When is the Right Time to Create a Brand Strategy?
When you’re growing a business, there are growth milestones where the path forward isn’t clear to everyone.
Perhaps you’re a fast growing start-up and the team isn't quite on the same page about who you are and what you stand for.
Maybe you’ve hit a plateau and the growth you once experienced has stalled.
Or, the business is changing—for better or worse—and the new strategy isn’t yet clear.
These are often symptoms of a missing or outdated brand strategy – the very roadmap that guides your business beyond a logo and colors.
A brand strategy clearly defines who you are, what you do, and why you’re different and better. It’s the intentional blueprint that helps people understand the company—people including employees and customers alike.
>> Learn more about the definition of a Brand Strategy here.
When it’s missing or outdated, it’s absence is often signaled with a feeling. A sense of lingering confusion, a feeling that you’re spinning your wheels, or even, the emotion of frustration that the team and business aren’t working in sync.
It’s an uneasy feeling of “un-clarity.”
“A missing or outdated brand strategy is often signaled by a feeling. A sense of lingering confusion, a feeling that you’re spinning your wheels, or even, the emotion of frustration that the team and business aren’t working in sync.”
- AMELIA ELLENSTEIN
The truth is, lack of clarity can slow growth and hold back teams at several milestones throughout the business lifecycle.
So, when is the right time to create a brand strategy? Let's explore some key moments.
Right from the Start: Laying the Foundation in the Start Up Phase
Imagine building a house without blueprints. You might get some walls up, but the structure is likely to be weak, inefficient, and ultimately not what you envisioned.
Creating a brand strategy right from the outset is like laying a solid foundation for your business. It forces you to answer fundamental questions:
What are your core values?
What problem are you truly solving?
Who are your ideal customers?
What makes you different from everyone else?
How will you connect your vision to your everyday actions?
Answering these questions early on creates consistency from day one, in every part of your business from hiring leaders to designing your client journey. But, too often, start ups wait to outline their brand goals until the business is cranking. By then, it’s a game of catch up and revision:
Marketing is revamped because it doesn’t feel right.
Business operations are changed because they don’t produce consistent results.
Confusion about the target client needs to be cleared up.
Skipping this crucial step can lead to wasted resources. Instead of purposefully creating your brand, it’s puzzled together in reverse engineering. You might find yourself constantly circling back to refocus and revise, instead of looking and working toward the future.
“Start-ups who skip the crucial step of crafting a brand strategy find themselves constantly circling back to revise, instead of working toward the future.”
—AMELIA ELLENSTEIN
Navigating the Upswing: Growth and Expansion
Unclarity is especially pervasive at times of change, and what could be more change-filled then a period of intense growth?
When a team expands, or new products or services are launched, or a company ventures into new markets, brands go through a kind of “stress test.” Operations are put to the test. Team members are put under pressure. Clarity is challenged.
Without a brand strategy, the results of the stress test can be downright stressful:
New hires struggle to understand the intangibles of the company—with large influxes of new teammates, the culture itself can be diluted or change entirely.
New products and services fall flat or miss the mark because they don’t deliver on the brand promise or connect with the target customer.
Without clarity, you might struggle to maintain cohesive messaging and customer experience.
A written and well-communicated brand strategy ensures that your identity remains intact as you evolve, guiding the development of the business and the team.
New hires are on-boarded into the brand, including the Vision and Values you uphold.
New products are designed to deliver on the brand promise.
Messaging and the customer experience stays consistent within the guardrails of the brand.
“When a team expands, new products or services are launched, or a company ventures into new markets, brands go through a sort of stress test. Operations are put to the test. Team members are put under pressure. Clarity is challenged.”
- AMELIA ELLENSTEIN
Weathering the Storm: Challenges and Plateaus
Every business faces headwinds eventually: declining sales, increased competition, or a general sense of standing still while the world moves forward.
This is a critical time to revisit or create a brand strategy. It provides a framework for objectively analyzing your current position, identifying the root causes of your challenges, and developing a strategic path forward without the baggage of other methods.
Creating a brand strategy is a solutions oriented approach at a time when teamwork can quickly dissolve into finger-pointing and frustration. Instead, it’s an objective tool to imagine a way forward using vision as a business strategy and a fresh perspective.
Perhaps most importantly, a brand strategy during difficult times can be a motivational spark to re-engage your team with a bigger purpose when they need it most.
“A brand strategy during difficult times can be a motivational spark to reengage your team with a bigger purpose when they need it most.”
- AMELIA ELLENSTEIN
When the going gets tough, a brand strategy:
Offers a constructive method to re-evaluate your position.
Gives your team a vision to rally around.
Refocuses everyone’s work around the priorities and a structure for goal-setting.
