In this blog post, we dive deep into the world of brand strategy with Elizabeth McFadden, the CEO & Director of Brand Strategy at Novella Brandhouse. In this Q&A, Liz shares her expertise on the essential elements of a successful brand, how to measure brand success, the balance between creativity and consistency, and staying current with the latest trends. She also chats tailoring strategies for different audiences, the impact of digital transformation, and her favorite branding experiences. Whether you’re a new brand looking to establish yourself or an established brand seeking fresh insights, check out Liz’s insights.
What are the core elements of a successful brand strategy?
There are three parts to a brand: Visual, Messaging and Experience. Successful brands have a strong visual brand so people recognize it when they see something from that brand. Second, the messaging or the story you’re telling must be written with your audience in mind. Are you speaking to their pain points and about your niche in the marketplace? Finally, the brand experience. Every successful brand delivers on its brand promise through the customer experience. This has to be what you say it is and you have to deliver on it 100% of the time.
How do you define and measure brand success?
This really depends on a client’s goal. Over the years, I have had clients who simply want to be known for their cause or mission. For others, it was sales. More awareness equals sales. I even had a client who just wanted to be liked more than their biggest competitor!
Ultimately, a brand’s success is about awareness amongst its customers or those they serve, and how the public perception matches what the brand is putting out into the world as their brand.
How do you balance creativity with consistency in branding?
As long as you are staying within your brand style guide, you can be creative. Consistency with logo usage, fonts and colors signals to people that it’s your brand but keeping the execution fresh is the creative part. As long as you follow your brand guidelines and have your audience in mind, it’s good to be creative to engage your customers and potential clients.
How do you stay updated with the latest trends and innovations in branding?
Visual brand design is very much about trends and innovation. If a brand is feeling tired it’s because it looks dated. The fonts, logo style, etc. are not up-to-date.
Every 3-5 years, I recommend looking at your visual brand to see if any design changes are needed to be on-trend. As far as messaging, ask yourself if you are still talking to the right audience about the things that matter to them. Life happens, even for your B2B clients, and your brand’s messaging should always be relevant.
How do you tailor a brand strategy to different target audiences?
Your brand messaging can be tailored to different target audiences. You might even have specific sets of messaging points that are for different audience personas within your target audience.
On the visual brand side, we have used a different part of a brand’s color palette that appeals more to a younger audience. This is another way you can stay within your brand guidelines but be creative.
What’s your favorite experience working on a brand strategy?
Working with clients and seeing how their defined brand strategy and/or architecture gives them and their team so much confidence when marketing or selling. I see clients become empowered because they now have the words to explain what they do and how they are different. Or, in some cases, they’ve been so embarrassed about an old logo or website and now they just are bursting with pride over their new one. It truly makes my heart happy to see that.
What is your favorite brand (other than your own) and why?
I have a lot of favorites but the #1 that comes to mind is Patagonia. I love everything about them. I am a dedicated fan and customer. They know how to tell their story, relate to their audience, make things that their audience wants, and most importantly, be a brand that their customers want to align themselves with.
What trends do you think will shape the future of branding in the next five years?
AI but more specifically, automation. How do you walk that line of AI creating your messaging, brand, image, ads, and more, but still come across as authentic? At the end of the day, people buy from people. A brand has to feel like something real. AI can help marketers be more efficient but it has to sound real, be on point, original (be aware of copyright rules), factually accurate, and most importantly, sound and look like your brand. Even if you have harnessed the power of AI, you must have a good strategy. AI is a tactical tool. It does not replace strategy and vision.
How has digital transformation impacted branding strategies?
Because the digital landscape is so vast, brands have to think about what they look and sound like on numerous platforms. Also, how is the audience interacting, or do they even want to interact with the brand on certain platforms? Don’t assume your brand needs to be everywhere digitally because it probably doesn’t.
What advice would you give to a new brand looking to establish itself in the market?
Focus on what makes you unique and what is the one thing you want to be known for with your intended audience. You can offer more products and services to your customers but what is the #1 thing you sell? That should be what they know you for.
