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It is essential to be clear on a brands position and what it stands for in the market. A customer’s buying decision could be based on reassurance or heritage, or quality, or any other myriad of factors, so a strong and consistent brand strategy will always win against the weaker, confused brand of a competitor.
An interesting test is to ask staff what the brand stands for and if you receive a multitude of different answers, then you know there is no distinct positioning or if there is, it’s not being communicated properly. And if staff don’t know, what are your customers thinking?
For brands lacking a strong brand positioning, we run a proprietary Core Values project – a collaborative thought-provoking session that provides clarity over the brand’s purpose, values and messaging.
Core Values are at the heart of a business, they are the DNA that sit at the company core. Once core values have been defined, they will guide all decision making across the business and provide focus and consistency going forward. They should inspire your staff and be motivated to affect cultural change, from how the business works together internally, how you work with clients, how you communicate externally and your business strategy.
Without a clear positioning it impossible to make recommendations to progress a brand and the business behind it.
Once the Core Values have been established, it’s important that you can convey them.
Your brand tone of voice isn’t about what you say, but how you say it. This determines how a brand’s character comes across in written and spoken words and the impression this makes on the audience.
A good analogy is that ‘tone’ is your mood based on the situation or audience, and ‘voice’ is your consistent personality. These elements work together to reflect who ‘you’ are.
We hold collaborative workshops to help understand what the most appropriate tone of voice is to your audience. Once that has been established, we can then segment it to ensure it is suitable for all mediums, whether you’re communicating through social media, your website, or even to your employees. By completing these steps, you can be assured that you are communicating and reinforcing your brand Core Values.
“We really appreciate the transparency and strategic thinking of Chalk + Ward. Their recommendations when it came to create this fresh brand identity has ensured we achieve exactly what we set out to do; retain the loyalty of existing customers while continuing to grow the Hanlons brand and business.”