Our Company Brand Foundations
Update company namePurpose:
The passion that gets us out of bed everyday!
Our Purpose Statement
Please complete Exercise 1.4 to view your Purpose Statement here
Vision:
Where we want to be sometime in the future.
Our Vision Statement
Please complete Exercise 6.1 to view your Vision statement here
Positioning:
How we position ourselves in the minds of target buyers.
Our Brand Positioning Statement
Please complete Exercise 3.3 to view your Positioning Statement here
Our Mindshare we wish to own
Please complete Exercise 3.4 to view your Mindshare here
Strategic Value Pathway (SVP)
Please complete Exercise 3.1
Golden rule: we cannibalise our success with breakthroughs.
Focus: being obsessive about creating superior products that are highly valued by customers because they create better experiences for them.
Expertise: R&D, teamwork, production management, marketing, talent management.
Sales role: a consultative sale (high end offers / solutions) where the sales role is to demonstrate quality and value.
Culture: employee centred where creativity, problem solving, mastering collaboration and knowledge management is key to success.
Market: customers value premium products and are willing to pay for them.
Economics: early market entry is essential to enable charging premium prices and acquiring large market share; speed is the key.
Innovation: key area is intellectual asset development for continuous improvement; and responsiveness – minimizing turnaround time on design and delivery.
Brand personality: brands can be perceived as elite, cool, different, powerful, creative, innovative, coveted, rare, authoritative, commanding.
Golden rule: solve the client’s broader problem.
Focus: to understand customer needs in detail and excel in customer service by offering a range of customised / personalised services, in one or a few high-value niches.
Expertise: client acquisition, relationship development and solutions development.
Sales role: is to create value. A consultative sale (group of offers/skills) or stepped up to co-creation, where provider and client create a customised solution together.
Culture: high service orientated with deep customer knowledge, insight and a customer comes first mentality is essential.
Market: customers value personalised solutions and are willing to pay for them.
Economics: high cost of customer acquisition makes it imperative to gain a large wallet/market share; economies of scope are key.
Innovation: key area is new product identification and/or development of existing offerings because customer needs or market changes require it.
Brand personality: brands can be perceived as supportive, intuitive, engaging, friendly, caring, helpful, interested, multi-faceted.
Golden rule: variety kills efficiency.
Focus: being obsessive about lowering prices for customers through high volume automation that produces predictability, cost efficiencies and hassle free service.
Expertise: standardising, streamlining and monitoring processes and costs.
Sales role: is transactional (single or set of components) where the sales objective is to communicate value.
Culture: centralised structure with strong organisational, rule based end-to-end operation.
Market: customers don’t require bells and whistles but value low prices.
Economics: high fixed costs make large volumes essential to achieve low unit cost; economies of scale are key here.
Innovation: key area is to detect, analyse, adjust or remove issues in processes, products and services that have efficiency impacts before, during and after delivery.
Brand personality: brands can be perceived as matter-of-fact, competitive, aggressive, innovative, blunt, down-to-earth, functional, smart, fast.
Customer Value Proposition (CVP)
Price
- Premium
- Premium/
Competitive - Competitive
- Competitive/
Leader - Leader
Features
- Original
- Original/
Customised - Customised
- Customised/
Basic - Basic
Quality
- Excellent
- Excellent/
Average - Average
- Average/
Acceptable - Acceptable
Support
- Comprehensive
- Comprehensive/
Standard - Standard
- Standard/
Minimal - Minimal
Availability
- Restricted
- Restricted/
Selective - Selective
- Selective/
Universal - Universal
Reputation
- Prestigious
- Prestigious/
Respected - Respected
- Respected/
Functional - Functional
Pillars:
Our guiding principles that are the most important attributes/benefits that we, and our customers value most.
Our Brand Pillars
Pillar 1
Please complete Exercise 4.1
Pillar 2
Please complete Exercise 4.1
Pillar 3
Please complete Exercise 4.1
Promise:
Supports our Purpose and Position, is founded on our Pillars and delivered through touchpoint actions that bring it to life for customers.
Our Brand Promise Statement
Please complete Exercise 5.1 to view your Promise statement here
Brand Promise Dimensions (Pillars)
Please complete Exercise 4.1
-Touchpoint Actions
Please complete Exercise 5.1Please complete Exercise 4.1
-Touchpoint Actions
Please complete Exercise 5.1Please complete Exercise 4.1
-Touchpoint Actions
Please complete Exercise 5.1Personality:
Human characteristics/traits that define how we speak and behave, to connect emotionally with our target market.
Our Brand Archetype Framework:
Business category or standards customers traditionally expect
The STANDARD
(influencer)
Our personality DNA that makes us different from competitors.
The CORE
(personality)
Adding versatility and ‘spice’ to our Core as our brand evolves.
The EDGE
(influencer)
Our CORE Archetype summary:
Motto
Free to be you and me
Promise
Simplicity
Strategy
To do things right
Goal
To be happy
Desire
Get to paradise (within oneself)
Talent
Optimism, enthusiasm, honesty
Weakness
Boring for all their naive innocence
Fear
To be punished for doing something wrong
Innocents Offer
- Simple solutions to a problem
- Straight-forward no nonsense values
- Association with morality, goodness, simplicity, nostalgia or childhood
- Natural, simple, unfussy imagery
Innocent brands in action
Associated with simple pleasures and wholesomeness, purity and optimism is at the heart of every action.
Organisational culture and customer service is focused on being truthful, honest, and reliable. Their focus is on predictability and sticking to what works rather than being innovative.
They see any situation with positivity, maintaining faith in their ideas and motivating others to believe all will be well in the end.
They seek to reinvent or renew themselves through new beginnings and believe that innocence (paradise) comes from within, not from outer experiences.
Innocent customers
Consumers drawn to Innocent brands are looking for products that provide an experience of peace and goodness. They like brands that make life simple, and when they find one they trust, they are loyal to it.
They long to have the ideal life, complete with perfect mate, well-behaved kids, fulfilling job and a nice home. They strive for goodness and have a great deal of faith in others. They are a traditional lot and do not seek change.
Marketing that is optimistic, and makes life simple and good, not guilt-tripping or gimmicky will resonate with them.
Motto
The truth will set you free
Promise
Wisdom
Strategy
Seek knowledge
Goal
Use knowledge to understand the World
Desire
To find the Truth
Talent
Wisdom, intelligence
Weakness
Study too much and doesn’t act
Fear
To be duped or mislead
Sages Offer
- Expertise and information to customers
- Encouragement to think and grasp difficult ideas
- Fact based research to support information
- A higher level of vocabulary and symbolic imagery
Sage brands in action
At their core they are rational intellects. As seekers of truth, these brands are brilliant at developing expertise, gathering and analysing information so as to be useful to others.
Their culture is to encourage freedom of thought and individuality and focus on analysis, learning, research, and planning to develop the most valuable company asset – expertise. On the negative side, they can be excessively concerned with minor details, rules or detached from reality.
Sage brands refuse to “dumb down” their marketing, as that would be an insult to the intelligence of their customers.
Sage customers
Sage consumers value independence of thought and don’t associate with the “herd mentality”.
They enjoy learning for learning’s sake because they love adding new knowledge to their memory banks. Transparency in a brand is key as they are suspicious of those who might be trying to hide something.
High-pressure sales or marketing tactics are not for them. Hard data or a limitless supply of information that helps them make an informed choice will earn trust. They aren’t afraid of products with a challenging learning curve since intelligence is the trait they prize above others.
Motto
Don’t fence me in
Promise
Escapism
Strategy
Seek out new experiences
Goal
Escape boredom, freedom
Desire
Inner fulfilment
Talent
Autonomy, ambition, true to ones soul
Weakness
Wandering aimlessly
Fear
To be trapped, conforming, inner emptiness
Explorers Offer
- A means to help others experience the new and unknown
- Personal integrity and authenticity
- Being different, individuality or independence
- A unique identity, path or solution
Explorer brands in action
Any brand that veers off the beaten path in its industry, is tapping into Explorer tendencies. Often ground breaking or pioneering, non-conforming, and leading an authentic life to its fullest, is the hallmark of the Explorer.
Culturally they de-emphasize rules and value individuality by allowing employees leeway to reach goals however they see fit. Independent self-actualisation is important to them.
Decentralised and democratic they gravitate towards virtual workers as opposed to people boxed in cubicles.
Explorer customers
Explorer consumers are trying to figure out their place in the world. The young, try to assert independence and figure out who they are, and the tired middle aged looking for new experiences.
They respond well to brands that empathise with internal desires and conflicts – between expressing individuality and being too different – by promising a worthwhile reward that makes them feel audacious and alive.
Change is a natural state of mind so brand loyal is not necessarily their thing. However, brands that tap into their values of freedom and individuality and doing so authentically, can win them over.
Motto
Rules are meant to be broken
Promise
Liberation
Strategy
Disrupt, destroy, or shock
Goal
Overturn what’s not working
Desire
Revolution or revenge
Talent
Boldness, radical freedom
Weakness
Crossing over to the dark side
Fear
To be powerless or ineffectual
Rebels Offer
- A break with current industry conventions
- An opposing viewpoint to the tried and true
- Radical, game changing innovations
- Risky, racy, bold or politically incorrect imagery
Rebel brands in action
The Rebel is best at developing truly radical ideas, products, services and leading reform of all kinds.
From activist causes to free thinking mavericks to watchdogs or whistle-blowers, they want to destroy or improve the existing. But care needs to be taken in not overstepping too many boundaries in the quest for reform.
Marketing departs from the ho-hum through dark, destructive, bold, shocking, extreme or by simply using a clever or unexpected joke. Marketing cues for ‘normal’ products can suggest they are appropriate when people want to feel just a little bit bad or set apart from the norm.
Rebel customers
Whether alienated youth or minority groups looking to ‘find themselves’ in a dominant culture these consumers push past the Explorer tendency. They can also be well-adjusted law abiding citizens who simply need to let off steam every now and then.
With a deep-seated desire for freedom, they are drawn to the racy, shocking or the politically incorrect. But promoting destruction or going against the law wont be viewed as cool.
They gravitate to those that stand against tradition and are a change agent with a unique message or content that is on the unconventional or outrageous side. Brands that want to reach rebel consumers need to gauge their level of extremism and act accordingly.
Motto
I make things happen
Promise
Power
Strategy
Develop and live out their Vision
Goal
To make dreams come true
Desire
Understand fundamental laws of the universe
Talent
Make complex appear simple
Weakness
Becoming manipulative
Fear
Unintended, negative consequences
Magicians Offer
- To make people feel wiser or influence others
- Access to secret or illusive information
- A gateway to transformative knowledge or experience
- Imaginative, dramatic, awe inspiring imagery
Magician brands in action
Magician brands promote themselves as the gateway to transformative knowledge and experience. With a grandiose vision that may seem impossible to some, they believe if they apply the right formula, success is inevitable.
There focus is to connect with the individual (not group), by telling them they can grow wiser or influence others by using their products.
Marketing is not edgy or extreme as that would alienate consumers but about transformative moments e.g. life coaching – from feeling lost to having insight. The aim is to makes customers feel captivated and think ‘I want to experience that’.
Magician customers
Motivated both by the desire for personal transformation and to be a change agent in the world around them, these consumers may be in a position of leadership, influence and possibly charismatic by nature.
The typical Magician consumer believes in a higher consciousness e.g. a metaphysical belief that “the Universe” will reward positive thinking (Law of Attraction). They may also turn to the laws of nature and the sciences, relying on biology, physics, and psychology as strong guiding principles.
They are more likely to align with brands as long as they can clearly see and connect with the true identity and purpose – the consciousness – of the brand.
Motto
Where there’s a will, there’s a way
Promise
Mastery
Strategy
To be strong and competent
Goal
Exert mastery that improves the World
Desire
Prove worth through courage
Talent
Competence, courage
Weakness
Arrogance, always needing another battle
Fear
Weakness or vulnerability
Heros Offer
- To help people be all they can be
- Inventions or innovations of major impact
- Strength, in helping people do tough jobs well
- Strong, bold, powerful imagery
Hero brands in action
Hero brand positions itself as offering superior quality to their competition. Helping people to develop discipline, focus and strength is at their core, and a natural fit for philanthropic, humanitarian, athletic or military brands.
Culturally they are typically achievement-oriented, dedicated and hold themselves to high standards. The ‘never give up’ attitude fuels their passion to make a difference and overcome challenges. Both team player and winner, a negative consequence is the potential for employee burnout.
Using metaphors to represent challenges, bold, definitive visuals and idealistic language forms the backbone of their marketing, essentially say ‘I dare you’ to the consumer.
Hero customers
Mirroring the brand, they are typically achievement-oriented and competitive – even if just against themselves.
In trying to prove themselves, these consumers have a desire to develop their character or physical ability, and are often tenaciously dedicated to overcoming challenges. They are attracted to brands they think will empower them to be ahead of everyone else.
They see themselves as good, moral people with strong convictions. To win this consumer’s heart, a brand must realise it’s being evaluated not just on its product offering, but also on the strength of its moral convictions.
Motto
You’re the only one
Promise
Intimacy
Strategy
Become physically and emotionally attractive
Goal
Relationships with people, work and places they love
Desire
To attain intimacy and experience
Talent
Passion, gratitude, commitment
Weakness
Outward desire – risk of losing identity
Fear
Being alone, unwanted, unloved
Lovers Offer
- To make people feel special
- Harmonious and pleasurable relationships
- Bon vivant – live life with passion and enthusiasm
- Imagery ranges from friendly, elegant to edgy, erotic
Lover brands in action
Finding love or friendships, showing appreciation, becoming more attractive or pleasuring the senses – these are at the core of the Lover brand.
Culturally they value quality partnerships and work collaboratively to the point where decision-making is by consensus. Being passionate is an asset, but on the negative side can turn to internal jealousy or competitiveness.
Marketing focuses on making the customer feel special so always has a strong emotional appeal. Customer appreciation, and nurturing good relationship with those they serve, is a way of life to them.
Lover customers
With individualism becoming more prevalent in the World, the void to finding true and meaningful relationship keeps getting bigger.
The Lover consumer looks to fill this void in a myriad of ways e.g. by seeking out like-minded people to bond with, or wanting to create the best version of them to attract others. They want to connect with others to fulfil their desire of being wanted.
Lover consumers want to feel special. They want brands that love them and that they can love back. A brand risks losing to a competitor if this consumers need to feel special and wanted isn’t met.
Motto
You only live once
Promise
Pleasure
Strategy
Be funny and playful
Goal
Entertain people, lighten up the World
Desire
Live in the moment with full enjoyment
Talent
Joy
Weakness
Frivolity, being disrespectful
Fear
Being bored or boring others
Jesters Offer
- To give people a fun and enjoyable time
- Allow people to be impulsive or spontaneous
- Satirizing or parodying current thinking
- High-energy, bright, rule bending, humorous imagery
Jester brands in action
Grabbing our attention, the biggest draw of the Jester brand is usually its cleverness. Obvious in the entertainment world, you can also find them expressed in otherwise ‘serious’ markets e.g. insurance, where a Jester brand can really stand out.
Culturally it’s loose and fun loving, where corporate rules don’t apply. They create their own way of doing things, and due to their out-of-the-box thinking, they’re highly innovative in their operations or product offerings.
Marketing can go from the provocative, unconventional, silly to over-the-top but the action is often playful and high-energy.
Jester customers
Jester customers tend to be young or perpetually ‘young at heart’. Turned off by serious topics or people, they tend to flock with those having similar attitudes.
Avoidance of important but seemingly boring tasks means getting their attention can be a challenge. A brand offering playful, humorous advertising over serious, is more likely to attract them.
Marketing must find ways to be relevant and cutting edge in how and what is communicated. It’s about reframing the desired action to be in line with the Jester mindset and attention span – the zanier the better! Creativity and cleverness will be rewarded.
Motto
Everyone is created equal
Promise
Belonging
Strategy
Develop down-to-earth virtues
Goal
To really belong
Desire
A real connection with others
Talent
Empathy, authenticity, lack of pretence
Weakness
Losing oneself in order to fit in
Fear
To be left out or stand out from the crowd
Everyman Offer
- To give people a sense of belonging
- Community building, dignity to all
- Everyday functionality
- Non-pretentious, home-grown, people-orientated imagery
Everyman brands in action
An Everyman brands offering usually has a broad appeal that meets a basic need and nothing fancy or extravagant.
The culture tends to have a ‘family’ feel that’s welcoming and inviting. Downplaying hierarchy, decisions are made democratically or by consensus and team working is common. Nurturing a strong sense of pride, the atmosphere is comfortable and casual.
Marketing is about trust building e.g. money-back guarantees, rather than outlandish claims or shock value tactics. To attract the Everyman customer, brands need to use colloquial language, be relatable, transparent, and really helpful to them.
Everyman customers
Everyman consumers are neighbourly and respectful of others, even when they don’t know (or particularly like!) them very much. Humble, hard working and often frugal, they appreciate the simple things in life.
Focusing on brand experience by being approachable, responsive, and friendly will go a long way in reaching these consumers.
Innovation, whilst important, is less of an issue, these consumers want to feel understood and included. Brands who encourage these consumers to be okay just as they are, and who give the assurance of trustworthiness, reliability, and openness will attract them.
Motto
Love thy neighbour as yourself
Promise
Service
Strategy
Doing things for others
Goal
To help others
Desire
To care for and protect others
Talent
Compassion and generosity
Weakness
Martyrdom, being taken advantage of
Fear
Selfishness and ingratitude
Caregivers Offer
- To support, counsel, provide comfort and kindness to people
- Consistent high quality service and support
- To make a difference in a selfless way
- Heart warming, non-patronising, thoughtful, humanist imagery
Caregiver brands in action
The Caregivers nurturing tendencies can be seen in obvious industries such as healthcare but also in the less obvious e.g. cleaning or gardening services.
A well-functioning Caregiver anticipates consumer needs in advance and goes above and beyond to accommodate them. Exemplary customer service is their hallmark.
They foster a stable, relational culture that’s highly structured or bureaucratic. Healthy when employees are treated well, not so when burnout happens due to the level of sacrifice expected.
Marketing revolves around providing helpful experiences and nurturing relationships. Sentimentality, happy memories, the comforts of home, family and feelings of security, all help their message.
Caregiver customers
Caregiver consumers are constantly trying to achieve balance – caring for kids, ageing parents, or the world at large versus caring for themselves.
Brands that can speak to this struggle as well as recognising their ‘service’ to others will resonate – appreciating the unappreciated often goes under the radar.
These consumers aren’t easily fooled. They search for brands that really show they care, instead of those that say they do. In targeting them, it’s imperative that the brands show authentic action i.e. walk the walk. Products proven to be harmful or exploitative, is this archetypes downfall.
Motto
Power isn’t everything, it’s the only thing
Promise
Control
Strategy
Exercise power, confidence, exclusivity
Goal
To create prosperity and success
Desire
Control
Talent
Responsibility and leadership
Weakness
Being authoritarian, unable to delegate
Fear
Chaos, being overthrown, loss of influence
Rulers Offer
- To empower people to maintain or enhance their power
- To take charge of people, situations or communities
- Order, by managing complex systems, processes, structures
- Classical, traditional, sophisticated imagery
Ruler brands in action
Ruler brands are confident, proficient and best-qualified leaders, whose market power is exerted by offering high-end products or services, and by acquisition, taking over competitors and swallowing up the little guys.
Culturally, ruler brands are highly stable, functional, orderly and with roles clearly defined. They are often incapable of a quick response or nimbleness because decisions go through a chain of command.
Marketing emphasises prestige, control and competence that appeals to the consumers’ desire to feel important, influential, and successful.
Ruler customers
Typically concerned with image, status, or prestige, these consumers like the powerful impressions associated with these brands to influence how others perceive them.
Often accomplished high achievers they don’t like taking orders from others, but do appreciate their country’s laws, traditions and heritage. On one hand, the world should cater to them – no queuing, second-tier status or asking twice, while others that don’t expect special treatment, will at least appreciate it.
To reach them, brands need to make them feel important e.g. through VIP status or exclusive membership, as well as focus on the stability and security they can give them.
Motto
If you can imagine it, it can be done
Promise
Innovation
Strategy
Develop artistic control and skill
Goal
To give form to a vision
Desire
To create things of enduring value
Talent
Creativity and imagination
Weakness
Perfectionist, bad solutions
Fear
Mediocre vision or execution, lost inspiration
Creators Offer
- To help people create things by themselves
- New approaches by seeing World through imaginative lens
- New forms, objects, processes or structures
- Novel, experimental, inspiring imagery
Creator brands in action
Creator brands focus on creativity and self-expression. A natural fit for design or technology brands but also those that dismantle old systems or processes to create something new in its place.
Culturally, whether structure is loose or ordered, it’s always collaborative. Brainstorming, teamwork and employee autonomy are critical. The bottom line is to work on innovation and quality to produce beautiful products of enduring value.
Marketing is often extremely aesthetic, seeming to be works of art in themselves. They differ from the “do-it-all” brands by encouraging user imagination. Their message revolves around inspiring people to think, “I want to do what they can do”.
Creator customers
Intolerant of cheap, mass-produced junk these consumers demonstrate their taste by the things they buy. In other words, they buy not to impress but to express how much they love beautiful, high-quality things.
This doesn’t mean they only buy high-ticket items. They are just at home browsing flea markets looking for bargains to turn into their next project. Activities such as beautifying their surroundings are what these DIY ‘do-ers’ are drawn to.
To reach these buyers marketing that is experimental, novel or inspires them to push boundaries, to create culture and express their own vision, will be attractive.
Our Brand Personality
-
We are: -
We are not: -
-
We are: -
We are not: -
-
We are: -
We are not: -