There have been plenty of times when I’ve been asked, “Hey, can you design me a simple logo?” More often than not, I’ll get asked, “Hey, how much does it cost for a simple logo design?” — but that’s a question for another time. Even the first question is loaded, and it’s hard to know where to begin.
A lot of people come to me with a general idea of what they want their logo to look like. That might be fine, but I usually have to ask: How do you know that’s what your target audience wants to see? What metrics are you using to determine that you need a new logo at all? That’s right — we’re designing for your audience, not necessarily for you. If you want to reach your target market, it’s imperative that we meet them where they are. Before designing a logo, a business’s brand needs to be fully fleshed out. From a solid brand strategy, an effective identity can be designed to its fullest potential.
With that, I’ll start with a bold statement — one I genuinely believe: Designing a logo (or any marketing materials) without strategy is potentially dangerous for your business. If you haven’t fully strategized your brand, you might unintentionally change the trajectory of your company in a negative way. Creating a logo without your ideal audience in mind can hurt your business. If you like X but your ideal customers like Y, you’ve missed the mark. You won’t attract the right leads or the number of customers you want. On the flip side, having a sound brand strategy will almost certainly impact your business in extremely positive ways.
More specifically, it’s about how you want people to see you. It’s about how you want them to feel when they interact with you, see your logo, hear your radio ad, or read your Instagram post.
Marty Neumeier, in The Brand Gap, says:
“A brand is a person’s gut feeling about a product, service, or company.”
You can’t perfectly control how customers feel about you, but you can influence it. That process is brand strategy. Without it, your marketing efforts — and many of your business efforts — may be wasted. Brand strategy is your roadmap for getting into the minds of your customers using the right channels, messaging, visuals, audio, and emotional cues.
A good brand strategy isn’t manipulation. You’re not trying to convince people to buy things they don’t need. You’re sharing the personality of your company — why your product or service is special, how it improves lives, and why you do it better than anyone else. It’s about communicating what you value. As Simon Sinek says, “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. What you do simply proves what you believe.”
As a side note: marketing and branding are different, but they overlap. A clear brand strategy will shape much of your marketing strategy. In the long run, it saves money. When your team, messaging, and design are aligned, your marketing efforts aren’t wasted.
Brand strategy gives your designers, copywriters, and marketers a clear direction. Really, it gives everyone in a customer-facing role direction. It helps employees communicate to the right audience using a unified voice and tone.
A good brand strategy typically produces a brand style guide or graphic standards manual — a document that helps all designers deliver materials with a unified look, feel, tone, and voice.
A strong brand strategy eliminates a ton of subjectivity. Gone are the days of “I don’t like this” or “Change the color because I like it.” When you’re aligning your brand, target audience, and business objectives, there’s little room for personal preference. We’re looking for objective business results.
Instead, we ask questions like:
“Will our current customers like this?”
“Will this packaging design increase sales?”
“Will placing this button here encourage more clicks and transactions?”
“When you speak to everyone, you speak to no one.” — Meredith Hill
“Everyone is not your customer.” — Seth Godin
This speaks to the importance of niching down. You can’t do everything for everyone. Large corporations may serve many markets, but the rest of us need to focus on the one thing we do best and speak directly to the people who need it.
Speaking to your “tribe” is far more effective than casting a wide net. What psychographics are at play? Where are the people who believe what you believe? What compelling events cause them to seek the solution you provide?
When you produce a commercial or Instagram ad, what language are you using? Is it the same language your audience uses? Is TV or Instagram even the right channel? A solid strategy answers these questions.
Knowing your audience also helps align your culture with your business category. Researching the context is essential.
Brand strategy is partially like a personality test. Just like in real life, you can’t be for everyone. People gravitate toward others who share their values and beliefs. Thinking of your brand as a personality type can simplify the process.
What makes you different? The first step in answering that is knowing your competition. If you want people to tell you apart — and choose you — you need to understand who else is in the space.
There are many processes out there. Here are some of the key components I use in my own brand strategy process. Much of it is based on the “Core Discovery” framework from The Futur, along with elements from their Brand Messaging Kit. I also draw from Douglas Davis’s Creative Strategy and the Business of Design, Seth Godin’s This Is Marketing, Marty Neumeier’s The Brand Gap, and Alina Wheeler’s Designing Brand Identity.
I’ve blended these frameworks into a process that best serves my clients. Most of this is hashed out in a collaborative work session:
Brand Positioning Statement — An internal roadmap for crafting headlines, designing logos, selecting audio, choosing photography, and more. Built from attributes like culture, audience, tone, benefits, and X‑factor.
StoryBrand BrandScript — A framework that positions your customer as the hero and clarifies how you solve their problem.
Onliness Statement — A deeper dive into what makes you different from everyone else.
Customer Profiles — Bringing your ideal customers to life so we know exactly who we’re speaking to.
User Journeys — Walking customers through the purchase funnel to identify where we can meet their needs.
Marketing & Business Goal Prioritization — Aligning on what to work on first and in what timeline.
Competitor Analysis — Ideally both qualitative and quantitative. Who’s winning and why?
Additional processes may include:
Brand Immersion — Understanding your existing brand if you’re not a new company.
Context Research — Culture, category, and table stakes.
Consumer Interviews — Talking to real people about their relationship with your product, category, and competitors.
Identity Design — Creating your logo and other brand elements.
Graphic Standards Manual — The roadmap for maintaining consistency going forward.
I hope this helps clarify why brand strategy is so important. Before designing any marketing materials or a logo, you need a roadmap. Unification and consistency are critical. Your target audience must be reached through the right channels using the right design styles.
I love brand strategy because it aligns goals, customers, and employees. It helps everyone understand why we should get on board with the values and benefits your organization brings.
-Kyle Dolan