Why Does Brand Strategy Come Before Visuals?

If you hired somebody to do logo and brand visuals for you it doesn’t necessarily mean you have a strategy for your brand. That means you can’t open a document called brand strategy whenever you want and look for the answers to the problems you have at this moment.

Having a logo and visuals means you have a nice identity. But what when you get stuck in communication with your customers and you need to answer something like: How do my customers think about a certain topic and problem?

Which problem do I solve, for whom and how?

Brand strategy is more than just a story of a brand. It is like a spider web of tools, questions, techniques and patterns to grow your brand and business, and not just to represent it.

When you have your brand strategy you have answered all possible questions about your customers. So, in times when you need to position yourself better or bring a new product to life, you just need to check your brand strategy and see which problems you will solve for your target audience.

This will provide custom solutions for specific results, which will likely provide better results. You’ll know the language, tone and topics to communicate, which allows you to connect to your customers more closely.

How do I show my authenticity?

You will know this precisely if you think about two major components: competition and market positioning.

There’s nothing new in telling you how important it is to be different and to stand out in the crowd. With a brand strategy and the answers to questions about competition and market positioning, you will know how exactly to do it.

Your audience sees thousands of messages every day, including those posted by your competitors. If you often post similar content and communicate similar messages, there’s nothing to distinguish you from your competitors and no reason for you to exist as a brand.

It’s important to analyze the competition. What products already exist and how are they communicating their brand? Find out what makes your offering different and authentic. When you do this you can create a brand story and get to work communicating it so that customers will know exactly why they should buy from you, and not your competitors.

What is the story I want to tell?

In the end, you are telling a story about your brand. You are telling it through logo design, visual identity, social media messages and all other communication with your customers.

When you have a brand strategy you will be able to focus on communication to identify specific problems your customers may have and provide the right solutions. Depending on your brand you will use tone, topics and language to evoke emotions to connect with your customers in a way that resonates with them.

This article is part of our brand strategy and represents just one piece of a large puzzle. If you are still not sure whether or not you need a brand strategy, connect with the Total Idea team. Building a brand is challenging work. As experts in this area, we’re well-positioned to help! Feel free to contact us to discuss your brand strategy.