Brand strategy for businesses whose offer is harder to explain than it should be
We’re a small, senior brand strategy consultancy. We find out how your customers actually choose, then define the positioning, proposition and messaging that make you the clear choice, before a logo or a website is touched.
How we build your brand strategy
Five stages, in the right order. You see the thinking at every step.
Brand strategy we have worked on includes HCML, Bush & Co, Staffline and Conergy.
Brand audit: We look at your current positioning, your competitors and your market, and at what is and isn’t working.
Research: We interview your staff and the people who buy from you, so the strategy comes from evidence rather than our taste.
Positioning: We find the patterns, define where you stand, who for and why, and test it with the people it has to convince.
Proposition and messaging: A clear value proposition and messaging framework, worked through with your leadership team.
Bring it to life: Identity, website, sales tools and campaigns that carry the strategy, built by the same team.
Brand strategy that changed the work
When to bring in a brand strategy agency
Before a brand, website or campaign can work harder, the thinking behind it needs to be right. We are often brought in when:
- 01
The brand
The business has evolved, but the brand has not kept up.
- 02
The market
The business is moving into a new or more ambitious market.
- 03
The message
The offer is strong, but the message is too complex or inconsistent.
- 04
The website
The website looks credible but does not explain the value.
- 05
Sales
Sales conversations rely too heavily on individuals explaining the business.
- 06
Marketing
Marketing activity is happening, but lacks a clear commercial direction.
Brand strategy agency or brand consultant?
A consultant gives you the thinking. An agency makes the things. Most businesses need both, and lose something in the handover between them.
We do both, with the same two senior people. For Bush & Co, interviews with solicitors and insurers reshaped the brand and became a map-led consultant finder.
Read the Bush & Co case study
Questions about brand strategy
What does a brand strategy agency do?
Branding agencies vary. Some start with the logo and the look. A brand strategy agency starts earlier, with research into how your customers choose, and turns what it learns into the decisions the design then has to express.
What does a brand strategy include?
Usually your purpose and values, who you most need to reach and how they decide, your positioning and proposition, your messaging, and the personality and voice that carry it. For Bush & Co, we wrote a new set of brand values and a positioning statement, and only then produced the creative concepts.
What is the 3-7-27 rule in branding?
It’s a rule of thumb, quoted in more than one version. Some read the numbers as seconds of attention, others as how often people need to see a brand before they remember it. Treat them as a reminder, not a measurement. The useful point is that one sighting is rarely enough, so your brand needs to look and sound the same every time. That’s what brand guidelines and templates are for.
How much does brand strategy cost, and how long does it take?
Both depend mostly on the research, meaning how many of your staff and customers we interview, and on how many people need to agree the result. They also depend on whether you want the strategy on its own or carried into your identity and website. If it helps to talk it through, an Intro with Ideate is a free 60 minute consultation.
“We came away with a brand that finally sounds like us and a content strategy that speaks straight to the people we most want to reach. Smart, generous with their thinking, and a real pleasure to work with.”
