The Brand Strategy Field Guide

Grow your brand with the best, most actionable hub of free branding guides, articles, templates, case studies, exercises, examples, and original research available anywhere.🔥

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Brand Direction Brand Archetypes Key Messages Brand Positioning Jobs to Be Done Tone of Voice Brand Case Studies Original Research Articles

Latest Article

Brand Strategy, Positioning, Strategy

5 Reasons You Should Never, Ever Copy The Positioning Of A Market Leader

It’s easy to look at the success of a market leader in your category and consider “borrowing” some of their approach. But as a smaller, challenger brand this is the last thing you should ever do.

Brand Direction

Brand Direction Resource Guide:

Purpose, Mission, Vision, and Values

How to define the guardrails that keep your brand on track.
Topics Include:

Core Purpose Statement
Vision Statement
Mission Statement
Core Values

Explore The Brand Direction Resource Guide

Brand Direction Articles:

How To Write Brand Core Values That Your Team Remembers And Rallies Around

Whether your brand needs to create Core Values from scratch or give an existing set a refresh, here’s a 3-step exercise to craft a set of values your team can embrace, remember, and rally around.

How To Make Sense (And Use) Of Your Brand’s Core Purpose, Vision, Mission, and Values

Developing strategic statements and summaries for the direction of your brand is an essential process for every business.

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Brand Archetypes

Brand Archetypes Resource Guide:

Brand Archetype Definitions

Give your brand a character that connects with customers.

Topics Include:

The 12 Archetypes
Archetype Characteristics
Archetype Colors
Brand Examples

Explore The Brand Archetypes Resource Guide

Brand Archetypes Articles:

How To Use Brand Archetypes To Create An Authentic Voice That Customers Trust

By thinking of your brand as a character it makes it much easier to communicate in a clear, authentic voice that your customers will engage with and trust.

How To Create Clear, Consistent Content With Brand Archetypes

One of the hardest parts of creating content for a business is developing a consistent style.

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Key Messages

Key Message Resource Guide:

Key Messages

Capture and express the unique value your brand provides to its target customers.

Topics Include:

Key Message Definition
Key Message Exercises
Brand Examples
Key Questions

Explore The Key Message Resource Guide

Key Message Articles:

How To Write Key Messages That Use Your Customer’s Own Words

The ultimate goal for your key messages is to align your brand’s unique value with the needs of your customers. And do it in a way customers can easily understand.

5 Quick Questions To Audit And Upgrade Your Key Marketing Messages

There’s a reason why writing effective marketing messages is so hard. Within the span of a couple short sentences your messages have to summarize the entire essence of what your brand provides.

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Brand Positioning Strategy

Brand Positioning Process and Guide:

Brand Positioning Framework

Discover and communicate your unique, differentiated value.

Topics Include:

3-Step Process
Positioning Exercises
Competitive Differentiation
Brand Positioning Examples

Explore Our Brand Positioning Framework

Brand Positioning Articles:

Competitive Positioning: How To Make Your Brand Stand Out In A Sea Of Sameness

Brands that take a safety-in-numbers approach may avoid the problem of being dismissed by customers, but it’s likely to lead to an even worse outcome — being totally forgettable.

How To Find Your Brand’s Position With A Competitive Landscape Map

The right visual can be a huge asset to quickly convey information about your brand's position.

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Customer Jobs to Be Done

Customer Jobs Resource Guide:

Jobs To Be Done

Align your brand with the motivations and desired outcomes of your customers.

Topics Include:

Definition and Examples
Grading Jobs
Job Story Format
Implementing Jobs

Explore The Customer Jobs Resource Guide

Customer Jobs Articles:

One Simple Truth About How Customers Think That Will Make Your Marketing Stronger

The most dangerous misconception that founders and marketers can have is the belief that anyone, including their most loyal customers, care about their product or service.

The Brand Strategy And Customer Research We Used To Get Our Client 59% More Paid App Conversions

To highlight the immediate benefits of investing in your brand strategy we can look at a recent case study with one of our clients.

See More On Jobs to Be Done →

Brand Tone of Voice

Tone of Voice Resource Guide:

Tone of Voice

Define the emotional qualities that align your communication with your customers.

Topics Include:

Tone of Voice Definition
Brand Tone Exercises
Brand Examples
Key Questions

Explore The Tone of Voice Resource Guide

Tone of Voice Articles:

The Benefits Of Talking To Your Customers Like Real Human Beings

Creating marketing messages robs people of their ability to speak like human beings.

How Your Brand Can Benefit From Having A Sense Of Humor

Humor has the magical ability to ease difficult situations and extract more joy out of good ones.

See More On Tone of Voice →

Branding Case Studies

Branding Case Study Resource Guide:

Well Known Brand Strategy Case Studies

Analysis and insights on popular brands to help shape your own brand strategy.

Topics Include:

Visual Identity
Brand Positioning
Key Messages & Tone
Marketing Content

Explore The Brand Strategy Case Study Resource Guide

Popular Case Studies:

Original Research

Hidden Dangers of the “Pretty Good” Brand

See the impact on growth for businesses with “Pretty Good” brands.

Explore The Research

Ideal marketing message length and content

Marketing Messages Ideal Length & Content

Optimize your headlines, subheadings, and CTAs based on our original research

Explore The Research

More Branding Guides

PESTEL Analysis

The external factors that impact and shape your brand’s ability to grow.

Topics Include:

6 Core Categories
Analysis Exercise
PDF Template
Brand Examples

Explore The PESTEL Resource Guide

Brand Strategy FAQ

Definitions and exercises for the most common brand questions.

Topics Include:

Brand Identity, Name
Brand Personality, Voice
Brand Story
Brand Promise

Explore The Branding FAQ Resource Guide

Brand and Marketing Articles (Explore The Full Blog)

How to Maximize Growth Within the Positioning Hourglass

To maximize growth as your business evolves you may need to speed up, or slow way down through the positioning hourglass.

10 Point Checklist to Clearly Communicate Your Positioning

Use our 10 point diagnostic to ensure your positioning crosses the bridge from strategic-concept to communicated-reality.

Why AI has become a leading cause of positioning blur

If you obscure your brand's value with talk of AI just on its own you’re more likely to blend in than to stand out.

Find out exactly where your brand can win with SmokeLadder

How you can use our app SmokeLadder to analyze your positioning and find places to win in the market.

11 Tips (Plus Graphics) On How To Strengthen Your Brand Positioning Strategy

With a topic as complex and nuanced as your brand positioning strategy we need good visuals to avoid getting lost.

How To Use Brand Positioning (Not AI) To Avoid Becoming Perfectly Average

As best practice trends and generative AI increase the competitive noise, it's critical to differentiate using brand positioning strategy.

Which Key Messaging Strategy Is Right For Your Brand: Value Or Differentiation?

There’s a well discussed idea in branding that key messages should focus on the customer benefits of an offering rather than its features. But like any good rule, there are always exceptions.

How To Write Key Messages That Use Your Customer’s Own Words

The ultimate goal for your key messages is to align your brand’s unique value with the needs of your customers. And do it in a way customers can easily understand.

Branding Research: How To Do It And What Business Leaders Believe About Using It

How to use branding research to gain a deep understanding of your customers and market position.

How To Start Your Demand Generation Marketing Using Brand Positioning

A simple 3 step guide on how to start demand generation marketing by leveraging your brand positioning.

Why Small Brand Changes Can Create Angry Customers (See, Wordle)

How should your brand manage changes to make sure it doesn't cause frustration with customers? The online game Wordle provides a good lesson in that delicate balance.