Building a recognisable and loved brand is a voyage that comes with its obstacles and opportunities, and these exact ups and downs are what will help you shape your brand during its journey.

I love using the planet analogy in my presentations, it allows me to show my clients how a brand is built, simply and swiftly. So, as we were saying…brands are like planets, they have a hidden energy core and they are reinforced by two outer layers. Now…mother nature created these planets with a definite plan in mind, she didn’t act blindly and just the same should apply with creating your own brand. In a few words, it works from the inside out, hence the core and the layers!

The Inner Core becomes your WHY; what we like to refer to as the Brand Strategy:

· Positioning
· Brand direction
· Mission
· User persona
· Awareness plan
· Road map

And just like that (well, just a tad more complicated than “just like that”) you have your brand’s core and all the foundations you need to move on to the next step. At this point — and relevant in all its sense — I can’t help but think of Simon Sinek’s video “Start with why”; a great starting point to figuring out your WHY or The Golden Circle as he likes to call it. (check out the video here)

The Outer Core then becomes your HOW; aka Creative Planning:

· Creative briefs
· Content Strategy
· UX planning
· Marketing Strategy
· Sales funnel
· Awareness Strategy

Once your WHY is clear and we have an exact idea of where you would like to take your brand, the natural flow of the planning process leads us to HOW to get there. Every brand is unique and with it comes a unique journey — kind of like a map if you wish — that helps us reach our business goals. This step is fundamental to defining your brand budget ROI and making the switch from spending money to investing money or how I like to put it…from shooting in the dark to precisely aiming at the target.

And last — but unquestionably — not least, we start working on The Crust which will become your WHAT; in other words, the Creative Deliverables:

· Logos
· Identity
· Brand deliverables
· Website
· Any other tangible deliverable

Right. This is where things get juicy, reason being why most creatives and business owners want to start from here, dismissing the fact that design without strategy is simply just vanity. The hardest part of any brand journey is hands down the planning. Having said that, if the planning (WHY+HOW) is done right, the deliverables all just fall into place like a piece of cake — needless to say the most joyous feeling for both the creative and finance team.

I guess by now you’ve figured out why I love using this analogy. It’s simple and simple is what branding is all about; once you have your WHY, HOW and WHAT figured out.

Make no mistake, your brand is your company’s most valuable asset!