Branding

To find your deep stories and authentic words, we must visit the source of truth. You must feel confident about what your brand is, what it stands for, who it’s for and what its people care about. There’s no other way to move onwards and upwards. 

You might be a start-up or SME riding the rapids, or an established organisation that’s burst the banks of its identity. Whichever stage you’re at, the effects can be profoundly eye-opening and transformative.

A neutral wayfinder, who will guide your team through this process, brings a fresh eye; someone who can ask ‘stupid’ questions, helping you shed layers of assumptions that have built up over time.

1. Vision, mission & values
2. Value proposition
3. Strapline
4. Positioning statement
5. Tone of voice

Getting these right provides a clear, accurate guide for everyone in your company and external suppliers. All your written communications – spoken and visual ones too – will be led and influenced by this work. Your target audience will know exactly what you do, why you’re special and what you stand for. 

1. Mission, vision & values statements

Along with your value proposition (below), this work is the foundation for every interaction you have with your audiences. By the time we’re done, we’ll have articulated what it is you do, why and how – and perhaps even what your long term vision is too. 

Vision, mission & values is about your organisation – what it stands for and cares about, and how it does business. It’s as much for your people as it is for your customers, members or clients. It’s as relevant and valuable for SMEs as it is for corporations.

In my experience, it’s an excellent workshop to help an established organisation refocus on its operational objectives or strategic goals.

2. Value proposition

Your value proposition is the expression of what’s so special about your product or service (as well as exactly what it is) that will make your target audience choose you over the competition. What’s its value to them?

We’ll talk about uniqueness, audience demographics, pain points, for a start. Once you’re confident in the credibility of your value proposition, the certainty will super-charge every communication you have with your audience and make marketing so much easier.

3. Strapline (tagline)

As part of your branding, alongside your visual assets like logo and colour palette, your strapline gives your audience clear information about your brand’s persona, purpose and promise. 

Using what we learned about your value proposition, we can assess the fitness of your current strapline (if you have one) and explore other possibilities. Straplines that don’t uphold or reflect your value proposition will drift out of sight and mind; ones that aren’t strong enough won’t weather well.

4. Positioning statement

We can now work on the holy grail of your branding journey – how you tell your audiences who you are, what you do, and why you’re the only choice for them.

Your positioning statement distils your value proposition and statements into an informative, inspiring and compelling  paragraph (or two); an easy-to-grasp explanation of what your brand is all about and who it’s for. 

It’s a critical component of your brand asset bank because, done right, you can use it to guide every single piece of writing your brand publishes.

5. Tone of voice

By the time we’ve worked through and ratified the above, our understanding of words and phrases you want to use will be through the roof. 

Now is a good time to capture these in a guide, along with all manner of other rules and guidelines you want your people to follow – one brand, one voice. This can include clarifying spellings, banned words, punctuation and other style points.

Your tone of voice guide can be a living document that your team can evolve over time, or a comprehensive and definitive guide that will guide you through your next phase.

Clog dancing or clay throwing?

Let’s have a conversation. Tell me a bit about your business, your audience, your challenges and your vision, all that. I’ll ask a few questions and explain more about my work. We might even talk about the weather, the weekend, or our hobbies.

And if we like how this goes, we can arrange an immersion (or discovery) session. Email me using the form. I’ll get back to you and arrange our first chat.