Brand Identity Series, Part 3: Written Strategy
Say your brand strategy is solid and clear. You’ve eliminated doubt about what your brand is and isn’t.
Congratulations!
Now what?
Now it’s time to get creative and bring the elements from your Brand Profile to life for your internal and external audiences through a cohesive Written and Visual Brand Strategy. Because both elements derive from the same source material, they can be created and developed on parallel tracks.
Your Written Brand Strategy can take many forms and we recommend adapting the structure to your brand’s unique messaging and media needs. Your Written Strategy should be a source of guidance and inspiration, so taking the time to think about how it will be used in the real world is worth the extra effort.
Common elements of a basic creative Written Brand Strategy include:
- A clear, declarative position statement that claims your place in the market.
- Key messaging examples that articulate your brand’s authority, empathy, process, value propositions and promises.
- Calls-to-action that help your audiences take the next step.
- A short declaration, narrative or manifesto that demonstrates the brand’s voice.
- A brand thesaurus or word bank to inspire cohesive brand messaging for the long-term.
Tools and Resources
Arriving at a succinct Written Brand Strategy means thinking deeply about how the needs and psychology of your audiences meet that of your brand. Understanding the different tools and resources available – from archetypes and empathy mapping to consumer journeys and audience personas – is key to developing a thoughtful and effective Written Brand Strategy your organization can embrace with confidence.
Standardize, Evaluate and Adapt
To help frontline communicators understand your Written Brand Strategy and how best to use it, consider taking the extra step to develop formal written standards or a style guide for your brand. This gives everyone a common understanding and helps manage messaging efforts that are complex or that are aimed at multiple or diverse audiences.
A crucial part of keeping your Written Brand Strategy effective is taking the time to regularly reevaluate and evolve it. As media and your market change, it’s important to remember your messaging may need to change as well.
To see how Written Brand Strategy works in harmony with its visual counterpart to bring a brand to life, click here.