Branding Strategy
- Brands drive sustained growth by connecting to both the heart and the mind–to emotion and reason.
- Brands are crafted and expressed through applying inspired creativity on top of a careful understanding of rational and emotional drivers of preference and loyalty.
- Brands must retain relevance and appeal through careful maintenance over time, using intelligent brand management techniques and metrics to measure both financial and perceptual performance
- Brands are economic assets to be invested in and managed for financial returns.
- Brands managed well enable organizations to embody their aspirations and inspire stakeholders–customers, employees, partners, and the investment community.
Brand Strategy & Research
Brand decisions, like any other action taken by a business, should be inspired by instinct and experience, but informed by data and facts. At CMT, we link strategy and research with intuition and innovative thinking because we have found this yields the best possible results for our clients.
On brands and brand strategy
At CMT, we know that for brands to achieve staying power, attain extendibility, and drive growth they must appeal to both the heart and the mind. Further, brands must evolve in an intelligent manner to remain relevant over time as customer values and market conditions change.
To their owners, brands are economic assets that require careful measurement, investment, and strategic planning.
Brand Strategy Questions:
The key to success is devoting the resources necessary at the beginning to answer fundamental questions that will drive brand development. These brand strategy questions often include:
Discovery:
- What are the purchase and loyalty drivers of targeted customer segments?
- How are they likely to change over time?
- What characteristics in providers are most highly valued by these targeted customer segments?
- How effectively is the brand or brand portfolio performing today versus competitors when considered against these drivers and valued attributes?
- What are the specific equities of the brand(s) and those of competitors among targeted segments?
- Would re-segmenting markets open new opportunities for growth?
- How can the brand best be focused on targeted opportunities for growth and other elements of the business strategy?
- What primary/emerging drivers of demand or customer behavior might the brand best be aligned with?
- How could alternative brand positioning concepts and brand architectures impact purchase/recommendation intent of customers, influencers, and the investment community?
- To what degree would they impact that intent?
- What are the specific factors used by the investment community to value the company and competitors today?
- What different perspectives on the company’s future trajectory might alter investor/analyst perceptions?
- What are the likely financial returns on pursuing different brand strategy alternatives and/or brand investment scenarios?
Strategy Creation:
- In casting the brand promise, how wide a gap should be opened between the current capabilities and perceptions of the company and a desired future state?
- What is the best overarching positioning concept for the brand that will have enduring appeal and relevance to customers, investors, employees, and partners?
- What are the related key audience value propositions that will help drive growth?
- What is the degree of change required in the customer experience to realize the new brand promise?
- What is the most effective brand architecture to help convey and reinforce the positioning and audience value propositions?
Transition planning:
- What should be the main messages to convey to each audience going forward?
- What is the proper program to build internal enthusiasm and motivation around the new brand strategy?
- What are the strategic imperatives that will drive the full development of visual and verbal brand expression and brand activation programs?
- What is the most effective way to manage the launch and transition from the current state to the desired future state?
- How can we best measure progress of the strategy?
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