Brand Discovery is the first step in creating an authentic, memorable brand that can grow, sell, and scale.
When it comes to any project with your brand, it's imperative to be focused on building the right thing at the right time. Focusing on the wrong things can not only derail you but completely waste your time and money. You can build the wrong thing perfectly, completely wasting your time, money, and potential growth.
When it comes to branding, the biggest risks you take are not getting the right research nor knowing how to use it.
That's why we put every brand we work with through the Brand Discovery Process™.
What is a Brand Discovery™?
Brand Discoveries begin with research on your brand, your industry, and your product/portfolio, culminating in a strategy meeting. At the of the process, we provide a BrandPlan™, documentation that explains what we've learned, our recommendations for how to proceed, options for you to consider and an estimate for the cost to move forward.
At Quantum Branding, we firmly believe that there is no one size fits all approach to brand strategy, identity, or design. Every organization is unique and requires an intentional, personalized process. When starting to work together, most organizations have an idea what they need, but only actual research can provide the insight to ensure we’re addressing the right areas, creating proposals based on actual insights, and solving the right problems. We’re not here to sell, we’re here to discover. That’s why it’s called a Brand Discovery.
A Brand Discovery starts with a series of 4 sessions designed to gather information about your company, your industry/market, and your objectives––all for the purpose of accurately planning a brand strategy that will achieve your specific goals.
When you participate in our brand plan a Brand Discovery process, we’ll take the time to not only review your current brand strategy but also discuss in great detail what it is you’re trying to do and why those goals are so important—all of which puts us in the best possible position to help you achieve those objectives and exceed your expectations today, tomorrow and beyond.
Together, we dig deep into your organization’s needs and goals through surveys, meetings, and interviews — either in-person or via teleconference. We want each stakeholder involved to have the opportunity to be heard so we can obtain a clear picture of your organization.
We will perform appropriate research and analysis to determine the best strategies to achieve your goals and meet your needs. Discussion topics may include business structure, sales process, brand identity, target audience, market position, marketing strategies, results assessment, information architecture, and technical needs. In between each of these sessions, our team will be doing research to build on this information, while your team has the opportunity to review the topics discussed.
Here are the topics of the sessions:
- Your Business (Goals, Trajectory, Current and Future)
- Your Audience, Buyers, and Product/Portfolio/Service
- Your Competitive Landscape (Both Online And Offline)
- Strategies And Tactics (Current And Future)
- Our Solution Presentation (How to Make it Happen)
At the end of this process, you will receive a set of plans–what we call a BrandPlan™–specific to your project along with a proposal for our team to execute those plans. Plans may include survey results, discussion notes, customer personas, marketing outlines created during the process. Future projects are then based on research, insight, and your Big Ideas—the core ideas that are most important to your brand and drive everything you do—as move you forward.
WHY A BRANDPLAN™?
Simply stated, the entire purpose of a BrandPlan is to make sure the project plan will serve the goals of your organization are moving your forward. And typically, it's not one project, it's a series of steps moving you there. We want your entire investment in the final project to be well utilized, and for you to see a return. This process addresses the three key problems that hinder most brands in their path to a successful brand strategy:
THREE THINGS POSSIBLY HOLDING YOU BACK
- A lack of understanding of how brand identity functions within your industry
- A lack of insight into the key performance indicators, metrics, experiences, and strategic moments that increase sales and market penetration
- A lack of understanding of how your company distinctly exists within the marketplace while functioning within your industry.
Together, a Brand Discovery Process and it's output–the BrandPlan–ensure every future step is in alignment, providing a solid understanding of how to move your brand forward, grow, sell, and scale using the right brand science to make you a truly authentic and memorable brand that sells.
About The Author: Stæven
Branding nerd and design researcher. Founder + Principal at Quantum Branding. Loves oranges, scooters, white mochas, coke zeros + cats. Hates condiments and folding laundry.
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