Brand strategy - why is it important?

The goal of any brand strategy should be to adapt the organization's vision to the needs of customers.  In order for the strategy to be effective,  all activities should focus on one idea. Differentiating your brand in a crowded market also seems to be the key to success today. In this article, I will discuss the initial considerations of a marketing strategy.

The brand strategy should be based on the vision and mission of the brand and it should be adapted to the business strategy. It needs to be selected on the basis of the company's value and organizational culture, as well as customers' needs and perception. The brand strategy determines the key parameters for the functioning of the brand on the market, namely:

• Positioning in awareness - Top of Mind, will the consumer be able to name your brand thinking about a given product category. The rule of thumb here is first come, first served. Just like SEO. You can learn more from the article: The brand in the consumer's mind...  
• Differentiators – The ideal situation is when a brand first enters a market niche
• Competitive advantage – Identifying the company's strengths and using them in an advertising campaign
• Unique Value Proposition – Promise of an added benefit, e.g. when purchasing the product in question, Value Added (UVP).

An exemplary brand strategy is effective at every stage of the product or service's life cycle, despite the passage of time. It can leave the competition far behind. Each person in the company identifies themselves with it - no matter if it is the owner or the lowest-level employee.

"The best branding strategy is designed to create a creative partnership between customers, strategists and designers," says Connie Birdsall, Creative Director at Lippincott. Marketing consultant Sally Hudson adds: "The importance of brand strategy and the cost of building a brand identity should be understood at every level of the organization and in every functional area. Not only in marketing and sales, but also in legal, financial, operational, and human resource teams, etc.

Brand strategy is like a map, thanks to which all elements and activities that make up the brand reach the same destination. It helps to conduct marketing, facilitates sales, inspires the entire organization to actively participate, clearly defines the contexts in which the brand appears.

The idea around which - by strategic activity undertaken in all areas - the entire organization  will focus, should be the brand's totem. It should be a simple statement, at the source of which lies all brand identity and which helps consumers become aware of the brand image as well as make purchasing decisions. The Big Idea is the litmus test for measuring brand success.

"A brand becomes strong when it is focused on its essence," wrote Al Ries and Laura Ries in "The 22 Immutable Laws of Brand Management", stating the law of contracting. This means that the concentration of the brand, its offer and image, and the resignation from exposure, strengthens it in the consumer's awareness.

The most popular, international brands prove that their strength lies in the simplicity of the big idea, which has been invariably accompanied by image-building and business activities for many decades.

• "Think different" — Apple
• "The world's online marketplace" — eBay
• "Adding vitality to life" — Unilever
• "Safety" — Volvo
• "The world on time" — FedEx
• "Rider passion" — Harley Davidson
• "Make people happy" — Disney
• "Live without a plan" — Virgin Mobile
• "Imagination at work" — GE
• "Happiness in a bottle" — Coca–Cola
• "Let's motor" — Mini Cooper
• "Dirt is good" — OMO

As an example, let's look at the big idea developed for OMO (Unilever). It began with an insight on mothers. Mothers are a group of consumers who want to control their own family, especially their children. A habit can quickly turn into a mania, especially when it comes to the fact that babies can get very dirty - while playing, eating, etc. Based on this insight, the brand wanted to challenge mothers to give themselves a chance to relax: "Let your children play and get dirty. This is important for their healthy development. OMO will take care of the cleaning. ”Consumer feedback proved valuable in the process of developing the big idea, which eventually led to the slogan" Dirt is good. " on which a complex campaign was based: events, videos, advertisements, etc.

Many brands prove every day how accurately their strategy has been created and implemented. So let's watch and be inspired by the best.