Brand Strategy

This important tool defines the how, what, where, when, and to whom the brand communicates, along with specific goals for the brand. With a deep understanding of consumer needs and emotions, plus understanding the competitive environment, a solid strategy will reinforce differentiation in the market and keep the whole team rowing the same direction.

Market Research

This is the science part of design, and is fundamental to gain a clear appreciation of the needs and demands of consumers, the current market, trends, and your competitors. It plays an essential role in creating original and distinctive work. Without good research findings and analysis, marketing efforts may lack focus or inspiration, or appear too similar to your competition. Research ensures decisions are made with confidence and informs appropriate goals to hit.

Thorough Market Research answers the questions:

How are you perceived in the marketplace?
How do consumers feel about you?
What are your competitors doing?
What makes them so special?
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
What are the opportunities in your market?

Market Research may include:

Brandscape Analysis
Brand Audit
Consumer Insight Report
Primary/Secondary Research
SWOT Analysis

Customer Persona

A Persona is a helpful tool that summarizes the wants and needs of your ideal customer into a fictitious person with a backstory. Your team can get to know this person, empathize with her, and design for her (not yourself). It eliminates the risk of going to market without knowing the what your audience actually wants, which can lead to something pretty, but ultimately ineffective.

A coheisve Customer Persona helps to uncover:

Who is the customer?
What does the customer want and need?
What habits and preferences does they have?
Where are they coming from?
What motivates them to buy?

A Customer Persona may include:

Customer Pains/Gains/Needs
Customer Narrative Story
Transitional Benefit
Team Training

Competitive Positioning

Well-written positioning statements communicate exactly who you are and what you stand for. With a narrow focus on your competitive advantage points, carefully-crafted statements define the edges that separate you from the competition. When taken to heart, these statements harmonize decision making across teams and guide consistent behavior from every touchpoint. Thoughtful positioning is foundational to clarifying the value of your product or service offerings and governs the manner in which the team delivers them.