S is for Strategy


What is a Brand strategy?

It’s a plan which lays out who you are internally and how you will communicate it externally in order to deliver your business goals.

We’ve spent the last 6 months doing this ourselves so this topic is very close to my heart at the moment. It’s not always easy but its absolutely crucial to building a strong brand.

We brake it down into manageable chunks like this:
Look out for the links to some of our other blogs which expands on a lot of these areas

Brand heart

  • Vision – the world you want to create for your stakeholders. Think big.
  • Purpose – The core statement that describes what you are here to do, in order to achieve your vision
  • Differentiation – What is your USP (unique selling point)? What makes you different? What do you do that is hard to copy? Ensure it’s authentic.
  • Values – the principles that guide what you do (there will be a blog coming on this soon!)

Brand voice

  • Your name – how you are known. Often seen with a strapline.
  • Finding your voice – establishing your tone of voice, your personality and how you ‘sound’. No jargon please!
  • Key messages – set pieces of copy written for different audiences. Saves your team time and helps with your brand consistency.

Brand look

  • Logo – the foundation of your brand identity. Your brand ‘signature’.
  • Colours – the boldest, most emotive tool in your brand arsenal  
  • Fonts – the ‘accent’ for your words
  • Imagery – your photography, illustration or icon style
  • Look and feel – how does it all come together to tell people who you are?

Brand at work

  • Brand guidelines – Setting out the framework for your brand. They can be basic or more advanced
  • Assets – logo files, icons, photo library, templates etc. Materials that make it easy for everyone to use your brand consistently.
  • Staff engagement – tools to ensure your people are living your brand.

If you want to look at your brand strategy or know you have a few gaps you need to fill in do get in touch! Give me a ring on 01270 626624 or email jo@jg-creative.co.uk

Now read T is for Tone of Voice

Jo Grubb
Managing Director