SERVICE: Brand Auditing
What is a Brand?
A type of product made by a particular company says Cambridge Dictionary.
Personally, I’d start by saying something like Coca Cola, Apple, Dell, Nokia, Nintendo, Pizza Hut, Audi, Moet Chandon, Adidas, GoPro.
Did you recognise all of those names? I’d bet money that you did, and that is exactly how I would define a strong brand; an instantly recognisable company.
Apple - future tech, innovative, stylish
Coca Cola - friendship, togetherness, tasty
Audi - luxury, high performance, engineering excellence
GoPro - excitement, adrenaline, adventure
All these companies have become renowned for their products, but have also created brands that encompass not just their successful product lines, but encompass a feeling that creates such strong branding and loyal customers.
Make no mistake, emotions and feelings play a huge part in how successful your brand will be, and understanding how to wield your brand’s ‘emotions’ online is a key to success that you will need to get locked down.
Auditing your competitor’s brands not only lets you see how your target audience responds to various content formats, but also shows you the best ways to build a ‘digital persona’ (your brand) for your business:
Social Engagement
Your business needs to be present everywhere its relevant & social media is the platform to engage, inspire & motivate your target customers. Depending on your service or product, there will be certain platforms best suited to you. With a consistent tone of voice that is passionate, authoritative & inspiring, your online community and customer base will blossom.
Eco-Awareness
Being aware of your impact on the environment, and trying to be as sustainable as possible, is a brilliant way that companies show their humanity, and put heart into their brand. Even infamous companies like Shell and Total Oil are heavily promoting their sustainable causes and renewable energy initiatives. This works as a tactic because like that old saying, people buy from people, by putting heart in your business you humanise it making it more engaging & inviting to do business with (aka buy from).
Another side to this is people like to get behind a cause that’s close to their heart, and the protection and conservation of our planet is a cause important to much of the world today.
Tone of Voice
The way you speak is a uniquely defining part of who you are; the language you use, your turn of phrase, your humour, all of it is what either attracts or deflects people from you. Your business’ tone of voice online is what plays the largest part in creating that engaged community you’re looking for, and takes some work to get right.
Your brand’s tone of voice should reflect your target audience, it should be language that they use, enjoy, understand and respond to, which would make your brand attractive to them and more likely to do business with. Audience behaviours such as favourite websites, phrases most used, links followed, keywords searched, etc, all of this user data builds a solid profile of your brand persona, and crafts the consistent, conversion-focused tone of voice your business needs.
Image & Design
Much like your tone of voice, consistency with your design and brand imagery is key to building a strong brand. Recognition is key when it comes to a successful business; large blue and yellow font = IKEA; white swirls on red background = Coca Cola; a white apple logo = Apple.
Consistent colour charts, logos, shapes and fonts are all part of what builds a respected, recognisable and strong brand, and it’s vital that you build this brand design foundation to ensure continued growth and success.
Link Profile & Media
Looking into who is linking to your competitor’s sites, which news outlets are talking about them, what the public forums and comments sections have to say about the business, all of this is valuable information into how your competition is being seen through the public lens. Are they coming across as preachy? Disingenuous? Community focused? Female empowering? Market savvy? Knowing how to position yourself, your business and who to get in touch with to open up wider audience pools, this information is invaluable for your brand.
By researching into your competitors and their brand personas, we can dive deeper into the successes and failures of your peers, and find new ways to get your brand standing apart from the crowd. Audience data, copywriting and website design all combine to give you the sturdiest foundation possible for your brand, ensuring you move ahead in your business with confidence & conviction from day 1.