Know-How Exchange : Branding

Laura,

Have done some of this with clients in the past... and why I agree with Phil that the what your brand ultimately ends up "meaning" to customers lies with them, not with you, you still have some front-end work to do.

I'm curious to know how it's already been determined you need three subbrands... typically, that is a question answered by a workshop like this. Usually starts with "We know our current brand structure isn't working, help us?" and we cover some things like:

What does the company look like now?
> What do you sell
> Who do you sell it to?
> Where do they live?
> Through what channels do you sell (reps, retail, wholesale, catalog/direct, etc.)?
> How do you currently promote/market/engage?
> How do customers see your brand? What promises do you make, and how do you deliver? What do they trust you for?
> Where does your profit come from? (what products/services/sales are generating the most profit today?)

What WILL or SHOULD your company look like in three years?
> same set of questions, but with a future focus... sometimes it's hard to get a group of people to really explore this, especially if the CEO is in the room. No one wants to be wrong. Visit with him/her in advance and make sure everyone knows its "safe" to brainstorm a bit if these questions haven't been answered already by a strategic plan.

What is the distance, brand-wise from where you are to where you want to be? What subbrands you need should be the answer to the question of what you need to promise over the next three years. What they look like, feel like, where/how you promote them is determined by who your desired customers will be (not by who they are today.)

It can be an involved process, and will require good facilitation skills, some kind of visual mapping/graphing as you go through, and a group willing to really think about things. If the big decisions (how many brands, representing what promises, being marketed to what target markets) have already been made.... what you need is a communication strategy session, not a marketing/branding one.

Best,
--
Mandy

I do these seminars and workshops for companies and corporations, as well as not for profit org., and one thing is for sure: this is not a 3 hour topic.
It is a project, it takes time and investment, and most of all 100% commitment on the part of the CEO.
If you don't have that, you'll get no more than a nice conversation.
I'll be happy to talk to you off the forum about it if you wish.
Best of luck.