marketing

Strategy and Creativity - the Value of Brand Planning

Why do we need brand planning? Can’t we just jump to the design? Above are the FAQ that think™ get from new clients. To be honest, it is argued that if there is a standard process of building up a new brand. However, as a brand consultancy, we believe that a thorough planning in the early stage contributes to the design and drives better results. In this article we will take think™ as an example to showcase the mission and value of brand planning.

Case Study 01

Data Collection and Literacy

Accurate date is the concrete stone of brand strategy. A brand planner should be able to collect and “read” information from internal and external research.

※ Manage team and key people

You can find the “why” of the brand from the founder, and the “how” from the manage team. Both are crucial to the development of the brand. A brand planner will interview each key person to dig into their thoughts. If necessary, a consensus building workshop can be held.

※ Trends and Cosumers

External data includes industrial reports, direct or indirect competitors. The former can be obtained from reliable sources such as the government, news or research institutes. Studying other brands also provides new viewpoints. Brand planners may focus on brand values and positioning with some major marketing activities.

If it’s a B2C brand, it is better to know consumers’ ideas at the beginning by conducting questionnaires or focus groups. In order to understand their opinions toward relevant brands, user scenarios or unsolved problems, a brand planner should apply interpersonal and conversational skills to lead the participants to express themselves freely.

Case Study 02

Data Screening and Analysis

After massive data collection, it is time for analysis. A brand planner should be sharp enough to identify what to take in. To screen the information, you can use coding to categorize the data, or compare between different groups or years for the similarities or differences. And most importantly, find out the reasons behind.

One set of data can lead to various results should it be handled by different brand planners. This is why this job can be so fascinating. As long as it is logical, you can look into the data from many angles.

Case Study 03

Brand Positioning

Now it’s time for some creativities! First, a brand planners should define the following four elements for the brand.

※ Brand vision and DNA

These are factors that will guide the brand to develop and evolve over time. A brand vision should be an ultimate and possible goal such as bringing positive influence to the industry. DNA are the words to describe the brand like core service, personality and tones. They work for internal identity and external recognition. A brand planner needs to find the common ground and transfer them into memorable and understandable description to both groups.

※ TA and competitors

Screening from previous focus groups, a specific target audience is identified in this stage. They may have higher needs, purchasing power or echoing belief. It is also important to keep those competitors or substitutes in mind to come up with competing strategies. By outlining TA and competitors, a brand planner can give clients a clearer picture in the market.

Case Study 04

Value Delivery

Finally, all the ideas and descriptions are summed up in a slogan and a brand story. Therefore, a brand planner will be a copywriter sometimes to make the brand stand out in the sentences.

And of course we all need marketing! So brand planners have to give suggestion about marketing campaigns if needed. The goal is to build and maintain the brand image. However, this can be the reason why people confuse “brand planning” and “marketing” so often. In fact, they are different expertises and should work closely to create and promote a brand.

Conclusion

It is not hard to understand that a brand planner should acquire many skills and apply them flexibly according to each project. To fulfill the tasks, a brand planner ought to be curious and open-minded all the time to learn new ideas.

think™ cannot emphasize the importance of brand planning and visual design more! We believe an outstanding brand requires the collaboration between brand planning, visual design and the manage team.

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More we thought

creative

Thinkers OooVol 1 5Collection

thinker launched a new project named “thinkers' ooo” since 2020. It is a column to share thinkers’ points of view to their favorite brands, some of which are not even well-known to the public. We love the products of course, but it is the brands that we are attracted to and inspired from. “ooo” means our perspectives, imagination and self statement. Written by the designers and planners themselves, the articles include why we love the brands, how we use the products and what we learn from the stories behind the brands. Here are the first five articles we’ve published. Enjoy!