Brand Strategy & Identity

Branding can mean different things to different people. What does it mean for your organization?

Your logo, website or overall graphic design may have come to the end of its effectiveness and it’s time for a refresh. Cringing before handing out your business card or apologizing before sending someone to your website is no way to grow. If this is how you’re feeling — it’s possible that you need work on your Brand Identity, the way you present your organization to the world.

But for some organizations, the visual or “image” aspect of their brand — while a problem ­— is not the source of the problem.

Sometimes the problem is that you’re not sure who your audiences are and what they want from you.  Sometimes you think you know your audiences, but you haven’t considered who you need to prioritize to reach your goals and what those people most value.

And if you don’t really understand what your audiences value — in life, not just about your organization — how can you engage, delight and design for them? How do you begin to develop messaging that motivates them to action if you don’t know what makes them show up, stick around and give back?

And if your messages are not connecting, what’s happening in their experience with your organization? Are your events and programs filling fast? Do your donors keep giving and giving more?

That’s a lot to think about, we know. But that’s Brand Strategy.

How many times have you heard people say that they rebranded and it didn’t help? If you change your logo, you’ll spend at least a year visually rebranding everything. What if the problem didn’t start there?

The problem is not that branding doesn’t work. It’s that the type of branding project you do needs to match the challenge you are facing. In fact, your problem may actually be that you need a new website, a more consistent e-newsletter or a stepped-up social presence. That’s Brand Awareness or Brand Marketing and doesn’t require you to change your logo at all.

Our Brand Strategy process addresses all of these issues. We call it AMIE and it aligns Audience, Message, Image and Experience to ensure the marketing you deliver after you rebrand is designed to support your strategic goals.

Resources for Exploring Brand

Brand Identity and Brand Awareness may be marketing projects, but Brand Strategy is an organizational project. It’s amazing and transformative. But your organization needs to be ready to tackle something as immersive as this. To begin to consider what type of branding project you need to reach your goals, we have a few resources for you.

Start by downloading What Do We Mean By Branding. It covers the three different things people generally mean when asking for branding and will give you some guidance on what might work for you.

Next, take our online quiz Are you Ready for a Rebrand? or download a copy here. This 10-question tool will help you evaluate your organization’s readiness to take on the kind of project you believe you need.

If rebranding, whether brand identity, awareness or strategy is something you are exploring this year, it’s a good idea to start talking early. While brand identity projects can be accomplished in a few months, a strategic branding process from start to new website can take two years. Yes, really. But, even within our AMIE framework no two processes are exactly the same.

If you’re curious about the process or a project, let’s talk.