Brand Strategy Framework
Brand Strategy Framework — definitions
For convenience, to share a common vocabulary with collaborators and clients, I compiled a set of definitions of frequently used terms used in brand strategy. My aim is to eliminate redundancies, clarify relationships between components, and align more closely with academic language while maintaining a practical orientation needed for implementation.
Brand Foundation Elements
Applicable to company / organisation brands.
Purpose: The fundamental reason the organisation exists beyond profit; its contribution to society and people’s lives. ’People’ include (but are not limited to) customers and employees.
Vision: The aspirational future state the brand seeks to create or achieve.
Mission: The operational description of how the brand fulfils its purpose day-to-day.
Values: The core beliefs and principles that guide organisational behaviours and decision-making.
Additional variations, similar to vision and purpose
Strategic Aspiration: The ambitious, future-oriented goal that stretches the organisation beyond its current capabilities and provides direction for strategic choices.
North Star: The singular, customer-centric outcome that defines success for the organisation and guides all development decisions and priorities.
Market Context Elements
Also applicable to product and service brands
Cultural Insights: Broader social patterns, trends, and value systems that influence how the brand is interpreted and experienced.
Target Audience: The specific customer or audience segments the brand primarily aims to serve.
Customer Insights: Deep understanding of customer needs, motivations, behaviours, and decision journeys relative to the category.
Strategic Capabilities: The distinctive organisational resources, competencies, and assets that give the brand its “right to win” in the marketplace and enable it to deliver on its value proposition.
Competitive Landscape: Analysis of where the brand sits relative to competitors and alternative solutions. (see Differentiation)
Brand Positioning Elements
The Enemy or Problem: The problem we aim to solve for customers. The cultural or market tension that inspires our actions.
Brand Positioning: The distinctive place the brand occupies in customers’ minds relative to alternatives.
Value Proposition: The collection of functional benefits (what the brand does), emotional benefits (how it makes customers feel), and self-expressive benefits (what it says about them) that together create value for customers.
Differentiation: The specific benefits, attributes, or associations that meaningfully distinguish the brand from competitors in customers’ minds.
Reasons to Believe: The tangible evidence and proof points that support the brand’s claims.
Brand Expression Elements
Brand Personality: The human characteristics and traits associated with the brand. How we want people to perceive us.
Tone of Voice: The distinctive verbal expression of the brand, including language, tone of voice, and communication style.
Brand Essence: The distillation of the brand’s core identity into a few defining words or a short phrase.
Brand Experience Principles: Guidelines for how the brand comes to life across touchpoints. (related to Values)
Visual Identity: The comprehensive system of visual elements—including logo, typography, colour palette, imagery style, and design principles—that consistently expresses the brand’s personality and positioning across all touch-points.
Brand Management Elements
Brand Architecture: The organised structure of brands within a portfolio and their relationships.
Brand Metrics: Key performance indicators that measure brand strength and equity.