Brand strategy defines what a brand stands for, for whom, and how it differs from the alternatives: vision, values, positioning, promise and personality. A brand audit is the analysis of a brand that already exists: how it is perceived, how it communicates, where it is inconsistent. The audit tells you where to start; the strategy gives identity, content and campaigns a steady direction.
What a brand is
The starting point is the American Marketing Association definition: a brand is a name, term, design, symbol or other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers (AMA Dictionary). It is a deliberately narrow definition: the brand is what lets people recognize you. What people know and think about it is the territory of strategy and audit.
What brand scholars say
Kevin Lane Keller defines brand equity from the consumer’s point of view: the differential effect of brand knowledge on consumer response to the marketing of the brand. That knowledge has two parts, awareness (recognizing the brand or recalling it when thinking of a category) and image, the set of associations the brand evokes. Associations are assessed by favorability, strength and uniqueness (Keller, Journal of Marketing, 1993).
David Aaker, in his 1991 book on brand equity, groups the assets that make it up into five categories: brand loyalty, brand name awareness, perceived quality, brand associations and other proprietary brand assets (as stated in this study).
On positioning, Keller, Sternthal and Tybout argue in Harvard Business Review that points of difference alone are not enough to hold up against competitors. You need three things together: the frame of reference the brand competes in, points of difference, and points of parity, meaning what you must match at least as well as everyone else (Harvard Business Review, 2002).
What a brand strategy contains
These models are not a single recipe, but they point to the questions a strategy document has to answer. In our work, a brand strategy puts in writing:
- vision and values: where the company is going and what it believes in;
- audience: who the brand speaks to first, and who comes next;
- positioning: against which alternatives, with which differences and which minimum requirements;
- promise and personality: what the brand guarantees and the tone it uses to say it.
Brand identity, tone of voice and communication choices follow from it. Brand strategy is part of our strategy & advisory work.
What a brand audit is
A brand audit is an examination of a brand. In practice it looks at three things: how the brand is perceived, how it presents itself on its website, social channels, materials and points of sale, and how well the two match. The output is a list of strengths, inconsistencies and priorities.
When you need them
- A new brand: you need the strategy, not the audit, because there is nothing to analyze yet.
- An existing brand that wants to change (rebranding, a new market, a merger): audit first, to decide what to keep, then strategy.
- A brand that communicates unevenly, perhaps across several suppliers: the audit shows where materials diverge.
- Before investing in campaigns or a new website: it helps to know what you are promoting.
What they do not promise
An audit or a strategy does not promise a financial outcome: they help you decide with better information.
If you want to work out where to start with your brand, you can see how we work on the Strategy & Advisory page.
