With the “advent of the web and the rise of social networks, competition is increasingly fierce, regardless of the market. Consumer expectations have greatly evolved: they are now more demanding, more informed, and want their voices to be heard! To respond to these changes, remain competitive, and continue to” engage its community, it is crucial for a brand to precisely define its identity path through a strategic tool called: brand platform. But what exactly is a brand platform? What are the key steps to build it? Trustt helps you see things more clearly.
What is a Brand Platform?
The brand platform is a reference document that lists a number of marketing elements that define a brand’s identity.
The brand platform addresses several strategic points:
- The brand’s history, its creation, its evolution;
- The vision, that is, the setting in which the brand evolves and in which direction it wants to go;
- The mission that corresponds to its reason for being, its commitments, its societal impact, and the means to be implemented to achieve it;
- The promise made to customers, the added value that its offer brings to consumers;
- The values that the brand wishes to convey and that guide the functioning of the entire company;
- The style and tone of communication to adopt;
- The slogan and signature;
- Visual communication elements (logo, graphic charter…) that define the brand’s personality;
- Etc.
This document, accessible to all collaborators, employees, and external partners of the company, is the guiding thread that allows all stakeholders to have a clear vision of the brand’s adopted positioning. The implementation of this collection ensures the homogeneity of all marketing and communication actions. It contributes to the coherence of the image, the messages, and allows for establishing a common culture for all.
In short, building a brand platform means laying the foundations on which the brand will build and evolve.
How to Create Your Brand Platform?
To establish your brand platform and address strategic information (vision, mission, promise, values, style, etc.), you must rely on concrete facts and not on speculation.
Here’s how to go about it:
1- Environmental Analysis
This first step consists of gathering as much information as possible to better understand your position in the market, refine your targeting, identify your strengths and weaknesses…
For this, you can directly interact with your customers. They will give you objective information about what they think of your current product or service offering, their perception of your positioning, and that of your brand identity.
To conduct these exchanges, several methods exist such as:
– Qualitative customer interviews (or focus groups) which allow for face-to-face exchanges with a small group of customers.
– Quantitative customer interviews which are questionnaires sent to a large number of customers and former customers. The topics covered are identical to those of qualitative interviews, with the difference that the questions are closed and the answers allow for establishing percentages.
Then, to refine your positioning and brand strategy, it is important to analyze your competitors’ brand platforms through a competitive benchmark. This will give you a good view of your brand’s position relative to your competitors.
2- Brand Audit
Building a brand platform is a collaborative approach that requires the involvement of all teams, managers, and leaders! All may have a different view on the positioning of your company brand and its identity. The goal is for everyone to express themselves and then agree on the essentials.
To conduct an audit of your brand and assess your current situation (your product or service offerings, your target audience, your competitors, your strengths and weaknesses, etc.), you can organize internal workshops mixing managers and operational staff to discuss these topics. Depending on the size of your company, you can hold as many workshops as necessary.
Workshops with all members of management are also very important to understand all the details of the brand development strategy. It’s also a good way to gain their full support for this approach.
3- Writing the Brand Platform
Now that you have collected all the necessary information to build your brand platform, it’s time to synthesize and formalize all this data in a single document.
The two previous stages of reflection have allowed you to analyze and compare viewpoints, gather ideas, create meaning, and establish connections.
It’s important that the person writing the brand platform has been involved in the process from the beginning. Through their choice of words, they should embody the vision, mission, values, and brand signature to convince all the company’s teams and management, as well as appeal to consumers. The brand platform should feel like an obvious choice.
Brand platform templates exist that you can customize and adapt according to your company.
4- Disseminating the Brand Platform
Once finalized, the brand platform must be disseminated internally and externally through the implementation of a well-crafted communication plan. The goal is for this strategic tool to be sustainably adopted by all parts of your company. Your teams and collaborators will be the first to embody this new identity, transmit it, and bring it to life for consumers. The brand platform will guide all members of your company in their daily actions. That’s why it’s crucial to explain your approach from A to Z and organize the launch of your brand platform as an event to ensure their full buy-in.
Creating a brand platform takes time and requires long reflection, but it’s essential work! It will increase your brand’s visibility and help clarify your positioning. Finally, keep in mind that a brand platform is not set in stone and can evolve over time according to the contexts and challenges you encounter.
