All strategies answer three questions:

1. Where are we now?
2. Where do we want to be? (What are our objectives?)
3. How should we get there?

What the brand strategy should deliver

The objective of the brand strategy is to ensure that the brand’s positioning and structure supports the business objectives while meeting the criteria for a successful brand.

It should include a situation analysis (to answer the question ‘where are we now?’), showing the brand’s current awareness and consideration scores and other measures. It should state the objectives for the strategy (‘where do we want to be?’) and it should state how it will achieve these objectives, by choosing the correct brand architecture and brand communications campaign, and if appropriate, by repositioning the brand.

There’s a guide to writing a brand strategy, including a bit more detail on how to choose the right strategies to support your brand here.

What the marketing strategy should deliver

The objective of the marketing strategy is to make sure that the company is selling the right products, at the right price and in the right way (using the right sales channels and the right advertising, for example), to meet the customers’ needs profitably.

As with any strategy, it should start with an overview of the current situation. This would normally include an analysis of the company (SWOT), the external environment (PEST), the market share and profitability of the company’s products (the portfolio analysis), an overview of the competition and the competitive environment (often examining five competitive forces first identified by the Harvard professor Michael Porter) and an overview of the target markets (their size, demographics, opinions and so on).

The output should include an overview of each of the seven Ps of the marketing mix (product, price, place, promotion, people, processes and physical evidence) and how each of these will be designed to achieve the marketing objectives. It should also include decisions about the competitive strategy, the overall pricing strategy, and where the growth will come from (often illustrated with the Ansoff matrix).

It’s important to develop the brand strategy before the marketing strategy. That’s because the marketing strategy needs to recommend the right pricing, sales channels and communications to support the products and services that the company wants to sell. It can’t do this successfully without knowing what the brand stands for.

For example, a watch manufacturer might need to increase sales. The marketing strategy might work out that it could achieve this by launching a new range of watches to the mid-market sector, retailing at between £500 and £800. All the research suggests that there is sufficient demand for this range and that it would sell well. But if the brand strategy has defined the brand’s reputation as an exclusive and premium brand (think Rolex, or Patek Philippe) then it’s clear that launching a mid-priced range would destroy the brand and would be disastrous for the long-term health of the company.

Or, the corporate strategy might require the marketing team to find new products to sell to new markets. Knowing what the brand’s values are will help the marketing team to work out what new products would appeal to customers. For example, a manufacturer of industrial earthmoving equipment might want to expand into new markets. If the marketing team knows that its brand values are toughness and resilience, then they might decide to develop a range of tough and durable fashion footwear, as Caterpillar successfully did.

If you’d like some help with developing your brand strategy, or with getting the right information to help you to make the best decisions, please get in touch.