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This article is ideal for established companies going through a transition and discusses the following topics [5-minute read]:

Why is Brand Strategy Important?

A strong brand strategy provides a clear roadmap for how a business presents itself. It helps define the brand’s vision, mission, and values, ensuring consistency across all external and internal marketing communication.

This consistency builds trust and recognition among customers as well as employees. A well-defined brand strategy helps differentiate a brand from its competitors by communicating a company’s unique value proposition—fostering increased sales and customer loyalty.

Branding is more than just a logo, fonts, and colors. It is the foundation of your business entity.

A strong brand strategy aligns all aspects of a business, from product development to customer service, under a unified vision. This alignment ensures that every department works towards the same goals, enhancing efficiency and effectiveness. It also empowers employees by giving them a clear understanding of the brand’s identity and their role in upholding it. A strong brand strategy ultimately drives long-term growth and success by fostering a cohesive, recognizable, and trusted brand.

What Is a Branding Strategy Workshop?

A brand strategy workshop is a series of collaborative sessions to help your company define, refine, and develop its brand identity and strategy.

Sessions are facilitated by an experienced brand consultant who leads the executive team through a series of exercises to define

  • Brand Purpose: Understanding the core mission and values of the brand.
  • Target Audience: Identifying the ideal customers and their needs.
  • Brand Positioning: Determining how the brand fits the market relative to competitors.
  • Messaging: Developing key messages that resonate with the target audience.
  • Visual Identity: Discussing elements like logos, colors, and overall aesthetic.

Well-orchestrated workshops combine the subject matter expertise from within the company with a proven process provided by the brand strategist.

The outputs should be clearly defined from the outset, and the workshop should move progressively toward those objectives. It should include a plan for implementing the brand strategy to the external facing audience (clients, vendors, teaming partners, investors), the internal audience (employees and prospective new hires), and other stakeholders such as investors.

How Can I Implement a Brand Strategy?

Implementing a brand strategy should consider

  1. Brand Trust: Building the fundamentals within the business that enable the company to deliver on its brand promise
  2. Brand messaging: the stories that describe how you solve your client’s problems – better than the competition
  3. Brand visibility: The process by which you convey your brand message to your target audiences

For larger companies serving multiple market segments, the brand strategy will have several layers. For example:

  • Level 1—Corporate: the umbrella brand strategy for the entire business
  • Level 2—Market Segments: a refinement of the brand story that aligns the brand for a specific product with its niche market segment
  • Level 3—Campaign: the highly target offer that is the bedrock of a sales and marketing initiative

Who Should Attend a Branding Strategy Workshop?

Every functional area of your business should support—and is affected by—your brand strategy, including key decision-makers from every department, is a logical choice. Depending on your company’s stage of growth and organization, we recommend involving leaders from business development/sales, operations, HR, finance, executive leadership, and IT.

Through an in-depth preliminary conversation, the brand strategist leading the workshop will advise the best workshop team for your organization.

 

What Topics Are Covered in a Brand Strategy Workshop?

The key components of a branding strategy include:

  1. Brand Positioning: Defining how a brand is perceived in the context of the competitive landscape.
  2. Brand Identity: The visual and verbal elements representing the brand, such as logos, colors, and taglines.
  3. Brand Messaging: The tone, voice, and key messages that communicate the brand’s values and promises. Brand messaging is telling stories about solutions that can solve your client’s problems—better than the competition.
  4. Brand Experience: The overall experience customers have with the brand, from the first interaction to post-purchase support.
  5. Brand Differentiation: Highlighting what makes the brand unique.
  6. Brand Loyalty: Strategies to retain customers and turn them into brand advocates.

Areas of discussion include:

  • Visual Brand Assets Audit and Recommendations
  • Brand Messaging Review and Recommendations
  • Review Mission and Vision Statements
  • Review Company Values Statement
  • Product/Services Definition Refinement
  • Market Segmentation
  • Developing Personas
  • Competitor Review
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Do I Need to Hire a Branding Strategy Expert, or Can I Do It Myself?

Choosing between DIY and hiring an expert branding strategy company is primarily driven by your company’s internal talent pool and stage in business. In the early start-up phase or new business in “survival mode,” DIY is often the way to go simply due to budget constraints.

If your company is slightly more mature and internally has a deep understanding of your markets, has the creativity to build a unique brand identity, and has the time to dedicate to this important task, then DIYing your branding is still a viable option.

More established companies choose to engage a brand strategist when specific challenges, for example:

  • Company lifecycle change—transitioning from “Teenager” to “adult.”
  • Preparing to face new competitors (common for government contractors who are preparing to compete full and open)
  • Entering a new market segment
  • Launching a significant new product or service
  • Facing falling market share
  • Growing through M&A—requiring multiple brands to merge or coexist
  • The brand is outdated—no longer relevant for the current market segments or does not fully represent the current business capabilities

For established companies building infrastructure and with growth objectives, hiring a pro to help with brand strategy is an investment in your company’s future.

What Does a Brand Consulting Agency Do?

A branding agency can help companies in the following areas:

Fresh Perspective: An external company brings fresh eyes and unbiased opinions that can uncover opportunities or issues you might have overlooked or bring expert validation of internal assumptions.

Expertise and Experience: Brand strategy firms specialize in precisely this. They’ve worked with multiple businesses, faced various challenges, and honed strategies that can be customized to your needs. This can save you time and prevent costly mistakes.

Resource Efficiency: Developing a comprehensive brand strategy requires significant time and resources. Outsourcing lets your team focus on core business functions while the experts handle your branding.

Objectivity: Internal teams may have personal biases or internal politics influencing their decisions. An external firm operates with a level of objectivity that can ensure decisions are made in the brand’s best interest.

Access to Tools and Trends: Brand strategy companies often have access to the latest tools, technologies, and industry trends. They can leverage these resources to give your brand a competitive edge.

Branding Strategy Summary

Investing in a strong brand strategy is crucial for any business. It provides a clear roadmap for presenting the company to the world and ensures consistency in external and internal communications.

A well-defined brand strategy encompasses the brand’s mission, vision, and values, building trust and recognition among customers and employees. It differentiates the brand from competitors, fostering increased sales and customer loyalty.

A Branding Strategy Workshop, led by an experienced strategist, helps align all aspects of the business under a unified vision and should involve key decision-makers from various departments. This alignment enhances efficiency and effectiveness, empowering employees with a clear understanding of the brand’s identity and their role in upholding it.

Deciding whether to DIY or hire an expert for branding strategy depends on factors like internal expertise, budget, and the complexity of branding needs. Hiring a professional for more established companies aiming for significant market impact could be a worthwhile investment.

At Ocean 5 Strategies, we understand that your brand should reflect your values, expertise, and commitment to your unique audience. Crafting a strategic brand that stands out in the marketplace and remains consistent across all platforms is critical for success. Let us partner with you to create a strategic brand strategy that resonates with your target market and drives long-term growth.

Reach out to one of our brand strategists today to elevate your brand.