How Strategic Planning Builds Iconic Brands
August 18, 2022
Brands are built through strategy and iconic brands have amazing strategies that skyrocketed them to greatness.
When you think about some of the most iconic brands, you might think their fame came from their clear purpose and vision, their consistent quality and service, their respected values and their incredible positioning in their markets. These are all key features of iconic brands. In addition, they have personalities and voices that are well recognized.
Considerable thought and strategic planning go into developing an iconic brand. A key part of the success of a brand is how they stand for something that wins over the hearts and loyalty of their customers.
Iconic brands know what they stand for.
Nike’s tagline inspired us to “Just do it.” Starbuck’s brand purpose is to “inspire and nurture the human spirit — one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time.” Amazon has built their reputation by focusing on the customer and strategically positioning their brand in a global market.
Iconic brands focus on key strategies.
If you are thinking about how to build an iconic brand for your company, brand positioning is an important feature. Brand positioning refers to how a brand occupies a consumer’s mind. It involves the perspective of the brand in comparison to competing brands. You are not only going to search online; you will Google it. You do not order just a cola; you order a Coke. You make a Xerox copy. You grab a Kleenex. These brands convey an action or image that has preferred value.
While you want your brand to be top of mind with incredible brand positioning, this is only one strategy. It is important to understand that to win in the marketplace, successful brands are not built on one strategy. The iconic brands mentioned above did not focus solely on brand positioning and wait for their consumers to come. Their strategies encompassed several brand aspects that supported each other.
informs employees of the company’s goals and objectives, business priorities, products, and services. By being deliberate in your communication, you can influence how your brand is perceived, which gives you better control of your brand. One example of this is how your communication helps motivate and guide your team, so their actions align with your vision.
Strategic planning develops brand aspects that win.
In building your brand, start with a mission, vision, purpose, and values. These features comprise what is called a brand playbook. The mission and vision focus on goals to achieve. The purpose envisions the future, establishes the agenda, and gives direction. Values represent core beliefs, what the company stands for, and how that relates to the work being done.
When Impact Branding Consulting develops a companies brand playbook, it is developed knowing that it must be clearly aligned to help push the greater good of the business forward. An iconic brand knows that they are developing a brand that must be customer focused, and they must be hyper-aware competitively.
Iconic brands know the power of their personality, voice, and tagline.
Even with the best intentions laid out in a well-designed playbook, your brand must be more than thought and paperwork. How you communicate is key for your brand to be recognized and remembered for its positive impact and growth.
Understand that the messages you send will be both verbal and nonverbal. Everything is connected in a cohesive, clear and consistent message: your logo, fonts, colors, tone, words, phrases, attitudes, and more.
Iconic brands know that they must create both instant awareness and positive recognition. In addition, they know that they must empower employees and build a great amount of respect and support within the community. This is done by communicating with a personality, voice, and tagline that has been developed and refined in their strategic plan.
Creating a great strategic plan is essential for the long-term sustainable success of your brand. Having an experienced strategic branding specialist on your team to help develop and focus on your strategic planning will give you an advantage. Let’s talk about how Impact Branding Consulting can help you create an iconic brand that has a sustainable impact.