When it comes to strategy vs brand in business, it is critical that two things are in complete alignment:
1. What you want your brand to represent.
2. What your customers perceive your brand to represent.
Get it wrong and your strategy is useless.
“Before you start to work on your strategy you need to be clear on what you want your brand to stand for.”
Take some time to get the key players on your team together to map out a brand vision. How do you want your customers to view your brand? Try to narrow it down to 5 critical things.
I helped a company do this yesterday. They came up with:
Friendly, Safe, Great quality, Innovative and Helpful
Now you can align all of your strategies to deliver on that. Your service strategy, your leadership strategy, your HR strategy, your investment strategy, marketing strategy, sales strategy and so on.
They all ride on the back of your brand.
Too often companies embark on a strategy without tying it in to some bigger outcome.
When all strategies are aligned and executed with the idea of delivering on the brand promise and your customers’ perception is exactly the same as your brand vision, you will get absolutely smashing results!
Rowdy McLean, is a keynote speaker and author of Play a Bigger Game, published in 7 countries. “Playing a Bigger Game” is Rowdy’s life story, overcoming adversity and challenges to achieve extraordinary results. A Certified Speaking Professional, Rowdy has founded five companies, played professional sport, run marathons, climbed mountains and broken world records. He has presented to over 250,000 people in Europe, China, Asia, United States, and Australia. Rowdy helps leaders and organizations “Play a Bigger Game” by challenging the status quo to drive remarkable results.