Behind the brand you’ll find the brand strategy. While working hand-in-hand with a broader business strategy – brand strategy is a plan of action designed to guide how people think, feel and act about a business.
That said, it would be very easy to get the impression after a quick Google search that brand strategy is just an exercise in responding to a template. You answer a few questions and voila, you have yourself a strategy.
Unfortunately, it’s not quite as simple as it might first appear. (Sorry!) As an design agency that focuses on positioning strategy and category design – it’s the thing we see go wrong most often. While there are plenty of perspectives from software giants crowding Google – we wanted to explore brand strategy from the point of a view of an actual design agency. One that lives and breathes brand strategy on the daily.
With that said, what’s the go with brand strategy and do I really need one? Let’s find out.
What is brand strategy?
If a brand is the thoughts, feelings, actions and impulses people have – Brand strategy is the key idea and set of integrated decisions that guides it.
In simple terms a brand strategy is just an intentional guide and playbook for founders, teams and partners. It is a source of truth, a cornerstone in which everything else is referenced against. It’s a foundation on which long-term goals can be dynamically iterated on over time as it aligns both customer needs and business goals.
Crucially it’s not static. Capitalism is dynamic. The market is in a constant flux. Social and technological shifts can dramatically create and destroy markets seemingly overnight. Businesses need to be aware that they, their competition and their audiences exist within these environments and aren’t immune to the changes taking place around them.
If a brand identity is how you communicate and present to the world, your brand strategy is the scaffolding and structure that holds it all together. Easy? Unfortunately, a lot of what is called brand strategy, isn’t all that strategic or at the least, there are massive gaps.
You don’t have strategy just for the sake of it right? You have it for a purpose. Ideally it’s to give you some sort of advantage, to help you win in some of way.
Why is brand strategy important?
It all comes back to why strategy is so important in the first place.
Perhaps this goes without saying but brand strategy isn’t a given – in that sense, it’s not a law of physics in the way same way we might consider gravity or entropy. It’s developed as a response to late-modern capitalism and wildly fierce competitions many brands face in today’s marketplace. Brand itself in it’s current form has only been around for less than a century at best.
There’s so many anthropological and sociological reasons as to why this is but that is all to say without an intentional plan and guideline in place, it’s all too easy to get caught up in the noise and start reacting to competition.
The result? You’ll end up with a wishy-washy, non-compelling and forgettable brand. This happens all the time. You don’t win in brand by try to be better than the competition, you win by being intentionally different in the value you create.
Any strategy we offer as part of we think at the very least a brand strategy needs to raise. Bluntly when we say strategy, we think value.
So why is a brand strategy important?
- Value
Gotcha.
There are so many reasons why brand strategy is crucial but if it doesn’t create value. Ditch it. We’ve seen way to many strategy documents that offer everything but value. Fluffy. Unclear. Vanilla.
Alright, let’s break it down further.
- Differentiation: Understand how you’re different and why that’s valuable
- Clarity: Articulate your message and be easily understood
- Purpose: Know why you exist
- Recognition: Build recognition amongst your target audience
- Consistency: Maintain consistency and build trust
- Employee Onboarding: Share your values and set people up to succeed
- Scale: Build systems to grow
- Builds Brand Equity: Create monetary value through your brand
- Resonance: Connect meaningfully and emotionally with your audience
- Loyalty: Build long lasting and valuable relationships
A brand strategy should be a transformative toolkit. It should be practical. It should be actionable. It should help you connect with audience, get leadership clarity and align you team.
What are the elements of brand strategy?
Good question. In our experience most strategy deliverables would have about 80% in common with each other. We would also say, it’s the 20% that they have in difference that make the difference.
And to add a little bit of confusion into the mix – for whatever reason a bunch of agencies and authors has created their own nuances on core inclusions. Occasionally you’ll hear phrases like ‘brand house’ or ‘brand heart’ – our take is a little bit cynical here but that these are just attempts to synthesis elements within the strategy into a higher-order concept but often don’t materialise as real value.
Brand Idea / Meme / Category
Think of this as your brand’s core concept—simple, memorable, and shareable. It’s the idea that quickly tells people exactly what you're about, and why they should care. It anchors your brand in your customer’s heads.
Brand Purpose
Why does your brand exist? Purpose answers this bigger question—connecting your brand to something meaningful in the world. It's the difference between just existing and creating impact.
Brand Positioning
How does your brand stand out against competitors? Positioning clearly defines your unique space in customers’ minds, highlighting what sets you apart. It tells people why they should choose you instead of choosing an alternative.
Brand Proposition
This is your promise of value. Simply put, it’s what you offer customers and why they benefit by choosing you. It’s concise, clear, and compelling.
Brand Personality / Characteristics
Imagine your brand as a person. Are you friendly, authoritative, or playful? Personality defines the human traits your brand embodies, shaping how you communicate and emotionally connect with your audience.
Brand Promise
Your brand promise is what you consistently deliver to customers—the experiences, quality, and value they can rely on every time. It builds trust because customers know exactly what to expect.
Brand Story
We love stories, and your brand’s story gives context to who you are, where you came from, and why it matters. It creates emotional resonance, authenticity, and connection.
Brand Manifesto
This bold statement articulates what your brand passionately believes in and stands for. It aligns your team and resonates deeply with customers who share your values. It’s really helpful as an internal tool for both new and exisiting team member, a rally call.
Brand Values
Values are your guiding principles, they what’s most important to you. They shape what you say yes to and what you say no to. They shape your actions, decisions, and behaviours, defining what you truly stand for. They're the foundation that keeps your brand authentic.
Brand Audience & Personas
Who exactly is your brand for? Audience and personas help clarify your customers’ needs, wants, and behaviours. They provide detailed insights to tailor your brand message precisely.
Brand Why, What, How
The simplest way to frame your brand clearly:
- Why: Why do you exist?
- What: The unique value you deliver
- How: The distinctive way you deliver it
Don’t confuse breadth with depth. It’s not uncommon to see documents that endlessly blab on and on without getting to the key idea. Remember, strategy is about value creation not a template completion.
How to build a brand strategy?
So how do you actually build this thing? Brand strategy squarely falls between art and science.
It might be obvious to say but the strategy isn’t the presentation of the strategy. The strategy is a set of ideas and the presentation is a best attempt as communicating it. So don’t get caught up in responding to prompts and think about real value.
1. Understand your audience
Any strategy needs to keep in mind the who. Strategist Roger Martin writes “to be effective, strategy must be rooted in a desire to meet user needs in a way that creates value for both the company and the consumer.”
You can’t serve everyone. You can’t be everything to everyone. You need to be specific. You need to ask who can you create the most value for that it’s impossible for them to say no. It means identifying a specific group of customers or segments and designing an offering and brand that is compelling and engaging.
In practice this will mean undertaking research to understand first what these customers need, what moves them emotionally, what gets them to take action and what gets them across the line. This could look like developing user-personas and exploring demographic and psychographic insights.
It could also mean looking and what your competition are not doing. If everyone is asking what the customer wants, eventually they’ll all end up in the same place. You can subvert this by asking what are the competition not doing but that would still be valuable. Easy.
2. Create unique value and own a unique position
Why is someone going to buy from you?
Unique value. It’s that simple. Business in its simplest is just that: an exchange of value.
Now that you understand your market. You need to ask how you can create the most unique value possible. You want your value to meet a market opportunity. It is all about differentiation. You don’t win by trying to be better, you win by offering distinct value. Unfortunately the market doesn’t see better, it sees different.
3. Creating an engaging identity and compelling message
Communicating the strategy is arguably as important as the strategy itself. What good is it if no one understands it right? Or if the strategy itself is incredible but the execution drops the ball. This is what we call translation, it’s taking the strategic elements, the ideas, postulations and theories and bringing it to life in a way that people can interface with it.
As an aside, most brand communication takes place through visual means followed by audio. Saying that every sense is theoretically available. Businesses in hospitality are masters of leading with smell, taste and touch.
Brand as Visual Identity:
- Logo
- Typography
- Colours
- Graphic Systems, Icons & Illustrations
- Design Systems
- Style Guide & Brand Toolkit
- Photography & Art Direction
Your visual identity is how your brand communicates visually. So much is said before anything is said. Your visual identity is the integration of your logo, colours, typography, imagery, graphic elements, and design systems. These visuals should align seamlessly with your brand proposition, personality, and values. Done right, they’ll signal who you are, aid in recognition, establish trust, and communicate what audiences can expect.
Brand as Verbal Identity:
- Tone of Voice
- Language
- Messaging
Your verbal identity or brand voice is how your brand speaks or sounds. It comes down to what words you use and how you use them. Your tone of voice, language and messaging should be consistent across your marketing channels and platforms. Crucially they should be consistent with the proposition, personality and values articulated in the strategy. It allow audiences to build trust, know what to expect and remove doubt.
Mistakes: Common Brand Strategy Traps
If you’re not versed with brand strategy and strategy generally it’s helpful to be aware of the common traps so as to avoid getting stuck. Remember there are no perfect strategies but there are signs if things are going in the wrong direction.
- Everything: You can’t do it all. Everything can’t be a priority. Strategy is about making choices. Saying yes to a small set of decisions and saying no to a lot more.
- Everyone: A business can’t be for everyone. You need to focus on who you can create incredible value for and forget about the rest.
- Unfocused: Bit of this, bit of that. Choose a market. Choose an audience.
- Dreamer: While it can be inspiring to think about your vision and mission, you can’t stay there. They’re no substitute for concrete decisions.
- Trend Setters: Following the crowd is a sure way to get lost. The more you follow your competition, the more you’ll end up like them and the less likely you’ll win.
Checklist: Winning at Brand Strategy
So you’re creating a brand strategy, nice work. How do you know if you’re heading in the right direction? Good thing, we’ve collated a few questions and prompts to help you check if you’re on the right track.
- The perfect strategy doesn’t exist, only distinctive choices that work for you.
- Think about winning rather than just competing. What would it look like to win in your context rather than just playing by the existing rules?
- Think about where you can win and who you can win. You can’t win everywhere and win everyone.
- Think about real value for your customer. Substance first, image second.
Resources: Brand Strategy Tools & Books
We get it, there’s so much to take in. Especially if these are new concepts. That’s why we’ve collected a handful of helpful resources that should help you level up.
Beginner
- Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller (Book)
- The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier (Book)
- Start with Why by Simon Sinek (Book)
- Branding Matters (Podcast)
- The Brand Strategy Podcast (Podcast)
- The Branding Journal (Website)
Intermediate
- Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries & Jack Trout (Book)
- This Is Marketing by Seth Godin (Book)
- Branding: In Five and Half Steps by Michael Johnson (Book)
- Just Branding (Podcast)
- Adweek (Website)
Advanced
- How Brands Grow by Bryson Sharp (Book)
- The Brand Flip by Marty Neumeier (Book)
- How Brands Are Built (Podcast & Website)
- Harvard Business Review (Website)
Brand strategy: Your Competitive Edge
Brand strategy isn't a checkbox on the marketing to-do list—it's a strategic commitment to create distinctive value and guide compass in a constantly changing market. Far from being a static template or word doc, it's a dynamic blueprint should clarify your unique position, guide your decisions, and empower meaningful connections with your customers. Done well, it positions your brand intentionally, allowing you not only to differentiate but to resonate deeply, creating lasting impact and loyalty.
As a design agency focused on brand strategy, we've seen firsthand how powerful it can be when it’s authentic, intentional, and actionable. Our advice? Don’t settle for generic templates or surface-level tactics. Take the time to thoughtfully craft a brand strategy tailored to your unique context and ambitions. Because, at the end of the day, the brands that win are those brave enough to stand for something specific, purposeful, and valuable.
Ready to elevate your brand? It starts with strategy.
Brand strategy is a plan of action that helps guide how people think, feel, and act about your business. It's not a logo, tagline or colour palette — it’s the foundation behind everything you say and do.
Think of it as a strategic operating system. It helps you clarify your message, align your team, and build brand equity over time.
It’s not about looking polished — it’s about being intentional.
Because in a world full of noise and “me too” brands, strategy is what separates the remarkable from the forgettable. Without it, you risk reacting to trends, copying your competition, or chasing tactics without clarity.
A great brand strategy helps you:
- Articulate your unique value
- Focus your message and market
- Build recognition and trust
- Align your team
- Create leverage, not just effort
TL;DR — no strategy, no edge.
While every brand is unique, most strategies include a version of the following:
- Brand Idea – The core meme or mental hook you want to own
- Purpose – Why you exist beyond making money
- Positioning – How you stand apart from the alternatives
- Proposition – Your offer, promise, and value to the market
- Personality – Your tone, style and traits
- Values – What you stand for and how you behave
- Audience – Who you're for (and who you’re not)
- Story & Manifesto – The narrative that gives people a reason to care
- Messaging – What you say and how you say it
- Visual & Verbal Identity – The way your brand looks and sounds
All killer, no filler. Every element should serve a purpose — not just fill space on a slide.
You don’t fill in a template — you design for clarity, connection, and context. It’s part art, part insight, part conversation.
Here’s a simplified flow:
- Understand your audience – Who can you create the most value for?
- Clarify your unique value – What’s your difference? Why should they care?
- Own a position – What space can you occupy that no one else does?
- Translate it into identity – How do you look, sound, and behave to bring it all to life?
Real brand strategy isn’t about more — it’s about better. Clearer. Sharper.
Brand strategy is the thinking.
Brand identity is the expression of that thinking.
Strategy defines what you stand for. Identity shows how that gets communicated — visually, verbally, experientially.
Identity without strategy is style without substance.
Strategy without identity is potential without presence.
Absolutely. Strategy isn’t a fixed artefact. It’s a living blueprint that should evolve as your business grows, your audience shifts, or the market changes.
That said — if you’re pivoting every quarter, you probably don’t have a strategy. You have indecision.
Strategy should adapt — not drift.
Trying to be everything to everyone.
Brands that try to please everyone end up connecting with no one. The strongest brands make specific, bold, sometimes sacrificial choices — and stand for something unmistakable.
Strategy is choice. If you’re not saying no to anything, you haven’t really said yes to anything either.
Ask:
- Do people get what we do and why we matter?
- Is our message consistent across touchpoints?
- Are we attracting the right kind of audience?
- Is the team aligned internally?
- Are we building brand equity, not just making noise?
If you’re unsure, it might be time for a refresh — or at least a brand audit.
Marcel McCarthy is the Creative Director at ONETOO. He helps ambitious brands turn strategy into clarity — and clarity into action. Known for asking hard questions, dodging trends, and making bold ideas feel obvious (in hindsight).