A Day in the Life of a Brand Strategist
So many times I get asked the question, What does a Brand Strategist do? I thought I would break it down for those of you who may be wondering the same question. Many of you know that I do Graphic Design. However, Brand Strategy is really the core of what I do. As you’ll see below, Brand Strategy is crucial to build the foundation of a business - far before design should even be considered. However, there are so many ways of explaining it, so I’ll let you know what Brand Strategy is for me and what a day in my life is like.
Discovery Session
When someone is interested in Brand Strategy, we start with a Discovery Session. This is usually about an hour and we talk about their business, what their goals are and the vision they have for the future. This gives me a peek into the business, and helps my client think outside the box. I also go through what the process of strategy is, and let them know what they can expect by working together.
Workshops
Usually Brand Strategy is covered in a few workshops which last 2-3 hours each. They vary in length for different people because some people know their business really well, and others need to dig a little deeper for answers. I ensure that we get everything done though, so if it needs to be an extra session or two, we’ll do what it takes to get it done!
What’s Covered in a Workshop?
Well, let’s just say I ask a LOT of questions. It’s my job to listen, and support the client as they answer those questions. This is an extremely hard but rewarding process. Some questions are simple, others go really deep. The purpose of the exercises is to get a really good understanding of the brand.
Some of the areas we cover:
Your Why
A deep dive into what you do
Who you do it for
How you do it
Your unique position in the market
An in depth analysis of your Ideal Customer
The Customer Journey
Brand Attributes
Competitor Analysis
Your Brand Archetypes
Brand Identity (colours, typography, imagery, etc)
And more...
What Happens after a Workshop?
To be honest, this is my favourite part of Brand Strategy. It’s when everything comes together, just like putting together a puzzle. I basically take all the ideas covered in the workshop and pull them together to create a roadmap. This process usually takes me anywhere from 10-30 hours to compile, and then we meet to go over the Roadmap I’ve created for the business.
The Roadmap
Together, we go over all the details I’ve uncovered about the brand and make sure we are on the right track. We make tweaks and changes to ensure we’re accurately describing the brand. We usually meet twice to go over this together. When the brand is completely captured, I give them a pdf of the Roadmap to have on hand as a future resource. This roadmap can be used for years to come to make sure all decisions are based on the brand’s strong foundation that we have built through our sessions.
3 Month Action Plan
As part of the Roadmap, we compile a list of tasks and subtasks that need to be done in the next 3 months. This can be anything from designing a logo, to revamping a website. Some of these tasks are for the client to do, and some are for me to do (depending on what the client decides).
3 Month Check-In
Approximately 3 months after the Roadmap is created, we meet to go over the Action Plan, and how things are progressing. This is a great time to re-evaluate the tasks that need to be done, and if there is anything more that needs to be done. This is the end of the Brand Strategy process.
