Today we will talk about a brand book — a tool that will help you build consistent communication with clients and achieve business goals. Many people think that a brand book is a presentation with a description of the logo and corporate colors. But this is a misconception, because a real brand book includes much more.

A brand book is a communication document that explains how we interact with the audience and why we do it. What marketing task does a brand book solve? It describes what narrative we use to increase sales and how we will generate income from our target audience through the stories and messages we create.

Stages of brand book optimization development

Brand book development consists of two parts. The first is the development part, which explains the logic of brand book development. The second is a brand book ready for use in daily work.

On the market, the client is usually provided with only the development part of the brand book (and often incomplete), but to achieve maximum results, it is necessary to use both parts. This helps the business build a communication system and consistent brand implementation on the market.

The logic of creating a strong brand

What should be in the development part?

When you are presented with a brand book project, it reveals the logic by which the agency strategists or your internal team came to the result - the brand platform. The following brand design tools are used in the development part of the brand book:

task matrix (business, marketing, communication);

analysis of communication and brand attributes of competitors;

market communication map;

pop/pod (attributes of equality with competitors and attributes of differences from them);

analysis of your audience/audiences;

brand advantage ladder;

4C-square;

brand platform.

Selecting the target audience

The core target audience is the group of consumers that brings the company the most profit and that is the primary focus of marketing efforts. Selecting the core is a stage that is completed before starting to develop a brand book. Since it is the needs and preferences of this target audience that will guide the brand positioning and communication strategy.

To select the core target audience, we rely on data, not intuition. We conduct research to assess the size of each potential audience, its needs and purchasing power. We find out what problems and tasks they are trying to solve with the help of our clients' products or services, and how much they are willing to spend (both money and time). In our work, we use qualitative and quantitative research.

After collecting the information, we analyze the data, paying attention to the following indicators - customer needs (and how much they are willing to pay to satisfy them), as well as product capabilities (to what extent it can satisfy needs and in what way). The choice of target audience is based on the coincidence of its needs with the capabilities of the product.

Selecting the core audience is not a beauty contest. We do not recommend choosing an audience whose needs your product cannot satisfy at the moment. The task of business is to choose the audience that brings in the most income here and now. The one with whom you can effectively interact today. In other words, do not offer a cheap, low-quality solution to a sophisticated and wealthy buyer - he will not buy, no matter how hard you try and how much advertising you place. If you make the wrong choice of your own audience, all marketing efforts will be useless.

It is important to remember that the audience can change over time. Work on the product and its improvement never stops, so over time there will be opportunities to attract other audiences. And to take the largest share of the market.

Task matrix

The first tool is a task matrix. This is a decomposition tool from business goals to communication goals. The task matrix specifies the company's sources of income - the target audience/audiences, marketing and communication goals. Decomposition of goals helps to clearly see the future work plan in solving business problems, namely, how marketing and communication will bring money to the business.

Analysis of competitors

The second development tool is competitor analysis.

During competitor analysis, we focus on their communication. This is fundamentally important, since this is not a market analysis that studies who earns how much, what prices they set and what products they offer. We look at positioning, consumer benefits, slogans, brand attributes and emotional benefits, paying attention to how companies communicate with customers. And then we create a competitor map to understand who is in what position on the market.

The third tool is the brand benefit ladder

The Brand Benefit Ladder is a tool for building a hierarchy of brand messages. It organizes the message building system, makes it logical and consistent. And also aimed at solving the tasks set by the business.

The first level of the ladder is product attributes or product characteristics. For example, the attribute of Parmesan cheese is the length of its aging.

The second level is product advantages. It reveals what benefit the product brings due to its attribute/attributes. For example, the long aging of Parmesan gives the cheese a rich, interesting taste.

The third level is consumer advantages or the answer to the question "What does the product advantage give to the consumer?". For example, if we are talking about the same cheese that is aged for a certain number of days, then at this level of advantages the consumer gets the opportunity to diversify his diet and satisfy gourmet demand, treat himself to something really interesting.

The last step is the emotional advantage. This is what the client, your consumer, feels from interacting with your brand. For example, a consumer who buys a particular brand of aged cheese feels that he or she can fulfill his or her potential in the kitchen or in the foodie community.

The brand benefit ladder is not just a list of product attributes and characteristics written down in a table. It is important to create a logical structure where each element smoothly flows into the next, forming a relationship. For example, a group of attributes or a specific attribute leads to a certain product advantage. This product advantage, in turn, becomes a consumer advantage, and the consumer advantage becomes an emotional one.

The consumer has two groups of needs: rational and emotional.

1

Rational needs are those that bring benefits at the functional level. A kettle should heat water.

2

Emotional needs, in turn, are connected with feelings. A kettle should not only heat water, but also satisfy the idea of aesthetics and beauty.

Thus, any product and brand works to satisfy both rational and emotional needs.

However, some brands prefer to focus their efforts only on satisfying rational needs, without touching the emotional sphere. This is not the best approach, because such behavior cuts off opportunities for businesses to get closer to their customers.

Brand platforms: which approach to choose

There are several types of brand platforms:

brand key;

brand pyramid;

brand prism;

golden circle and others.

The same brand can be described by several types of platforms, depending on your needs. There are no “right” and “wrong” templates: everything should correspond to the business tasks that you set for yourself.

For example, if you are an Arab company that trades only in the Middle East, then the “Brand Pyramid” is the best template for describing your brand platform, since you work in the local market and are close to your consumer.

If you work for the whole world, then the “Brand Prism” would be the best choice. This template is not as detailed as the “Brand Pyramid” and helps not to get bogged down in unnecessary details in global advertising campaigns.

Development part of the brand book

The brand book development project is a logical, consistent document that we refer to in case of changes in business goals.

In 2024, a business has one goal, in 2026 it will change. And, having the development part of the brand book at hand, all that remains is to go through its logic to make the necessary changes and update the data. Thus, the brand gains the ability to adapt and make consistent changes.

For example, in POP/POD, the attribute of business differentiation in 2024 is customer service or unique packaging. But in a year or two, competitors could copy this advantage. And this is no longer just differentiation, it has become the norm in this category. Therefore, we are moving this advantage to the point of parity (POP) and looking for new ways to distinguish ourselves from competitors in the changed conditions.

Why is this important? Many people believe that a brand platform is formed once and remains unchanged until a decision is made to radically rebrand. But this is not true. If you do not want to make a revolution of changes to your brand every year or two, we recommend updating your brand book every year, for example, every January. Open the brand book and see what can be improved, changed or updated to achieve new business goals and ensure the adaptability of the business and brand to external changes.

Instructions for using the Brand Book

Brand authenticity is the meanings it conveys to the audience. Social networks help convey meanings, attract users with certain values, and create an emotional connection with them. The brand's behavior on the market, its content, its products, and its messages should be focused on the people closest to the brand - its target audience.

If you have a task matrix, competitor analysis, brand advantage ladder, 4C model, brand platform, etc., a logical question arises: "What to do with it next?".

The answer to this question is the second part of the brand book. This is the document that marketers work with on a daily basis. It contains:

— Who are we and what do we do? A brief description of how our company/brand differs from others and what benefits we offer to customers.

— Our benefits. This describes the functional and emotional benefits of the product. Functional benefits are the philosophy of your product, and emotional benefits are the philosophy of your brand. It is advisable not to simply list the benefits, but to describe their connections with the products, so that it is obvious which benefits should be promoted in advertising.

— Our competitors. This lists the main competitors in your category, preferably indicating their strengths and weaknesses. And competitors who are not your direct competitors, but have a value and cultural influence on your audience.

— Audience. In this section, in addition to social and demographic data and percentages, you can write down the answers to the questions: “Who are these people?”, “What kind of lifestyle do they lead and what motivates them?”, “What are they interested in?”, “Why is this important to them?”. Our values, mission and outlook on life. Here, the brand’s values and principles are expressed, which determine its activities and form its identity.

— Insights. Here, insights are described that help to better understand the brand’s activities and implement them better.

— Communication strategy. This is a concept of how the brand’s values and philosophy are manifested in the communication process. It is a communication platform that provides an answer to the eternal question of all marketers and creatives: “What should we do with this brand book?”:

Consumer experience — a description of what experience the consumer gets from interacting with the product;

Brand experience — what impressions the brand creates, in addition to the product, how people feel from contact with the brand and how the brand provides this contact (through service, communication, etc.);

Creative — a description of how the communication strategy is implemented through creative communication.

Such a brand book is, in essence, a clear instruction on how exactly to work with a brand. How to implement and develop a brand in order to improve the consumer experience and attract money to the business.

How to work with such instructions? As with any other: read and follow the instructions. By the way, creative and advertising agencies prefer to work with this version of the brand book.

For branding to work, it is necessary to develop a full-fledged brand book, including the logic of its creation and clear instructions for use, use it in all communications and regularly update it, adapting it to changes in business and the market. This is the only way to create strong brands that achieve success, namely, attract more and more customers to your business.