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There is no magic solution or storehouse of “good brands” out there waiting to be purchased. In fact, there is no “objective” evaluation
device for determining “good brands.” Rather effective brands evolve through a careful process, effective management over time,
periodic “maintenance”, and diligent defense against both ill-use from inside your organization and competitive encroachment.
ModernMind® has developed the ModernMethod™, a proprietary set of steps to create and craft a brand strategy and resulting brand
assets and implementation plans.
There are many “proprietary” processes within the sphere of creating branding strategies — in fact it seems that every
agency has its own flavor! The key measure of the success of your brand strategy is its effectiveness at enabling the delivery of your business
plan.
We would be pleased to provide a comprehensive review of your current branding requirements with our process in mind.
Process Steps
Phase 1: Executive Vision/Business Plan Definition
The ultimate success of any brand system depend entirely to what extent the brand strategy supports the overall set of business ROI goals
as articulated in the company’s business or strategic plan. Our process is built on identifying these business plan requirements early
in the process not only to ensure the branding meets these defined goals, but also to begin the process of executive buy-in throughout the
process and ongoing.
Management will only care deeply about the brand and become the brand champion if they see the ongoing connection between the brand and
the accomplishment of mission critical business goals!
Information to complete this step in the process is gained through conversations with some or all of the ROI stakeholders from executive
management, line management, board leadership, marketing and sales teams, product/brand leaders, and others. These typically take the form
of interviews in-person or via other means.
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Phase 2: Brand Assessment
Phase 1 helps define the range of future requirements for the eventual branding system. Relative to the future desired performance of the
brand as defined in Phase 1, it is also critical to understand the current range of branding practices currently in use. We will work with
your to define the COMPLETE range of brand impressions and uses both internally and externally. This will include all the communications
at every customer touch point or “moment of truth” with customers. Information gathered during this Phase includes
- a review of all pertinent background and existing research findings
- a review of all current brand practices in use within the organization including:
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— print
— web
— marketing collateral and web content
— product and service literature
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- Where retail or point-of-service delivery is a key element, we will also document signage, rolling stock, retail environments, kiosks
and other automated fixtures, etc.
- In many cases we will also do a thorough and exhaustive third-party review of all competitive practices within the directly and indirectly
competitive market place
At the end of the day brand effectiveness will depend on not only meeting the internal business plan objectives, but ultimately also end
up with a brand that is distinct and differentiated among closest competition. The brand system can meet all your internal goals, but if
it is not distinct versus competition, it will ultimately fail.
The combined Phase 1 and 2 evaluation steps in this process result in a uniform and consensus-based understanding on the part of management
what is currently in use, current processes and practices of brand use and management, uniform agreement about future brand requirements,
and a clear definition of the “gaps” between current future requirements. This consensus understanding among executive management
allows for a targeted development and presentation of brand strategy alternatives in Phase 3.
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Phase 3: Brand Strategy
Based on the review steps above we will develop a set of “brand strategy alternatives” to demonstrate conceptual options for
treating current, future and newly developed brand assets. This will include a summary of the relative graphic, visual and language treatments
of all of the organization’s brand assets
This Phase culminates in the presentation to management of structural alternatives for treating the range of company brand assets and agreement
on the specific actions for modifying, changing or enhancing existing brand assets, or developing new brand assets to meet the requirements
of the new strategy.
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Phase 4: Brand Asset Development
Based on management direction for changes to existing brand assets or the development of new brand assets, Phase 4 will involve the creation
of concepts and the final words and visual design elements to support the brand strategy.
Specifically this Phase may require the development of new or modified corporate or product names, creation of new visual elements like
logos, symbols, word marks or other brand-related design elements, family design templates for print or web content, domain URL and other
web address language, web UI or other Internet specific design elements, etc. Basically any new brand assets and tools required for the future
success of the brand strategy are developed and designed in this Phase.
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Phase 5: Brand Management System
To this point in the process the focus has been on developing a set of strategically-focused and brand-compliant brand assets. These words
and images will carry the emotional connection with the customer. At this point, garnering ongoing ROI from these assets will depend in large
part on the process and tools crafted and implement to manage and measure the use of the brand assets.
Phase 5 involves the creation and implementation of a set of standards and tools to manage the brand assets. Specifically we will recommend
printed and online standards for use internally, for employees, resellers and channel partners, print templates, etc. This is not a one-time
activity. Rather the brand system is a living organism that will need active management and a process to change the standards and systems
that support the brand over time as the strategic situation changes.
Not developing standards and implementing a NEW system of management for the brand strategy and brand assets is like landscaping a garden
and not caring for it. Soon your investment returns to zero value if not properly managed.
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Phase 6: Implementation
Once the brand system is in place, it is crucial to garner the right attention and focus on the brand through both internal and external
External
If done right, when the brand is implemented to customers they will immediately recognize, embrace and internalize the brand. This external “launch” is
typically a campaign with many elements to contact and connect with customers and other external audiences through advertising, one-to-one
email campaigns, printed and web content announcements, changes to signage and rolling stock, changes to internal environments and retail
fixtures, etc. Any place where the brand strategy requires a change, those elements will be designed and put in place during the Phase 6
implementation.
Internal
An often overlooked or intentionally ignored component of any brand implementation is the internal employees and other audiences. Considering
that these front-line employees are your brand ambassadors and control the perceptions that customer have, this is a critical step in the
process.
Developing an internal program to announce the new brand strategy to employees, communicate the benefits, train them and equip them with
new skills, and reward them for behavior changes is crucial to brand success.
As one of our technology services clients stated: “This program serves to “brand the moments of truth” or “stamp
the brand promise on every customer touch point.” It has created and equipped a new kind of front-line service employee.”
Another client in the healthcare space stated: “All of what this organization IS and what we stand for comes together at the points
of contact with the patient. You the employees and associates guard the intersection between the brand and the patient!”
ModernMind has developed a proprietary planning process to develop a thematic program for customer-facing employees that supports the ROI
goals of your brand strategy.
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