Unlock A Solid Brand Strategy: The 7 Essential Questions We Use Every Time
What is Brand Strategy?
The term ‘brand strategy’ is kind of ambiguous. It gets lumped in (and often used interchangeably) with a lot of other brand jargon—mission statements, vision statements, brand values, brand foundation, and especially brand positioning. So, before we dive into how to create a winning brand strategy for your business and why you need one, we’ve gotta clear up some branding vocab to get on the same page.
Honestly, most branding or marketing agencies have their own definitions for brand foundation, brand strategy, and brand positioning. Some consider them to even be synonymous. While, we can’t necessarily have the definitive say, for the purposes of this post and getting to know how our team at Pair of Ducks thinks about things, here’s what we do say on the matter:
Brand strategy and brand positioning are two important building blocks of a strong brand foundation.
They are distinct from each other, but equally important.
While brand positioning can be tricky (It takes experience and a bit of creative problem solving), brand strategy is something brand-curious business owners can tackle on your own with a little guidance.
And, on that note, we’ll be sharing our exact, seven-question brand strategy framework later in this post. We use this approachable formula every time to create the clear and concise brand strategies that guide all of our branding projects. The really good news: the questions we use are super straightforward, designed to break up the big, thinky, research stuff of building a brand into a manageable (even fun) reflective process!
Brand Vocab 101
Our non-comprehensive and in no way definitive take on key terms that agencies and the like seem to fuss about
Brand Strategy (brӐnd strӐt·ə·jē)
This is how your brand fits in the marketplace. It’s an outline of rough facts about your industry, audience, market, and offerings that help your brand decide where to play and how to compete.
For us (and probably many effective branding pros out there), brand strategy is a crucial research step. It’s generally straightforward and underpins your brand positioning and everything that follows in terms of branding and promoting your biz. Keep reading to learn why brand strategy matters, including the benefits of having a good brand strategy for your business.
Mission Statement (miSH·un stĀt·mint)
This a clear, bold, and actionable declaration you use to mobilize your team toward a common goal beyond products and profit.
Donald Miller says in his book, a clear, unique, and actionable mission statement (aka one worth writing at all) should include three things: a clear economic objective, a deadline, and a reason why the mission is important.
For example, if you're a real estate broker, your mission statement might read:
“We will generate 100 new leads, 20 new listings, and sell $1 million in the next 60 days because we believe everyone deserves the perfect place to call home.”
At Pair of Ducks, our mission is …
“Building Creativity + Our Local Business Community
We will connect with 5 new local businesses, sell 3 premium service packages, and contribute to the creative community each month because we believe that artists and local businesses make our city one-of-a-kind and that local businesses deserve to shine.”
Vision Statement (ˈviZH·Un stāt·mint)
Often called the ‘why’ behind your brand, this is an aspirational view of the future you hope for your business to create.
Like all this branding vocab in general, there are just about as many definitions and ways to write a brand vision statement as there are agencies and companies out there writing them. In our humble opinion, most vision statements are poorly done and therefore not very helpful. We use a literary framework around The Hero’s Journey to fuel vision writing for our clients. That’s a post for another day, but for now, we’ll just share our company’s vision statement as a well-crafted example:
At Pair of Ducks, our vision is …
“Small Town Charm Alive + Well
We seek a world where people and their neighbors are more connected—one where all can enjoy one-of-a-kind offerings and truly special local business experiences that they can’t find anywhere else.”
Brand Values (brӐnd vӐl·yooz)
These are a set of unshakable moral truths and ways of doing business that characterize your company and align and inspire your staff and customers.
Whether they read like a moral code of conduct or define a reality you live in so that customers and fans can join you, how you choose to structure your values is totally up to you. (Many of our clients are passionate new business owners, so the former, code of conduct route is common.)
The most important thing about coming up with a good set of values is making them authentic, meaningful, and actionable. If you just slap some generic, feel-good “rules” in a list and call them your brand values, they’re not gonna mean much, let alone do much for your brand or your team who’s supposed to live and breath them every day.
When our creative team of three set out to start Pair of Ducks, we’d all had plenty of work experience, and we knew some things about our ways of working, thinking, and treating each other were gonna need to be different for our own company.
We thought about how we wanted to treat each other and what brought out the best in each of us. We thought about the commitment we wanted to make to our future clients. And, we thought a lot about egos, collaboration, and common pitfalls in our industry.
At Pair of Ducks, our brand values are …
Get excited about what you’re making every day.
Show up 100% as you are.
Always be honest.
Always add magic.
Apologize when you screw up or if feelings get hurt.
Do the work the way only you can do it.
Tell the story that needs to be told.
Build with our hands, our brains, and our hearts.
“Since the 1980s, brand positioning has been recognized as the battle for the customer’s mind … Brand positioning is essentially a compelling promise that marketers convey to win the customers’ minds and hearts.”
Brand Positioning (brӐnd pə·ziSH·ən·iNG)
According to Philip Kolter, Marketing 4.0, this is how your brand is positioned in the hearts and minds of consumers (a.k.a. NOT in the marketplace, where strategy is focused). Usually in the form of a positioning slogan and other consistent key messaging, this compelling brand promise is where the real creative leap (and most of the brand magic) happens!
The Benefits of Starting With Brand Strategy
Clear and Consistent Communication
Your communication, design, and messaging are on point from day one—no more confusion or mixed signals—so your message can come across loud and clear.
Brand Essence Understood
Your internal teams and external stakeholders will have a crystal-clear understanding of your brand's essence, mission, and storytelling, so everyone is on the same page.
Strategy Over Subjectivity = More Brand Magic
Brand voice and visuals are less subjective and easier to validate with strategy research in place, making the rest of the branding process faster and more effective.
Easy Planning
Planning your website and marketing materials becomes a breeze, since you'll have your tagline, key messaging points, and products and services outlined and organized before you start.
Deeper Connections, Stronger Loyalty
Your brand will foster deeper connections with your audience, leading to stronger brand loyalty and advocacy, because you’ve built your brand with your customers (and their pain points) in focus.
Our 7-Question Brand Strategy Framework Revealed
You made it this far, hooray! Now, all you gotta do is answer these 7 questions about your audience and your business. Don’t worry, we’ll explain each question in detail with lots of examples to help you craft a solid answer every time. Then, we’ll show you how to use these answers to add clarity to your messaging and marketing efforts and pretty much everything else.
01. Who are you?
It might seem obvious, but if customers are gonna remember you, they need to know what to call you first. For this question, list your official business name AND any unofficial names that are okay to promote, including:
Social handles
Acronyms
Abbreviations
If you’ve been in business for a while, maybe some outdated names or unwanted variations could be lingering out there and causing brand confusion. Having a clear, consistent business name is the first step in ensuring a strong brand identity and recognition. Take a moment to firm up exactly what the world should call you, how it’s written, and how it’s spoken, for your team and for your customers.
Example - Pair of Ducks
We are Pair of Ducks (formally)
We are P.O.D. (sometimes, for short)
We are Pair of Ducks Digital (on social media)
02. What are you?
This is where you get to decide how you fit within (or stand out from) your industry and your competitors.
By answering this question early on in the branding process, you will make sure that your brand is well positioned in the marketplace.
Think about what you do and how you do it differently.
Consider the kinds of descriptors customers are likely to search for when looking for a business like yours.
Think about labels within your industry and how they could help clarify your offerings or limit your reputation.
Examples
Are you a jeweler or a jewelry designer?
Are you a dog walker, a dog groomer, or a full-service pet-sitter + pet stylist?
Are you a yoga studio, a fitness center, or a holistic wellness community?
Are you a graphic design company or a digital creative partner?
Are you a coffee shop, a cafe, or a coffee roaster and restaurant?
03. Who do you help?
Defining your target audience is what this strategy question is all about, and it’s an absolutely critical research step!
For this question, it’s important to be as specific and detailed as you can, focusing on the sorts of groups and characteristics that make a customer a good fit for your business.
You might have one audience or a couple distinct groups.
Example #1 - Pair of Ducks
We have two audiences, one primary target and one secondary. They look like this:
Local and small business owners who value small town charm and care about community, creativity, and being one-of-a-kind
Other creatives who are inspired and supported by our work and knowledge-sharing
Example #2 - Pet-Sitter/Pet Stylist
Broadly speaking, they likely target one audience, pet owners in or near their service area who want quality services for their cat or dog.
Example #3 - A Local Brewery w/ National Reach
Local brands with national e-commerce reach or distribution may need to consider multiple audience groups with distinct needs and marketing approach:
Beer drinking locals who want a place to meet for drinks after work and on weekends
Transplants who miss their favorite beers from home and want to access them online
Far away craft beer fans who crave a taste of something new and exciting
04. What problems do you solve?
Okay, the questions are getting progressively harder! For this one, you will identify all of the needs and pain points that your target audience experience, which your products or services address.
A brand strategy focused on problem-solving is like a magnet for would-be customers. By putting yourself in your customers’ shoes and understanding the problems they face, you are ensuring that the things you sell are valuable, and that your branding is compelling, and relevant.
Example #1 - Pet-Sitter/Pet Stylist
Problem: Pet owners struggle to take a vacation, and when they do, it’s hard to relax worrying about their pet’s quality of care while they’re away.
Problem: Pet owners who work during the day leave their dog or cat alone for long stretches of time. They worry about their pets being lonely or misbehaving at home.
Problem: Many pet owners dread going to appointments with their pets, because the car ride and overall experience causes anxiety and overwhelm for their pets and them.
Example #2 - Family Meal Service
Problem: Parents want the best for their kids and their families, and they worry their kids aren’t eating right or developing healthy eating habits.
Problem: Working parents struggle to get nutritious food on the table during the busy work week.
Problem: With multiple picky eaters at home, it’s hard for parents to plan meals the whole family can enjoy.
Problem: Typical meal kit subscriptions have complicated recipes and are still time-consuming to prepare and clean up.
Problem: With subscribe-and-ship services, there’s too much packaging, and nothing is local. Conscious families shouldn’t have to sacrifice sustainability for convenience.
05. How do you solve them?
This question is all about clarifying your offering.
List and organize your products or services so that everything you offer is in a clear outline. Doing this will make sure that you can clearly and directly communicate what you sell to potential buyers. Taking the time to name and group your offerings in a logical way now will also make marketing materials (like sales brochures or a website) easier down the road.
Example #1: Pair of Ducks
We offer a variety of branding, website, and email marketing solutions to our clients. Here’s what our service outline looked like when we launched:
06. What are the advantages?
This is where you reveal your special sauce, those unique selling points, a.k.a. the reasons why customers should choose you over the competition.
Here is a list of things to get your wheels turning as you think about your products, services, or processes and what makes them stand out:
What features are built into your products or services that make them better, maybe even exciting?
What friction in the buying process might customers experience with a competing brand, and how does your process make things easier?
What values, ways of working, or production details make your brand the clear choice for caring consumers?
Example #1 - Pair of Ducks
At POD, we talk about our differentiators like this:
Knock-em-dead digital-first branding
Get a show stopping visual brand designed to dazzle across a variety of digital touchpoints and everywhere your brand experience comes to life.
Messaging magic, guaranteed
Nothing captivates a crowd and drives sales like a clear, compelling message. Whether we handcraft your story start-to-finish or share a custom content workbook to guide you through your own writing process, you’ll finally have the right words for your brand.
Agency expertise scaled just right
Enjoy attentive, friendly service from a local partner plus agency-level creative value-packed and fit to meet your small business needs (and budget).
Inspired, artistic approach
Our small but mighty crew are trained in visual fine arts with 30+ years of combined experience in branding and advertising. We bring artistic passion to every project and always deliver a bit of the unexpected.
All-in-one creative partnership
Imagine having one unicorn creative team you can trust for just about anything. With years of experience in all things design, branding, and marketing, there’s almost no creative task we can’t tackle with you.
Recorded founder story interviews {BONUS}
Our research phase requires a lot of Q&A—getting to know you, how your biz got its start, and all about your products, services, and offerings. Since these sessions are recorded, they’re often shared on our blog or socials and become a mini PR bonus for our clients.
Hands-on training + post-launch support built in
Because your brand and your tools only work when you know how to work ‘em, we close every project with clear documentation and training to set you up for success, including 14 days of post-launch support for your website.
Example #2: Pet-Sitter/Pet Stylist
Depending on what this theoretical company actually offers, their advantages could look like this (with or without descriptive writeups like our sample above):
Friendly, familiar faces at every visit
Stylish, pampered grooming experience
Door-to-car service for easy drop off and pick up
Fun-filled days and cozy overnight stays
Flexible Scheduling 7 days a week
Happy pets guaranteed
07. What are the outcomes?
In some ways, this is the ultimate brand strategy question you should answer, and aside from glossing past the naming question in #1, it may be the most overlooked.
Imagine your sales pitch (ew, we know!) or your website messaging for that matter:
Your business name is clear …
Who you help and a pain point you solve comes next (and if we’re talking about your website, all of this should be at the top of your homepage btw) …
You’ve spelled out your offerings …
Greased the slide with a list of clear advantages your customers are sure to love …
Then … what?
Well, how about ending on a positive note that puts the rest of your pitch into perspective. That’s what a good outcome or two will do—they remind your customers why your brand matters to them or why they went searching for a company like yours in the first place!
Get ready to think big here. Review your other strategy answers so far and think about that target audience, the struggles they face, and the future they want. What might that future look like directly or even a few degrees removed? Here’s what we mean:
Example #1: Pet Sitter/Stylist
What happens when that pet owner no longer struggles with a stressed and lonely pup or grooming appointments that are a total pain?
♥︎ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ Do we simply give them time back and less worry in their day?
♥︎ ♥︎ ♡ ♡ ♡ Can they simply enjoy a less stressed life with their furry bff?
♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎ ♡ ♡ Will their pet be better behaved, healthier and happier?
♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎ ♡ Will their relationship with their pet be stronger or more loving?
♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎ Or, are they actually able to be the most loving pet parent, and give their furry friend their best life possible?
Example #2: Meal Delivery Service
What happens when busy families switch from grocery shopping the old fashioned way to the sustainable, healthy meal service we invented above?
♥︎ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ Do we simply make mealtimes faster, easier, healthier, and affordable at home?
♥︎ ♥︎ ♡ ♡ ♡ Do parents finally get a dinner solution with the convenience of takeout, the sustainability of the farmers market, and the quality and heart of a home-cooked meal?
♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎ ♡ ♡ Are parents and their kids (even picky eaters) finally able to share home-cooked meals without all the headaches?
♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎ ♡ Can families finally make the most of mealtimes together—in the kitchen and at the table?
♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎ Or, is it that when families finally learn the joys of cooking and eating together, they are staying connected and strengthening relationships, with food and each other?
So there you have it, the 7 essential questions to tackle brand strategy for your business, fweeeeeew!😅 If you’ve started answering these questions already, congrats. That’s huge. When you’re done …
You’ll have a solid brand strategy to inform the rest of the branding (or brand refresh) process for your biz.
The rest of the process will be so much easier with a strategy framework there to follow!
You’ll be one creative positioning leap (and a bit of voice and visual magic) away from an unstoppable brand that resonates with your target audience, sets you apart from the competition, and drives results for your business!
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