Brand Strategy Canvas (eBook)

Contents 5
About the Author 6
Acknowledgments 7
Introduction 8
Chapter 1: Getting Started with the Brand Strategy Canvas 11
What Is Strategy? 13
The Kernel of Good Strategy 13
How to Apply Your Strategy 14
The Impact of Brand Strategy 16
The Cost of Brand Strategy Debt 17
Brand Drift 17
Duplicated Effort 17
Unfocused Activities 18
Diluted Word of Mouth 18
Reactive Posture 18
Inefficient Advertising 18
The Benefits of Investing in Brand Strategy 18
Clarity 19
Alignment 19
Efficiency 19
Customer Loyalty 19
Differentiation 19
When to Focus on Building Brand Strategy 19
Growth 20
Shift in Audience 20
Ongoing Pain 21
Conclusion 22
Chapter 2: Overview of the Brand Strategy Canvas 23
Audience Insight 27
Benefits 28
Positioning Statement 29
Values and Personality 32
Key Messages 33
Best Practices and Quick Start Tips 33
Start from the Top 34
Make Choices 34
Garbage In, Garbage Out 34
Work Alone First 34
Don’t Rush It 35
Iterate 36
Consider Multiple Audiences 36
Conclusion 37
Chapter 3: Market Opportunity 38
Customer/User Insight 38
Demographic vs. Psychographic Information 40
Uncovering Audience Insights 41
Example Audience Description 43
Competitive Environment 45
Knowing Your Category 45
Functional and Emotional Aspects of Your Category 46
Direct and Indirect Competitors 47
Example Competitive Environment 49
Company/Product Features 51
Finding Your Reasons to Believe 51
Points of Differentiation 52
Example Company/Product Features 52
Linking the First Three Boxes 53
Conclusion 56
Chapter 4: Rational and Emotional Benefits 57
The Features-Benefits Continuum 60
Building a Ladder of Abstraction 63
Balancing Emotions and Facts 64
Staying Grounded 65
Rational Benefits 66
Do the Work for Your Customers 67
Example Rational Benefits 67
Emotional Benefits 69
Example Emotional Benefits 70
Tactics for Discovering Emotional Benefits 70
Bringing It All Together, or a Tale of Two Campaigns 71
Conclusion 73
Chapter 5: Brand Positioning 75
Why a Statement? 77
Positioning Is a Map 78
Example Positioning Statement 83
Audience 83
Brand Description 84
Benefit 86
Proof 86
Payoff 87
Brand Essence 89
Two Reasons to Develop Your Brand Essence 89
Brand Essence As Rallying Cry 90
Brand Essence As Promise to Uphold 90
Generating a Brand Essence 91
Reviewing Your Positioning Statement 91
Drawing the Right Map 92
Share of Wallet 94
Conclusion 94
Chapter 6: Defining Your Brand Values 95
Brand Values in Action 96
Vision, Mission, Values 97
Guide to Exploring and Capturing Brand Values 98
Example of Brand Values 99
Instilling a Sense of Authenticity into Your Brand 100
Conclusion 101
Chapter 7: Creating a Brand Personality 102
Meeting Your Brand for a Drink 103
What Does Your Brand Believe About the World? 104
The Power of Personality 105
Example Brand Personality 106
Conclusion 109
Chapter 8: Drafting Key Messages 110
Avoiding Brand Dilution 111
Aspects of Key Messages 112
Key Messages As a Catalyst 112
Key Messages As Guideposts 113
What Key Messages Are Not 113
Key Messages Help Tell a Consistently Powerful Story 113
Example of Key Messages 114
Two Types of Key Messages 115
Staying True to Your Brand Voice 117
The Talk Like a Human Test 118
Conclusion 118
Chapter 9: Completing Your Canvas 120
What Now? 121
Applying Your Strategy 121
Putting Your Strategy to Work 123
Make It Accessible 123
Stay On-Message 123
Revisit Your Materials 124
Flesh Out Your Values 124
Review Quarterly 124
Good Luck! 124
Appendix A:Brand Strategy Canvas Template 125
Index 127