The brand platform is the foundation of your business
Do you remember the fairy tale “Three Little Pigs”, in which the elder brother Naf-Naf, unlike his two younger blockheads, built himself a real stone house (instead of a straw and wooden one, as Nif-Nif and Nuf-Nuf did), than he saved his whole pig family from a hungry wolf?
Now imagine that you are building a house for your family. But you understand that you only have enough money to fill the foundation, kick out the box with the roof, insulate it, put windows and doors and carry out communications (light, water, gas).
And everything.
There is no money for the arrangement.
That is, for a comfortable bed, furniture, TV and other benefits.
And you’re like, “Damn. Well, it’s weird to live in an empty box. We need to save on something.”
And then it dawned on you:
Precisely!
The foundation!
It’s not visible. He’s underground.
And to dig a pit, build a pillow, reinforce, pour concrete and then insulate everything — it costs normal money.
I can not do the foundation and then I will properly furnish my house with the money saved.
Admit it, it looks like the height of stupidity. In real life, you will not meet this.
But I see such a picture in 90% of entrepreneurs who contact us at KRAB Marketing Agency.
Few people understand and start building a business with the proper development of the brand platform. Which, in fact, is the foundation for any business.
Give us sales, marketing, funnels. And then we’ll figure it out!
What is a brand platform?
Someone calls it the ideology of the company, or even the constitution, someone calls it the semantic field of the brand. In simple terms, this is a detailed description of the product, its target audience, competitor analysis, creation of core values, mission, unique sales offer and elaboration of all semantic, image and emotional messages.
In practice, the brand platform and its components are a document that contains all this detailed information.
When I dive into a new client’s business, I always analyze competitors.
I have conducted more than a hundred such analyses, and in all niches the same trouble.
The vast majority of companies do not differ from each other at all. Gray mass.
But the consumer somehow needs to make his choice. And naturally, you want this choice to fall in the direction of your company. To do this, you need to stand out. And better yet, it will also be remembered so that every time a client needs to solve his problem, he remembers about your company.
I often hear such an objection: “Well, we have nothing special. The product, the price, the suppliers… everything is like everyone else’s. We are no different from a competitor.”
And this is probably one of the main blocks.
- I can’t reveal my uniqueness, find the meanings and chips that will set me apart from my competitors.
- I can’t.
- I’m just like everyone else.
- I will do what everyone does and hope to get a different result.
The main paradox is that when there is a question about reports and figures, they call an accountant. If there are problems with the law — a lawyer. But when it comes to positioning and strategy, instead of attracting an intelligent marketer, they either throw up their hands and do nothing, or try to complete this task on their own.
Who is developing the brand platform?
I really like entrepreneurs who understand the importance of a brand platform. They know for sure that having worked out all its components in detail, the client will have more confidence in their brand, they will remember it better, they will be advised, they will have a greater margin of safety during any crisis, they will be able to sell more expensive at the expense of their name, and in the end, it will definitely increase their sales.
And practice has shown that their projects are always more successful.
The other extreme, which I periodically encounter, looks something like this:
“Guys, I’m paying you. Do everything yourself.”
This is also a big mistake, because no one except the client knows his business better.
And the best projects are obtained only if we work together.
At the initial stage, we act as a guide. We have a step-by-step system, we have an understanding of what the final result should look like. We ask the right questions, voice hypotheses, direct where necessary, help formulate thoughts and structure ideas.
In such cases, I feel a little like a doctor 🙂
I examine the patient, press on different parts of the body, looking for sore spots.
— Breathe
— Don’t breathe
— Undress 🙂 I’m kidding, it’s not necessary.
The brand platform should be supported by deep analytics
Everyone has heard about the importance of studying their competitors and target audience. Only the lazy infobusinessman hasn’t talked about it yet. (smiley face with eyes up)
But in fact, very few people bother with their detailed study.
And very in vain!
After all, it is possible to decompose competitors into molecules.
Its products, assortment, cost, positioning, features, advantages, disadvantages, USP, distinctive characteristics, non-standard solutions. Analyze their websites and social networks.networks for content, user experience, technical and marketing side. Understand what results they have in digital: traffic volume, behavioral factors of visitors, which traffic sources and channels they use and which work better, what about social networks. networks and many, many other things.
Having such an analysis, you can make very valuable conclusions that will help you rebuild and make your product special and unique.
And then carefully work out your target audience with all their needs, weaknesses, desires and experiences. Find common features, divide into groups and create a detailed portrait of the client (avatar) for each.
What is the result?
Well, first of all, you will understand who your client is, how and in what language to communicate with him, what he wants, what he dreams about. Which means you can give them exactly what they need. With the right formulations, with the right images… Do you think it will affect sales?
Secondly, you will understand where and how to look for your client. This means that you can fine-tune your targeting and advertising campaign.
Now imagine…
90% of customers don’t do all this!
They saw sites, landing pages, funnels, set up ads, pour traffic, etc.
And everyone does it blindly. At random. Based on several hypotheses about your audience and without any positioning.
They build their homes businesses without a foundation!
I am absolutely convinced that even if you sit down and make your brand platform “on your knee”, analyze your business, competitors and audience on all these points, you will get a huge advantage.
Don’t miss this opportunity!
If you want to learn more about how the brand platform is created, an example of tables and questionnaires, or you have questions, write in the comments, I am always happy to help.