Brand audit.
Brand analysis.
Brand review.
The terms differ but the objective is the same: To get a clear picture of where your company’s brand is today—and how it stacks up to where you want your business to be.
When to Consider a Brand Review
There are as many reasons for a brand review as there are brands themselves.
Declining market performance and/or customer dissatisfaction can be powerful triggers for a brand review. Some organizations struggle to define their brand values and to communicate them clearly and consistently. Others hope to identify new opportunities for expanding or extending their brand influence and reach.
Is there ever a wrong time to conduct a brand review?
The wrong time for a brand review is after you’ve already undergone an expensive redesign of your company’s website, reorganized your internal operations, or revamped your external processes. Why? Because a brand review informs strategic decision making.
A brand review can identify your company’s strengths, its weaknesses, and its competitive standing in the marketplace. It can help you understand the customer experience by pinpointing all the ways your brand touches customers—and whether your customers believe in the same things that your employees do.
A brand review often involves:
- Interviewing senior managers and key decision makers (e.g., executive boards)
- Speaking with frontline employees
- Conducting customer interviews and surveys
- Evaluating internal brand and marketing communications
- Assessing brand promise, positioning, personality, etc.
- Conducting competitive benchmarking
- Reviewing online and social metrics
- Identifying conflicting visions for the brand
- Prioritizing brand touchpoints
Hire Out or Do It Yourself?
A brand review is a significant undertaking involving the entire organization. Can it be done internally? The answer is yes—if there is a solid plan of action and the team tasked with the review can put aside personal biases and work around internal agendas.
Many organizations, however, choose to work with an outside firm or consultant that specializes in brand strategy. An outsider can ask the tough questions that are required to develop a clear and honest understanding of the current brand—and develop strong and sustainable recommendations for achieving what is desired.
Whether an organization chooses to conduct a brand review internally or externally, the outcome should be the same: A clear plan of action and a roadmap for aligning brand strategy with business strategy to move the organization forward.
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Strategic Brand Review in 30 Days
Using a well-established methodology, The Galvanizing Group works with organizations to deliver a strategic brand review within 30 days. Included are interview findings, stakeholder motivations (the values and beliefs that will impact brand identity development), brand strengths and weaknesses, and an assessment of organizational capabilities as they pertain to the implementation of a new brand identity.
The FastTrack Brand Audit & Analysis, as it is called, is ideally suited for company decision makers who are considering a strategic rebranding and need further information or support to proceed. For example, they may need to secure approval from a board of directors, or they may need to lobby management for additional resources.
In addition, our services include coaching for clients who will be packaging and presenting the brand audit results for internal review. We can also present our findings directly to decision makers. Our professionalism, integrity and experience are reflected in the trust that clients place with us to interact with stakeholders at every level—including customers, employees, executives and advisory boards.
To find out if the FastTrack Brand Audit & Analysis is right for your organization, please contact us at 503-249-8800 or email info@galvanizinggroup.com.