Welcome to JonParr Creative

As you know, your brand is incredibly powerful. A strong brand can:

Build customer recognition
Generate customer loyalty
Set you apart from competitors
Enhance credibility and therefore consumer confidence
Allow you to command premium pricing from products and services

When was the last time though you looked at your brand? Not just looking at the colours or the logo, but looked at your brands messaging and what you stand for?

When you set up your company you probably had an idea of what you wanted your brand to be about and what you wanted to represent. You also would have had an understanding of who your audience was, what their challenges motivations were and how you could help them.

It’s likely however that, as time has gone on, some of these factors may no longer be true. And this is even more likely given the events of this year Other businesses may have launched meaning you have different competition, you might have new products or services to offer, your audience might not have been who you initially thought they were or their challenges might have changed.

It’s therefore really important that you review your brand every 2-3 years to ensure that it is still relevant.

5 Key things to consider when reviewing your brand

1. Your brands ‘why’

The first thing to look at is your brands ‘why’. Why did you set yourself up? What do you want to stand for?

As an IFA for example, do you want to help your customers plan for their retirement through smart investments? Or with your café, do you want to provide a social and comfortable environment where local customers can enjoy delicious homemade, seasonal foods?

Is the reason you set yourself up the same as it was before, or have your priorities shifted slightly? If they have changed, it’s best to refine this and ensure that your business strategy and objectives support this why.

2. Where do you want your business to go?

When you set yourself up your initial objective was probably around survival – making enough to survive the year before increasing your profits year on year. It’s always good though to consider your overall brand vision – where you want to be in the next 5 years. Do you want to be the go-to adviser for Equity Release in the Mid-Sussex area, or be the number 1 wedding florist in Hampshire.

Once you’ve outlined your vision, your business objectives can then be developed to help you get there.

3. Who are your audiences today?

Is your target audience the same as they were before? Are their challenges are motivations the same? Chances are, things have changed. You need to regularly look back at who your customers are, why they use you, or don’t use you, what they are looking for, what is their decision making journey? Don’t forget to consider their media consumption, their interests and basic demographics. Creating different personas can be useful to fully get under the skin of your audience, especially if you have a number of different consumers.

Once you understand your audience, you can then cross-reference back to your ‘why’ to ensure that your why aligns with their wider needs. You can also then review your marketing messaging and channel strategy to ensure that you are saying the right things, at the right times, through the right channels to connect and engage with the right audience.

4. What are your current and future products or services?

Have your products and services evolved since your first set yourself up? Or do you have new products? Do these still fit with your brands ‘why’ and will they help you to get to where you want your business to go? Do you have new competitors that offer similar products? If so, how do yours differ and do you explain this differentiation clearly to your audience? What are your priority products that you need to promote more?

Also, now you re-understand your audiences, do these products and services still fulfill their needs?

It’s important to be pragmatic about your offering, to ensure your providing the right products and are effectively promoting them.

5. Your brands look and feel

Once you understand your brands message and audience you can then review your brands look and feel to ensure that the overall identity is also relevant to your audience.

If your offering homemade products your brands identity should also portray a more ‘homemade’ look and feel. Alternatively, if you are providing high spec bespoke furniture your identity should appear more slick and premium.

Likewise, with regards to the messaging, if your audience are CEOs and senior management, you can get away with a lot more technical language in your copy. If for example though your customers are first time investors, your language should be a lot more simple, avoiding too much financial jargon.

Reviewing and refining your brand strategy and identity isn’t a 5 minute task however it is crucial that you do it to ensure you are relevant and talking to the right people in todays world. It will also help you to set a benchmark and targets and help you to see if your brand and business is moving in the right direction or not.

If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed about reviewing and/ or refining your brand strategy and identity we can help you. Get in touch today for an initial chat.