Brand identity is an amorphous thing.
I’ve always applied a simple question to Brand: Does it capture what makes it different?
Different is the starting point for every brand conversation. It leads to a lot of great questions that everyone that interacts with the brand can get excited about.
Talented brand stewards know how to translate that difference into a powerful and compelling set of benefits, into engaging visual identity, into compelling stories and into a set of values that define every interaction the people around the Brand have with their stakeholders and each other.
Look under the hood at every successful company and you’ll find leaders who can articulate exactly what makes their Brand different and why it matters.
What you won’t find is are a lot of companies that have given their Brand a digital refresh.
You’ll find a lot of digital strategists. You’ll find data jocks and marketing pros who have aggregated conversion information and compiled marketing lists and designed successful campaigns.
You’ll find brand briefs that leverage digital platforms to extend brand engagement.
You’ll find teams working to develop content solutions to populate the different channels.
And you’ll be exposed to an inspiring amount of energy.
Too rarely will you find a cohesive Brand Strategy that is built from a digital-first perspective and that is purposed to influence every aspect of a company’s business strategy, its internal communications, its marketing, its communications plan and, most importantly, its Customer Experience.
A digital-first Brand identity starts with the premise that every question deserves an answer, every piece of useful information should be available. It assumes that anyone in the organization will tell the brand story, that every one should be armed with the tools to advance and advocate the brand. It assumes that every interaction is an opportunity to improve the brand. it assumes that the Brand’s digital identity is the foundation of the overall Brand experience.
You still start with the same question: What makes me different? But, for each element of the answer, you ask, How can I make it as easy as possible for someone to find this out? How can I make it as easy as possible for someone to share this? How can I make it as easy as possible for someone to tell me if I’m not delivering?
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