Brand exploration guides you in the discovery of what makes your brand great

The first step in the brand activation journey is a strategic one. We call it Brand Exploration because it’s about searching out answers to the big strategic questions: What drives your company? What makes it remarkable? How will it change the world? What unique value does if offer to its customers?

If these seem like obvious, basic questions… well, they are. But it’s surprising how few companies have answered them in a way that’s clear and accessible to customers, or even their own employees.

Brand Exploration is a guided strategic process that digs deep into the organization for answers to the big questions. Articulating that strategic essence in a series of concise Corporate Brand Statements is the foundation for everything that follows in the brand activation process.

Let’s look at how some of the key statements work:

Brand purpose (aka the mission)

The brand purpose (or mission) statement differs from the typical corporate mission statement in its single-minded customer focus. It states your core purpose in terms of what you promise and deliver to a defined customer group. “Our mission is to provide solutions that exceed the expectations of customers” is not an effective mission statement. It’s necessary to spell out what your solution is, who it’s intended for, and how the customer can expect to benefit from it. The brand purpose statement should be able to guide everyday operational processes and behaviors.

Brand promise (aka the value proposition)

The brand promise is usually a compact version of the brand purpose statement, telling in a short sentence what the customer can expect from you. Boil it down further to just a few words and you have a brand slogan or tagline.

Brand vision

The brand vision statement looks ahead and imagines what the company and brand will be like in an ideal future state. Vision statements are about what you want to achieve – your big dreams and aspirations.

Brand values

Brand values are what you believe in as an organization. They describe what you do and how you behave – and just as important, what you refuse to do. The best brand values statements are phrases or sentences that capture the sense and attitude of your beliefs. We prefer to avoid cookie-cutter lists of single-word attributes such as: integrity, passion, quality, commitment, etc.

Brand personality

Brand personality or character describes how your brand feels to people inside and outside the organization. It’s your brand’s culture. This may sound like decoration laid onto the surface of the brand, but actually it’s the brand’s emotional core. Many companies skip this part of brand exploration because personality is hard to put into words. A combination of descriptive statements, pictures or videos and narratives often works better than a simple statement.

Brand story

Stories communicate in a uniquely powerful and memorable way – it’s how humans have passed on ideas for thousands of years. Try telling about your brand in the form of a brief story. You may find it easier and more compelling than reciting the mission statement.

Once you’ve got the brand written down, it becomes possible to harness the brand to your business plans and operations. And that’s where you can exploit the real profit-building potential of brands.