Brand strategy. Is it art, science or crap?
Do all the frameworks and processes that strategists use really add value for brands or is it all just ****? In the spirit of strategy itself, let’s test a number of positions.
All posts tagged: branding strategy
Smart ways to win as a small brand
Small brands are edgy, attuned and preferred. That seems to be a common sentiment right now. But there is nothing to suggest that any of this makes it easy to win as a small brand today.
Brands should always have a two speed strategy
Brands drive attention and income off awareness, but they derive their real value from their ability to shift and sustain longer term sentiment.
25 questions every start-up brand should answer
Some searching questions, by way of a guide, for the leaders of companies expecting to build lucrative brands in the years ahead.
Contrasting brand different with brand difference
Differentiation is acknowledged by most as the goal that every marketer should be seeking. But the enthusiasm for the pursuit masks a common misunderstanding – in the context of brand strategy, different and difference are not one and the same.
There’s a yawning chasm between brand theory and brand practice
As marketers we come close to taking brands for granted. But while many would say they now get the theory, the practice of brand-building is not as simple as they might like to believe.
5 ways to make sure your brand stays relevant
One of the hardest judgment calls for brand managers is relevance. Brands must change to stay consistent yet they must also remain recognisable in order to preserve brand equity. So what should you change, and when?
Brand strategy vs creative strategy
Often, when people in agencies talk about brand strategy, what they are meaning is the thinking that has led to the work they have been doing on the brand. That’s not brand strategy, it’s creative strategy. Both are important – but they are not the same.
Presentation: Go big, go small or go home
As the middle market takes a battering in many sectors, size matters more than ever. It matters up and it matters down – because the positioning options themselves are becoming more extreme. You either expand to compete regionally or globally or you go the other way entirely and focus on specific opportunities.
Longer term planning in a world of spontaneity
Ever since the GFC, global markets seem to have become more volatile. Oil prices rise and crash; China’s growth soars and slides. When market dynamics are this dramatic, how should you look to effectively develop a longer term plan for a business in a world of spontaneity? Do you go with the ebb and flow, or act as a beacon of constancy?