A successful brand and communications strategy is borne out of our tried and tested process.
LOGIC + MAGIC = RESULTS
Our method: Understanding your market and your target consumer. Agreeing, defining and developing what your company’s ‘brand’ actually is. Creating the strategic hook that connects your brand to your consumer. Configuring how your company lives and breathes its brand ‘energy’ in every part of its activity. Too often brand strategy and creativity are divided. Bringing these two together means a more holistic brand that generates a truer, more impactful meaning to your consumers.
Understanding your consumer and the market your brand wants to operate in is imperative to any brand and communications strategy. To truly understand, you must have solid insights based on vigorous research. There are many approaches to insight and research. At a macro level, business and market intelligence reports, consumer surveys and big data. At a micro level, it’s about visiting competitor websites, shops, exhibition stands. It’s about scrutinising their balance sheets, their social media behaviour, conducting focus groups, reading up on psychological studies of a particular social grouping.
Brand Hatch utilises a combination of market leading research, data and bespoke insight through third parties to inform their strategic approach to your brand.
Knowledge is power. It’s also a hygiene factor. In other words, you can’t go in blind. It often begins with a hunch and an instinct, but it must be backed up by data driven insights. Its purpose is not just to support a theory. It can lead you down an entirely different positioning strategy. For instance, insight might tell you that your target consumer is actually a different demographic, or their values have changed. This impacts your brand identity, and impacts your communications approach.
Never underestimate the value of research and insight.
We believe that it’s imperative to understand your business in order to help – its strengths and its weaknesses. Our service starts with a full review of your operating model, products & services, people, existing marketing assets, strengths and weaknesses. Most importantly is a firm understanding of you and your story. How you got here.
There are countless positioning frameworks and marketing theories developed over the past sixty years. Combined with experience in the market and a firm understanding of the current market landscape, Brand Hatch leverages the relevant tools and frameworks to answer your brief and provide recommendations that will have tangible results.
Setting Marketing and Communications objectives solidifies exactly what you need to do in order to achieve your business objective i.e. turn a profit in year X. Your marketing objectives need to support the business objective.
Marketing and Business objectives can often be confused and interchangeable. They are intrinsically linked, because marketing is an integral part of business. In order to fulfil your business objective/s, you need to work on 3-4 solid marketing objectives that ladder back up to that core business need.
So, it’s best to think of your marketing objectives as one key question that you need fill in. In order to generate more sales, I want to get X to think Y about my brand by doing Z.
What does your brand need in order to flourish? What do you want consumers to do? How are you going to make them do it?
Once you filter down the objective setting funnel, you end up with campaign objectives and finally communications KPIs.
You must differentiate your brand from others – you can do this in a number of ways. It doesn’t have to be functional. Once we understand your brand and your business, and the market in operates in, we then look to the consumer. Consumer behaviour and psychology often leads us to understand what matters to them – this is your competitive advantage. Your competitive advantage might not be what you expected.
Formulating a brand strategy that applies to every element of its activities as an entity. Your brand identity (and the way it operates) is a considered application of the solid insight, positioning, understanding your strengths and opportunities, and finally, understand what your objectives are. Ultimately, your brand strategy is the art of leveraging your competitive advantages in the market you want to enter.
What is a brand? Click here to find out more.
a) Branded Content b) Social Media c) PR d) Influencer Outreach e) Corporate Identity
Once you have identified your customer base – their media habits and their attitudinal and demographic makeup, you can create a strategy to reach them effectively and efficiently. Communications Objectives emerge from your marketing aims. Every sector and every brand has a different communications approach which must be tailored based on your market insights and your brand identity. It’s not just about how you speak as a brand, it’s where you speak.
Learn more about branded content and social media.
a) Photography | Videography | Graphic Design | Website Development
Prioritising what kind of content you need to create as part of your communications strategy is not as easy one. It’s requires two main things:
1. Resources – content creation requires budget that could be used elsewhere. Spending on what will deliver results is imperative to any brand – big and small
2. Time – your content must reflect your brand personality and show creative consistency. Project Management of all content creation is essential.
To learn more about Content & Communications, click here. To read more about the pros and cons of Branded Content, click here.
‘Test and Learn’ is the primary strategy for all major communications agencies – the best predictions and knowledge of the digital environment will not guarantee progress – that’s why tracking the impact of your communications, and then optimising accordingly is vital. There are a number of analytics tools to track and optimise your communications. Your consumer’s response dictates your communications. You can’t manipulate how a consumer feels or reacts, but you can learn from the successes and failures of yourself and others before you.
Brand Hatch offers bespoke ongoing support and management. It’s imperative that once you have a solid brand and communications strategy, you continue to act in line with your brand ethos and your ultimate objectives as a business.
To Learn more about bespoke brand management services, get in touch.
