Brand Messaging: What is it and how does it work?

A brand message informs everything that a brand does, it influences how the brand communicates, who it is to its target market; it influences how the brand treats its customers. In this article, we seek to show you how to easily articulate your brand message.

What Is a Brand?

A brand can be defined as “the intangible sum of a product’s attributes.” David Ogilvy, the “Father of Advertising,”

A brand can also be defined as “a person’s perception of a product, service, experience, or organization.” The Dictionary of Brand

The Secret to a Strong Brand 

A brand needs to have a positive and consistent emotional experience. This enables people to trust and rely on the brand. People always relate to what they consider to be familiar and as such familiarity can be best achieved through a bond of trust between the consumer and the brand. Such trust cannot be forced but will be birthed through perception as well as experience. What will make people choose a brand above competitors is the emotional connection that customers have with the brand. In essence, a brand’s survival relies on that. 

People will connect with your brand based on its attributes: 

• What it stands for: its purpose, vision, mission, values.
• How it communicates: its voice, personality, messaging, etc.
• What the brand’s products, services, and content look like: the logo, colours, fonts, etc

A brand owner may be able to have the final say as to how people perceive their brand if they are consistent in expressing what they stand for, authentically communicate the brand message and offer quality service.

What Is a Brand Strategy?

A brand strategy is a blueprint through which any business gets present itself and what it stands for. 

A brand strategy is comprised of:

Brand Message: The premise of why a brand exists and it serves to do

Brand Positioning: The perception that consumers have about the brand

Brand Visual Identity: The aesthetic feel of a brand (logo, brand colours etc)

Brand Message: What the brand seeks to communicate 

An effective branding strategy helps to ensure that the brand is properly aligned to the business, and can build an emotional connection with the target market. If the business already s a brand, a branding strategy helps by creating an intentional way of bringing together all the needed elements to make the brand a success. It also makes one aware of the message the brand is communicating to the public and whether or not it can build lasting connections with the target market.

While not all brands may have a properly defined branding strategy, they may however have jotted down general ideas about the brand. The following examples help to get on the right track of framing the brand strategy. A strong brand is not built overnight, but it is a consequence of patience and hard work.

What Is Your Brand Message? 

Every brand has been founded on a set of beliefs that steer everything it does. This set of beliefs are the heart of every brand. It is important to properly both identify and define these principles because they are what makes the brand, these principles are what can make or break your brand. 

The brand message is guided by including these four elements 

• Purpose: Why does your brand exist?
• Vision: Where do you see yourself?
• Mission: What does your brand exist to fulfil? 
• Values: What guides your actions?

The elements of a Brand Message are intentionally ordered in a logical hierarchy to guide you from your high-level “why?” to the actionable “how?” This makes articulating each element easier. 

Combined, these elements can guide one to make better decisions in challenging times

They can help to cultivate a strong relationship with customers 

These elements also help to create a healthy company culture as well as a conducive working environment 

All in all, the brand message is an effective tool that will properly align all the business attributes 

What To Know Before Finding The Brand Message

The brand strategy should be aligned to your business strategy, before finding the brand message there should be answers to the following questions : 

• Who is this organization for? And who is the targeted market?
• Who is this organization against? Identify the competitors, do a thorough competitive analysis.
• What role will the business play? Have the gaps in the industry been identified and if so what is the organization bringing to the table?