Brand Character

Understanding your brand is a critical first step for all businesses

As consumers, we gravitate towards businesses and brands that provide us with a level of confidence that makes it easy for us to hand over our hard earned cash.

Businesses that don''t put the effort into building this confidence with their customers do so at their own peril, and run the risk (more often than not) of seeing potential business go elsewhere.

The bottomline? Create an EMOTIONAL CONNECTION with your customers, or leave them feeling cold.

Besides SUCCESS, all great brands have at least one other thing in common,  and that is the fact that those responsible for developing and nurturing them are CRYSTAL CLEAR on what their brand or business represents in the minds of those who use it.

Having such clarity breeds a confidence that is fundamental to ENCOURAGING YOUR CUSTOMERS TO DO BUSINESS WITH YOU.

After all, who wants to do business with a brand that is unsure of itself?

Don't believe me. That's OK. But try this first before clicking of the page..Write down your top three favourite brands. Now, truthfully answer this question for each of them...Why did you choose them? More often than not (99% of the time, on average) the answer lies in the fact that you have an emotional connection to that brand. It may make you feel more confident, more successful, cool. The fact is, the emotional connection a brand builds with its customers is so much more important than the rational aspects.

Once this clarity is gained it's amazing how simple it becomes to MAKE HIGHLY EFFECTIVE DECISIONS relating to all parts of your business...from who you employ to who you partner with to where you promote to what you say and so on.

If you'd like to GET THIS CLARITY IN YOUR BUSINESS (and who wouldn't?) then my BRAND CHARACTER PROCESS is for you. This one-day workshop, attended by your business's key stakeholders guarantees to REVEAL YOUR BRAND'S TRUE CHARACTER and provide all those responsible with the crystal clear clarity they've been looking for. It simply gets everyone on the same page!...especially your precious customers.

This is a one-off exercise that ALL BUSINESSES SHOULD UNDERTAKE no matter how new or old they are.

Expected Outcomes

1.    Clarity - In undertaking a Brand Character workshop you will achieve clarity around the following critical parts of your brand:

My Mates – Who are they? What are they thinking? What drives them to consider doing business with you? Identifying precisely your core targets makes the job of communicating directly with them so much easier.

What I Do – What business are you really in? This goes much deeper than defining it as the category in which you operate…but instead uncovers that real overt benefit you offer your current and potential customers.

Tell me more - Once you’ve identified your brand’s reason for being as outlined above, it’s then time to put some meat on the bones. This is where you have the chance to list all the rational outputs and attributes of your precious product or service.

Core Values – What are those three to five values that underpin everything you do? Knowing these will form the foundation for all future decision-making.

Personality – What are those two to three personality traits that underpin the tone in which you communicate to the market place?

My Hero – What public figure embodies the previously identified parts of this brand?

Visual references - Time is spent here identifying what car would your brand drive...what food would it eat...what music would it listen to etc.

Soul – What is that one word or phrase that fundamentally underpins what this brand stands for?

2.    Strong consensus - A strong consensus amongst all those responsible for your brand’s health. There is nothing more powerful than having everyone in your organisation working towards a shared vision.

3.    Clear and consistent messages – Identifying your Brand Character makes knowing what to say, when and how a simple process by ensuring consistent messaging is shared amongst staff, shareholders, customers, suppliers, media and so on.

It is no coincidence that the successful companies that we have all come to know have a brand image that is confident and consistent – think Apple, Red Cross, Jim’s Mowing, Gillette, Virgin Blue, Uncle Tobys, Hocking Stuart, Ralph Lauren etc etc. Such confidence is not a result of big marketing budgets, but more importantly the discipline in knowing and slavishly applying their Brand Character.

Who needs the Brand Character Process?

The reality is that every business (B2B or B2C or not-for-profit) should have a very clear idea of what its brand stands for. It is certainly not a luxury reserved for the big consumer brands, retailers, FMCG brands or those that operate at the big end of town.

Plus, the truth of the matter is that a huge amount of money is so often spent on ensuring other critical aspects of the business are ‘humming along’ such as manufacturing, technology, service delivery and so on, to then expect the customers to simply come knocking in droves. This of course is rarely the case, and it is that investment in understanding and defining the brand that often provides that final missing link.


Running a Brand Character Workshop – The Key Steps

1.    Upon agreeing to undertake the workshop I meet with the person involved in organising it. At this stage we would decide on a date and venue, plus I would assist in determining the types of people who should attend.

2.    Two-weeks prior to the day of the workshop I would distribute ‘homework’ to be completed by all attendees. This takes no longer than 30 minutes to complete and allows me to extract key information that ensures we get a running start on the day of the workshop.

3.    The workshop is then run on the agreed date, usually starting at 9.30AM and finishing around 4.30PM…although this hugely depends on the amount of discussion and debate on the day.

4.    Within two working days of the workshop finishing I then provide the initial Brand Character and all the thinking that lead to it for sign off.

Upon completion of a Brand Character you can expect:
- 100% clarity around all key parts of your brand
- Agreement amongst all key stockholders
- A powerful reference tool for making all brand decisions that will allow you to move forward with conviction
- A brand architecture that can be applied to all your brand's Touch Points


The Investment       

Starts from $4,950 (ex. GST) based on up to three attendees.
Allow $500 per additional attendee.
50% to be paid upon agreement of workshop date.


Materials to be supplied by Client include:
Data projector & screen.
Easel.
Butchers Paper.


Venue & Catering       
To be booked by Client.