BRAND GURU, ALLY MCILWRAITH

Transcription

1 BRAND DISCOVERY QUESTIONS WITH BRAND GURU, ALLY MCILWRAITH THE BRAND DEVELOPMENT GUIDE FOR ENTREPRENEURS AND LEADERS

2 A STRONG BRAND MEANS CLARITY, ALIGNMENT AND SCALABILITY. It s often when a company or person has an inconsistent, disconnected or confusing brand that we notice the importance. What you choose to communicate? That s brand. The essence of your work? That s brand. The stories and narrative you articulate? That s brand. The values that guide your work? That s brand. The personality and character you or your organization takes on? That s brand. BUILDING A STRONG BRAND IS KEY TO SUCCESS. ALMOST AS IMPORTANT AS KNOWING YOUR BRAND IS BEING ABLE TO SIMPLY COMMUNICATE IT TO YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE. THIS DISCOVERY IS STEP 1. Blog

3 YOU ARE HERE THIS MEANS YOU ARE BUILDING A BRAND, OR MAYBE YOU ARE LOOKING TO ELEVATE YOUR CURRENT BRAND. YOU HAVE COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE. Before we dive in, I want to introduce myself. My name is Ally McIlwraith and I am a Psychology-based Expert Brand Strategist who has spent my career building and breaking down brands for diverse companies. From Chief Marketing Officer to running a brand firm working with all size businesses from start-ups to $40 million dollar large-scale companies, I started to identify what successful and unsuccessful brands look like. My innovation in the space brought me to consulting with entrepreneurs and small businesses at every stage. Blog

4 HOW I WORK WITH CLIENTS Monthly Strategic Brand Conversations $250/90 Minute Session Monthly brand conversations allowing us to scaffold your growth by methodically addressing and developing what your brand needs to be successful. These sessions allow us to take time to find clarity in your vision, on a timeline that aligns with your capacity. Messaging & Communications $1,900.00/Communications Guide Streamlined work developing your external communications to create clarity with your audience and effectively communicate the value that you provide. The end goal is audience advocacy having others be able to easily relay your story. Comprehensive Builds $8,000.00/Brand $10,000.00/Brand with Visual Identity Intensive brand development for high growth companies focusing on a connection to intention and the strength of simplicity. This process puts an emphasis on guiding clients to fully understand their company vision, target market and unique positioning in the marketplace. You take away a tangible comprehensive brand guide with the addition of strategic clarity, clear direction and a deep connection to your company and brand. Blog

5 TO GET THE BEST RESULTS GIVE YOURSELF TIME ONE This process is holistic and thorough, therefore it can feel overwhelming if you don t take your time. These questions were not developed to be thought through and answered quickly. Rome wasn t built in a day and neither will your brand. I suggest breaking these questions up into three sessions. If a question stumps you, come back to it. Everything in here is asked for a reason and it is important that you give thought to each one. TALK, TALK AND TALK SOME MORE TWO One word answers never get you anywhere continue talking and expanding on your thoughts as much as you can. The more you talk, the more energy will flow out of you and the more ideas will come to the surface. You might be surprised when you read through your discovery later on and realize how many interesting concepts you came up with. EVERY QUESTION IS THERE FOR A REASON THREE Some of the questions may seem similar this is purposeful. This discovery was created to really dig deep and when we ask questions in different ways, it triggers the brain differently. When asked a question that sounds similar to something you already answered your first thought might be, I think I already assessed this. I challenge you to try and explore a different angle to describe your ideas. Expand on your initial conclusions as much as you can. ENLIST HELP FOUR Can you go through this independently? Absolutely. Will you get the best results? No. Having someone else take you through the discovery process is a really smart idea. Why? It puts you on the spot. This is a good thing. We want our thoughts to be challenged and we want to be told when we need to expand on an idea or when what we just said needs clarification. Blog

6 LET S GET STARTED.

7 SESSION 1 HISTORY What is the story behind the formation of your work? What have been the significant moments in your life leading you here? WORK Describe the culture you want to provide to clients/customers/stakeholders. How do you deliver value? What are the functional benefits that you deliver to customers? What are the emotional benefits that you deliver to customers? Where do you want your brand to be in one year? Five years? Ten years? BRAND EXPERIENCE What does the client experience look like? What do they need to know before they purchase? What happens when they purchase? How do you engage pre-purchase? How do you engage them post-purchase? What do you want your customers to feel when they engage with you? How do you reward clients who are loyal to you? What are the most common requests or issues that might or will arise for your clients? What are the biggest challenges customers face when buying from you? COMMUNICATING THE BRAND How do you communicate externally? What are some ideas you have to get more involved in the community? What are some ways that you/your company can lead by example, as opposed to doing the same things as other similar brands (i.e. how can we stand out as leaders in )? What do you think your biggest opportunities are in the next one/five/ten years? TARGET AUDIENCE Who are your targets? Why? Describe them. Do you have sub-targets? What is the target audience s age group? Are they mainly male or female? Where do most of your audience live? What is the average household income of your target audience? How do most of your customers find out about your company? How do you plan to communicate with your target audience? What do they need and how can you offer that to them? How do you create value for that targeted audience? Where do they get your information? Blog

8 GREAT WORK. NEXT TIME, SESSION TWO.

9 SESSION 11 WHY Why do you love what you do? Why do you believe what you do is important? Why should people buy from you? What makes you stand out? What are you the most passionate about? BRAND Provide a list of words to describe your brand. Provide a list of adjectives or short phrases to describe your brand s desired look and feel. What are the key values you stand for? Who are your competitors? What is your competitors brand position? What is unique about your brand compared to your competitors? What kind of personality characteristics do you want your brand to have? (Ex. quirky, suave, silly, cheeky, etc.) How do you think/feel that your brand is best communicated to others? What do you want your brand to say? How do you want to be recognized by your audience? How do you think/feel that your brand is best communicated to others? What do you want your brand to say? Name and describe other companies (or people) that encompass a brand identity that you like or are inspired by. What parts of their brand identity are you fond of? Why should your target audience buy from you instead of your competition? PURPOSE What do you feel is the greater purpose to your company/brand? Why? What do you hope to achieve? What do you want your audience to know about your purpose? Why? If you could use one word to describe your purpose, what would it be? Blog

10 YOU RE KILLING IT. LAST ONE, SESSION THREE.

11 SESSION 111 PRICING STRATEGY How is your brand priced compared to the market? How is your brand priced in consideration of your customers? GROWTH STRATEGY How do you plan on scaling the business? How quickly do you want to grow? PRODUCT OFFERING Which product/services do you be offer? What makes your products different? How well does your product/service fit into the current market? What are the existing products/services on the market lacking? Where will the products be sourced from? Is it relevant? CHANNELS How can people buy from you? Are the channels all your own or do you have partner channels? Will you have alternate channels of distribution? SOCIAL IMPACT How do you define community? How will you engage in your community? What corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities will you take and how do they fit with the company mission? What does successful community engagement look like? What do you want people to do or think as a result? Why does this matter to you? Blog

12 YOUR BRAND DISCOVERY IS COMPLETE. NOW WHAT S NEXT? Blog

13 FOR THE ENTREPRENEURS AND THE LEADERS WHO HAVE A BIG VISION FOR THEIR WORK, AND HOW THEY CAN IMPACT THE PEOPLE AND WORLD AROUND THEM. Monthly Strategic Brand Conversations $250/Month Monthly brand conversations allowing us to scaffold your growth by methodically addressing and developing what your brand needs to be successful. These sessions allow us to consciously build, on a timeline that aligns with your capacity. A strategic brand session is for you if: you need help determining what direction to take your brand you are building a brand and don t know where to start your vision needs clarity you need to figure out your uniqueness ALLY S TEAM TO BOOK

14 FOR THOSE WHO ARE SO ROOTED IN THEIR WORK, THEY STRUGGLE TO COMMUNICATE THE HIGH LEVEL OF WHAT IT IS THAT THEY DO AND WHY PEOPLE SHOULD BUY FROM THEM.EM. Messaging & Communications $1,900.00/Communications Guide Streamlined work developing your external communications to create clarity with your audience and effectively communicate the value that you provide. The end goal is audience advocacy having others be able to easily relay your story. A communications guide is for you if: your audiences don t understand what you do you can t articulate your work in a sentence or less your team is growing and you need them to fully understand your uniqueness the company communications is inconsistent from person to person ALLY S TEAM TO CHATAND

15 FOR MEDIUM TO LARGE ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE LOOKING TO SCALE QUICKLY. Comprehensive Builds $8,000.00/Brand $10,000.00/Brand with Visual Identity Intensive brand development for high growth companies focusing on a connection to intention and the strength of simplicity. This process puts an emphasis on guiding clients to fully understand their company vision, target market and unique positioning in the marketplace. You take away a tangible comprehensive brand guide with the addition of strategic clarity, clear direction and a deep connection to your company and brand. ALLY S TEAM TO BOOK

16 BRAND GURU ALLYMCILWRAITH.COM