The Brand Strategy Canvas : A One-Page Guide for Startups

Launching a startup is now easier than ever before. Building a lasting brand, however, remains a mystery for even the savviest of founders. An impactful, recognizable brand is perhaps a company’s most valuable intellectual property. And any strong brand starts with a strategy. __The Brand Strategy Canvas__ has arrived to coach you beyond buzzword-laden tips and tricks, and instead offers you thorough, practical techniques to jump-start your strategy creation process. Author Patrick Woods distills fundamental questions to guide your strategy into a revolutionary single-page tool known as the titular Brand Strategy Canvas. The book takes you through each of the simple yet thought-provoking questions of the tool to develop your strategy, including considering audience insight, assessing benefits, creating a positioning statement, and identifying key messages. You will explore real-world case studies along the way and build a message map that ensures your organization drives home a consistent, clear, and authentic message to your target audience. No matter where you are in the business creation process, __The Brand Strategy Canvas__ is the tool you need to build a brand from scratch that you can enthusiastically and effectively implement in real time. This book provides value to team members in companies of all sizes and stages, and is fit for any level of professional wanting to kickstart their entrepreneurial goals. A brand created today must be built for all of tomorrow’s possibilities, and __The Brand Strategy Canvas__ is the book you will want by your side. **What You Will Learn** * Examine the key differences between strategy and execution * Understand how you can avoid brand debt * Craft meaningful messages with the Features>Benefits Continuum * Develop a positioning statement that differentiates from the competition and inspires your marketing * Discover your distinctive brand personality and how it impacts your marketing * Equip your team with guidance and inspiration to ensure consistent and inspiring voice and personality throughout all your messaging **Who This Book** I**s For** This book is for startup founders who are looking for tools to help them build a brand their team can actually implement. This book will also resonate with and provide value to team members in tech companies of all sizes and stages. Contents 5 About the Author 6 Acknowledgments 7 Introduction 8 Chapter 1: Getting Started with the Brand Strategy Canvas 11 What Is Strategy? 13 The Kernel of Good Strategy 13 How to Apply Your Strategy 14 The Impact of Brand Strategy 16 The Cost of Brand Strategy Debt 17 Brand Drift 17 Duplicated Effort 17 Unfocused Activities 18 Diluted Word of Mouth 18 Reactive Posture 18 Inefficient Advertising 18 The Benefits of Investing in Brand Strategy 18 Clarity 19 Alignment 19 Efficiency 19 Customer Loyalty 19 Differentiation 19 When to Focus on Building Brand Strategy 19 Growth 20 Shift in Audience 20 Ongoing Pain 21 Conclusion 22 Chapter 2: Overview of the Brand Strategy Canvas 23 Audience Insight 27 Benefits 28 Positioning Statement 29 Values and Personality 32 Key Messages 33 Best Practices and Quick Start Tips 33 Start from the Top 34 Make Choices 34 Garbage In, Garbage Out 34 Work Alone First 34 Don’t Rush It 35 Iterate 36 Consider Multiple Audiences 36 Conclusion 37 Chapter 3: Market Opportunity 38 Customer/User Insight 38 Demographic vs. Psychographic Information 40 Uncovering Audience Insights 41 Example Audience Description 43 Competitive Environment 45 Knowing Your Category 45 Functional and Emotional Aspects of Your Category 46 Direct and Indirect Competitors 47 Example Competitive Environment 49 Company/Product Features 51 Finding Your Reasons to Believe 51 Points of Differentiation 52 Example Company/Product Features 52 Linking the First Three Boxes 53 Conclusion 56 Chapter 4: Rational and Emotional Benefits 57 The Features-Benefits Continuum 60 Building a Ladder of Abstraction 63 Balancing Emotions and Facts 64 Staying Grounded 65 Rational Benefits 66 Do the Work for Your Customers 67 Example Rational Benefits 67 Emotional Benefits 69 Example Emotional Benefits 70 Tactics for Discovering Emotional Benefits 70 Bringing It All Together, or a Tale of Two Campaigns 71 Conclusion 73 Chapter 5: Brand Positioning 75 Why a Statement? 77 Positioning Is a Map 78 Example Positioning Statement 83 Audience 83 Brand Description 84 Benefit 86 Proof 86 Payoff 87 Brand Essence 89 Two Reasons to Develop Your Brand Essence 89 Brand Essence As Rallying Cry 90 Brand Essence As Promise to Uphold 90 Generating a Brand Essence 91 Reviewing Your Positioning Statement 91 Drawing the Right Map 92 Share of Wallet 94 Conclusion 94 Chapter 6: Defining Your Brand Values 95 Brand Values in Action 96 Vision, Mission, Values 97 Guide to Exploring and Capturing Brand Values 98 Example of Brand Values 99 Instilling a Sense of Authenticity into Your Brand 100 Conclusion 101 Chapter 7: Creating a Brand Personality 102 Meeting Your Brand for a Drink 103 What Does Your Brand Believe About the World? 104 The Power of Personality 105 Example Brand Personality 106 Conclusion 109 Chapter 8: Drafting Key Messages 110 Avoiding Brand Dilution 111 Aspects of Key Messages 112 Key Messages As a Catalyst 112 Key Messages As Guideposts 113 What Key Messages Are Not 113 Key Messages Help Tell a Consistently Powerful Story 113 Example of Key Messages 114 Two Types of Key Messages 115 Staying True to Your Brand Voice 117 The Talk Like a Human Test 118 Conclusion 118 Chapter 9: Completing Your Canvas 120 What Now? 121 Applying Your Strategy 121 Putting Your Strategy to Work 123 Make It Accessible 123 Stay On-Message 123 Revisit Your Materials 124 Flesh Out Your Values 124 Review Quarterly 124 Good Luck! 124 Appendix A: Brand Strategy Canvas Template 125 Index 127 Launching a startup is now easier than ever before. Building a lasting brand, however, remains a mystery for even the savviest of founders. An impactful, recognizable brand is perhaps a company’s most valuable intellectual property. And any strong brand starts with a strategy. The Brand Strategy Canvas has arrived to coach you beyond buzzword-laden tips and tricks, and instead offers you thorough, practical techniques to jump-start your strategy creation process. Author Patrick Woods distills fundamental questions to guide your strategy into a revolutionary single-page tool known as the titular Brand Strategy Canvas. The book takes you through each of the simple yet thought-provoking questions of the tool to develop your strategy, including considering audience insight, assessing benefits, creating a positioning statement, and identifying key messages. You will explore real-world case studies along the way and build a message map that ensures your organization drives home a consistent, clear, and authentic message to your target audience. No matter where you are in the business creation process, The Brand Strategy Canvas is the tool you need to build a brand from scratch that you can enthusiastically and effectively implement in real time. This book provides value to team members in companies of all sizes and stages, and is fit for any level of professional wanting to kickstart their entrepreneurial goals. A brand created today must be built for all of tomorrow’s possibilities, and The Brand Strategy Canvas is the book you will want by your side. What You Will Learn Examine the key differences between strategy and execution Understand how you can avoid brand debt Craft meaningful messages with the Features>Benefits Continuum Develop a positioning statement that differentiates from the competition and inspires your marketing Discover your distinctive brand personality and how it impacts your marketing Equip your team with guidance and inspiration to ensure consistent and inspiring voice and personality throughout all your messaging Who This Book I s For This book is for startup founders who are looking for tools to help them build a brand their team can actually implement. This book will also resonate with and provide value to team members in tech companies of all sizes and stages. Front Matter ....Pages i-xiii Getting Started with the Brand Strategy Canvas (Patrick Woods)....Pages 1-12 Overview of the Brand Strategy Canvas (Patrick Woods)....Pages 13-27 Market Opportunity (Patrick Woods)....Pages 29-47 Rational and Emotional Benefits (Patrick Woods)....Pages 49-66 Brand Positioning (Patrick Woods)....Pages 67-86 Defining Your Brand Values (Patrick Woods)....Pages 87-93 Creating a Brand Personality (Patrick Woods)....Pages 95-102 Drafting Key Messages (Patrick Woods)....Pages 103-112 Completing Your Canvas (Patrick Woods)....Pages 113-117 Back Matter ....Pages 119-123 No matter where you are in the business creation process, this invaluable guide is the tool you need to build a brand from scratch that you can enthusiastically and effectively implement in real time. -- Edited summary from book