Business Strategy or Brand Strategy?

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The Power of Aligning Your Business Strategy and Your Brand.

In developing business strategies executives often focus on key metrics related to growth, personnel, and finances. Obviously, these are critical to a company’s survival in today’s complex business environment. However, too frequently the brand is considered secondary, more a marketing tool that gets updated periodically but not directly aligned with business goals. We look at this differently.

The very foundation of your brand strategy should be based on your business goals. The focus of your brand needs to be about the trust you build and market you’re in.

Size Doesn’t Matter, Your Positioning Does

Whether the company is a ten-person consulting firm or large multinational in many markets with many products, aligning brand strategy with business strategy is critical. At RadiantBrands we always engage with our clients about their business plans and strategic goals at the beginning of every project. We need to know the world our clients live in. Whether we’re working with a rebranding program for a larger corporate enterprise, an expanding retail brand group or a non-profit, it’s essential to understand and map to the goals of the organization. Understanding the mission of a company builds alignment around marketing and sales. It also differentiates the company in the market over competitors.

For example, think of the highly competitive world of coffee house retailers. From Peet’s Coffee to Philz to Stumptown you must separate your brand from others as you stay focused on the business operations that are critical to supporting your branding.

 Brands are about defining the market you’re in and who you sell to. It’s critical to align this with a business strategy that supports the brand.  

Research and Brand Alignment Shapes What’s Unique in Your Brand

To shape your business or brand strategy research  is critical to understanding what the world is really like. Just as in finance, you must know the facts and where you’re at. Whether we work with established companies or with startups who frequently shift their business plans and market focus as they grow, we build brand strategy through research and understanding to create value. When we’re working with these new, high-growth firms as well as larger firms, we want to know their customers and competitors so we can build their branding and its alignment to their plans. The right branding is critical to building market recognition and sales as well as attracting and motivating employees. So as well as its expected customer-facing role branding has an internal operations role that supports alignment throughout the organization.

It was essential for the continued success of Best Buy to understand that they were not just competing with Internet sales, they were also providing immense value in connecting with customers directly. The in-store experience, the Geek Squad, the tangible connection to the brand has become the brand value for customers.

Developing a Brand that Connects with Business Strategy

We have a specific process for building a brand strategy that delves into the history of the organization and where they want to go. We map out and uniquely identify its core value as seen by customers. We look at market positioning and then we build a brand story that supports the growth plans for the organization and becomes a visible road map within the company and its future.

We believe that you can’t grow with a focus on your market and sales effectively without building a brand architecture that is directly connected to your business plans.

So what is your brand? It’s who an organization is to its employees, customers, the media and the world. Whether you’re a larger corporation or a fast-growing innovative startup, understanding your growth and market strategies give us immense insights into potential brand directions.  Fundamentally branding should be part of your business strategy that attracts customers and differentiates your offerings in the complex, ever-changing world we’re in today. And, it becomes the essence of what folks think about you in every interaction.

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