Is it time to revisit your brand? There are a lot of reasons why companies endeavor to do this, including new leadership, evolving product and service offerings, changing consumer expectations, the competitive landscape, unclear positioning, and lack of internal/external focus and clarity. Because branding often encompasses more than just your visual identity, a great way to begin the process is with a brand discovery and alignment project.
A brand discovery and alignment project is an internal exercise and assessment that is typically facilitated by a third party with branding and marketing expertise. It involves your team, your customers, and other parties that may play an important role in the delivery of your company's products and services. In the discovery phase, the goal is to identify and highlight valuable information about your company and competitors. Examples are:
- What do we do really well?
- What are our challenges, opportunities, and insights?
- How do we define our company culture?
- What is our core competency and value to our target markets?
- What is our position in the industry relative to competitors?
- How do our competitors position and promote themselves?
- What do our customers say about doing business with us?
The second phase of the project seeks to align and utilize the information gathered in the discovery phase for how you rally your team internally. Also, this will help determine how you present yourself moving forward with your visual brand assets, website, content, email, and sales and marketing collateral. You'll come away with tools like:
- A brand positioning statement for internal alignment
- Internal and external brand elements (the foundation for how you communicate)
- Brand voice and personality (how you look, speak, and act)
- Brand messaging and story
- Brand pillars (the primary elements and differentiators that lead customers to choose you)
- Taglines and slogans to broadcast benefits and differentiation
A brand discovery and alignment project is a great way to self-reflect, reset, and pave the way for a potential rebrand or brand refresh. It also provides you with a new direction with which to promote yourself, talk about yourself, differentiate yourself from the competition, and resonate with your target market(s) in future campaigns and conversations. Plus, if you can have fun and celebrate your accomplishments in the process, why not take the opportunity? If you want to explore a brand discovery and alignment project for your company, reach out to the Hydrate Branding Team today!
