The Key Elements Of Brand Strategy

We spoke with Matt Davies, a creative brand and marketing strategist, during episode 47 of The 20 Minute Marketing Podcast. Matt is the co-host of the Just Branding Podcast with Jacob Cass and also has a successful book titled Storyategy, which is available to purchase on Amazon.

Matt specialises in helping businesses think outside the box and has worked with hundreds of clients throughout his career. Some of the household names that he has helped include Boots, Specsavers, Fred Perry, Capital One, and more.

During the episode, we discussed the key elements of brand strategy, and Matt provided his definition of what branding is and how it impacts business success. Our conversation then focused on the four key elements of branding and how brands can work towards achieving alignment across the board. The four key elements that we covered are why, who, how, and what. To close out the episode, Matt also shared an example of a brand that has shown innovation and a customer-first brand strategy this year.

Defining a brand

We opened up the episode by asking Matt to define what he thinks branding is. In response, Matt explained that when most people hear the word brand, they often envisage the aesthetics like a logo, fancy fonts, and multiple colours, rather than thinking about the purpose of the brand itself.

Matt feels that a brand is more about the meaning which people attach to a company rather than the visual appeal of their art. A brand is born as a result of reputation and the opinions that its customers form. Therefore, as a business, you have to try and manage how your brand is viewed by building a positive image that your customers can relate to and be proud to associate with.

The conversion continued with Matt explaining that while the design aspect of a brand is crucial, it does not solely form the fundamental meaning. If we focus on things such as the logo and fonts, then a vast amount of strategic thought is missed. He proceeded to describe the brand as the heart of a business. Companies should be asking themselves questions like why do we exist? Who do we exist to serve? How are we relevant? And, what is our purpose? The answers to these questions will have an impact on brand image, strategy, and reputation.

The four elements

A big section of our conversation involved discussing some of the different elements of branding. We focused on four of them, which are what, who, why, and how. Matt spent several minutes explaining each element in detail, providing real-life examples and reasons why they are important. Here's a quick summary of each one...

What?

The goal of every company should be to offer a product that provides a key role in someone's life. It is important to gather an understanding of what that role is and what impact your product or services have on your customers. Think about how your customers are expecting to benefit from investing in your business. If your product does not offer a solution to your customer needs, then it will offer low value and have a limited impact.

Who?

To further develop a brand, companies need to think about who exactly is using them. A particular demographic is likely making up a large percentage of a company's customer base. For example, an e-commerce store may be selling to females aged 16-25 with an interest in pop music and current fashion trends. The more you know about your customers, the easier it will be to define your brand.

Why?

Matt explained that companies also need to think about why. For example, why should people choose your product instead of shopping with a competitor? Perhaps it's low pricing, great customer service, or high-quality goods. Secondly, companies should ask themselves why they are offering a specific product or service to their customers. Companies should also try to determine the goals and challenges that their prospective customers face before making a decision. The more market research that a company can conduct, the better tailored its offering and overall brand image will be.

How?

The final element of brand strategy that we discussed was how. Matt explained that businesses need to think about how they are perceived publicly by customers. How a company is viewed by the public has a big impact on success, conversions, and customer loyalty.

Companies also need to think about how they can promote their products and increase awareness. Are your customers most likely to be on social media? Does influencer marketing work in your industry? Can you collaborate with any other brands? On top of this, businesses should think about how they will reward customers that regularly make repeat purchases and show loyalty.

Another great point from Matt was that companies should think about the employees they are hiring and the impact they will have. Recruiting the right people can play a huge role when it comes to developing a strong brand image. The staff that a business employs are responsible for providing great service, innovation, brand development, and more.

Finally, businesses should always conduct regular reviews while reflecting on performance. The questions of what, who, why, and how should continually be monitored and adapted based on changing consumer trends and technological improvements. This allows for continuous brand development and ensures that weaknesses can be addressed.

Listen to the episode

If you are interested in learning more from Matt, then you can listen to our conversation on the four key elements of brand strategy on Spotify and other podcast streaming sites.