Strategy comes from the Greek word strategio, which means general – but implies the idea of a general’s wisdom or general’s knowledge. Strategy began as a military framework. A brand strategy needs to be easy to understand and not confused by the jargon. When I work with companies advising them, I tried to help them without confusing marketing lingo or making the process unnecessarily complicated.

Three Simple Steps to Brand Strategy

• Start by diagnosing the situation. It helps if you have some understanding of the landscape. You can imagine those sage Greek generals surveying the geography to determine the place where the battle will take place. In this case, the battleground is the marketplace. How is the category or ecosystem organized or segmented? Who are the stakeholders, and what problems will you be able to solve? What or who will you compete against? What are the market forces that will shape the landscape?

• Building a strategy means making choices, mainly what you won’t do. When you create a strategy that says we will do this but not that – it crystalizes how you will approach the battlefield. When Wal-Mart and Nordstrom began, they decided who they will serve, what those people value, and what they won’t do. Selling everyone, everything isn’t a strategy – it’s a failure to choose. Think about how differently Wal-Mart and Nordstrom’s sees the retail environment because of their choices on who to serve and who isn’t their target. And each positions themselves to appeal to their audience.

• Strategy first, then tactics. This sounds so simple and obvious, but you end up with confusion when you add tactics before you have made choices. When Wal-Mart and Nordstrom determined who they will serve and what they value, then the tactics follow. If you plan to scale a mountain to get to the top, the strategy involves the path you will take. What equipment you take are tactics that support your strategic journey.

If your product and service are for everyone and you keep adding more offerings, your business may be heading for trouble.

The Basics

Follow these basic rules to create a brand strategy that will be effective.

• Serve someone, not everyone.
• Narrow your focus; don’t widen it.
• Stand for something, not everything.
• Be an expert, not a generalist.
• Solve problems with differentiated solutions.

Brand strategy shouldn’t be Greek to you.

Need help sorting through your brand strategy? I can help.

You can set up a time to chat with me about your marketing challenges using my calendar. Email me jeffslater@themarketingsage.com  Call me. 919 720 0995.  The conversation is free, and we can explore if working together makes sense.

Photo by Bruno Nascimento on Unsplash