How to Develop a Brand Strategy

It is important to start by defining what a brand is and what it is not. A brand is not the colour or symbol that is associated with it as some people think. A brand is the essence of a business, organization or institution. On the other hand, a brand strategy helps communicate the message and essence of a brand in a way that end-users and the target audience understand and can resonate with.

The brand strategy development process is designed to set the business up for success from a stakeholder engagement and communications perspective. It is to create space and support for the business. And it is about much more than logos and symbols. The logos and symbols are a pointer to something that is bankable, investable, marketable and profitable. The essence of that bankability is what should be captured in the brand strategy.
~Sola Abulu

Click here to learn more about a brand strategy and the elements of a brand strategy.

This article will focus on how to develop a brand strategy which builds and nurtures your brand on its core attributes. A brand strategy is very important to any business, organization or entity for so many reasons. In 2017, BBC ran a story on “The Secret Supplier to the World’s Top Designers” which focused on the small town where the world’s renowned designers got their products from. The story shows that the cost of procurement is way less than the selling price of luxurious brands but the brands are able to sell at high amounts because they have developed a brand strategy that makes their products marketable.

The purpose of a brand or its reason for being is what guides the communications professional in developing a brand strategy. What is the promise, story or narrative that you want to be associated with? This requires a purposeful and intentional effort which should differentiate the brand from competitors in your industry or space.

After carefully crafting a brand around your essence and how you want to be identified, the next thing is to define your brand elements. There are 7 key elements of a brand strategy. Developing a brand’s strategy as a communications professional will demand that you sit with the business leader to map out and identify what these elements are from their vision. This video resource explains in detail all the elements of a brand strategy.

Developing a brand strategy is important for brands at various stages. This means whether you are planning the launch of a new brand, rebranding an existing one or undergoing a brand refresh, there needs to be a brand strategy in place.

The Economic Times defines rebranding as “the process of changing the corporate image of an organisation. It is a market strategy of giving a new name, symbol, or change in design for an already-established brand. The idea behind rebranding is to create a different identity for a brand, from its competitors, in the market.”

Catch up on our previous article on the difference between rebranding and a brand refresh here.

As a business owner or executive officer, if the vision of your brand has changed, you need to develop a brand strategy around how you now want to be perceived and known. Depending on what the business or organizational needs are, you will need to either rebrand or have a brand refresh. However, for both a rebrand and a brand refresh, the brand strategy is reviewed.

You can now enroll for our on-demand Brand Strategy and Marketing Communications course which is accessible globally, This is a flexible learning model for Communications professionals, Human Resource practitioners and Business leaders worldwide who need to learn at their own pace and access personalized feedback. In this course, our principal consultant Sola Abulu takes participants through a Brand Strategy framework that has been used to successfully develop the strategy for new, enhanced/refreshed and existing brands with measurable results. Sign up here.

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Sola Abulu & Associates is a strategy and communications consulting and training firm committed to enabling businesses, brands and organizations to achieve their objectives through strategic communications, organizational effectiveness and reputation risk management

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