ‘Get a little fresh’– and we don’t just mean our food.Take a bite out of life with an appetitefor a little cheeky fun. So, don’t justplay with your food … play with yourlife, too!

Tickle its fancy, tweak its cheek andgive it a sassy grin. Eat. Play. Love.Life’s too short for serious.”

Or:


YOUR BRAND MESSAGE

TAG LINES These will help when crafting promotions, advertisements and communications, online promotions and more. They are not meant to be your Brand Tagline (this comes separately, provided by the copywriter) but will help in defining your immediate marketing, promotional and advertising needs.

POSITIONING STATEMENT An internal anchor-point for all your communications about the brand. For example,

For example:

A journey to Europe on your skin (lingerie retailer)

Your centerpoint of transformation (change management)

Think of us as your family architect (architect)

Engineered beauty (toy-makers)

We are a Melbourne boutique offering a unique experience of sensuality and elegance through silk and lace lingerie from foreign and exotic locations around the world.


These one-liners are great sparks to create blog posts, to write articles and to answer during interviews. They are good for advertorials and features of your business, and you can use them to create quotes, one-liners on your communication and start promotions.


TONE & WRITING

Here we define the tone & writing of your communications. This should apply across your communications to give a cohesive voice to your brand, that can be trusted, recognised and that brings familiarity in its tone.

This page outlines the guidelines.


VISUAL IDENTITY

COLOURS

FONTS

PHOTOGRAPHY

(ETC)

A recognisable visual identity is the result of a consistent approach over time and across all media, both in message and in visual expression. It should be unique, memorable and clear.

We give you a general direction and recommendations in which your brand should be expressed across colour, photography, typography and presentation.

This is what the designer can use as a guideline to develop a logo, corporate ID and style guides when and where required.

The visual identity is deeply influenced by the rest of the branding strategy, and is therefore tied back to your busines objectives and customer insights, making the choice a logical step rather than leaving it all to personal taste.


Doing an advertisement with the wrong image can translate into zero customers or give the wrong impression of your business.

Getting it right can make your brand visually recognisable and top of mind.

Your visual identity makes your business different from the competition, and becomes a shortcut into your business. It’s worth every marketing and advertising dollar you invest into it.


SUMMARY

This document defines the essential message of your business and suggests a direction to take with the visual and written expression of the brand.

You can revisit this document every time an article or ad needs to be written, a bio presented or a presentation made. It will help you keep your brand on a consistent path and build a reputation.

A branding strategy also gives you a direction to take future guidelines (customer experience guidelines, corporate identity manual, etc) and marketing efforts, which you can develop as you need.


A strategy is useless if not put into practice.

Every item in this document gives you tools to attract, engage and gain new customers to your business. It is not responsible for your sales - but it will increase your leads and generate interest in your product and business.

Make sure that for the first few months of getting this document you check it every time you need to make a decision about how you communicate your business to your customers. You can then revise it or improve it - but always, always find ways to apply it.


BUILD YOUR BRAND

LAUNCH YOUR BRAND

NEXT STEPS

REMEMBER

ACT ON THE RECOMMENDATIONS IN THIS DOCUMENT.DEVELOP YOUR VISUAL IDENTITY.

BUILD YOUR WEBSITE, SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE, LOOKBOOK AND COMMUNICATION MATERIAL.

GROW YOUR FOLLOWERS AND CUSTOMERS.

PREPARE YOUR NEXT MARKETING INITIATIVE, YOUR NEXT PROMOTIONAL EVENT OR ADVERTISING PLAN.

BE FOCUSED AND SINGLE-MINDED.

YOU DEFINE YOUR CUSTOMERS, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND.

WORK SMARTER, NOT HARDER.

WORD OF MOUTH IS FICKLE, AND NOT A BUSINESS STRATEGY!

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