Clarity, consistency, relevance and differentiation. How to get the most from your Brand Definition Workshop.
By: Stefano Capacchione
Tags: Branding Strategy, Brand Definition, Branding, Brand Workshop, Brand Strategy

What’s the point of defining your brand?

It’s all in the title. Really, it is! Your brand is how you influence the way people perceive you and your organisation. You can’t control the way they think about you but you can control your actions and your message. We expand on this in our recent articles about brand and reputation but the key to a powerful brand is clarity and consistency. That doesn’t mean that you need to say the same thing over and over again, it means that you need to show the world the same core principles that inspire everything you do. When you get this right, you will stand out and you will be relevant to your audience. They’re the ones that matter, after all.

“Tell us about the day!”

If you insist! A Puck Creations’ Defining Your Brand Workshop is just like any other workshop really, at least any other workshop in which you have loads of fun, are constantly engaged and learn more than you could have ever imagined. There is a lot of work involved too. Mainly for you, we’re here to guide. We’ll set you up with exercises throughout the day that get you thinking about the key areas of your brand and we’ll get you to consider them differently.

“How do you do that?”

Mainly with mind control. OK, if we’re honest, we haven’t learned that yet so we’ve found other ways that are just as effective. Before we meet, we’ll ask you to bring in team members that focus on different areas of the business. Often, the problem with setting up brand guidelines is that it all comes from the marketing team and nobody else has an input. That rarely turns out well. Another problem is that even when the right people do get together, some voices are louder than others. We facilitate the workshop in such a way that everyone gets their say. After each exercise, we all chat and offer feedback before YOU come to a decision. We’ll use your decisions to create a beautiful but more importantly, informative, brand guide.

“What are the key areas of focus in the workshop?”

WHY! Your WHY or purpose as some call it is a focal point of one of our exercises but it’s intertwined with how you do things (your strategy) and what you do (your tactics). We also work on your vision of the future, your core values, who you’re speaking to, how you’re speaking to them and where you sit within your industry. Sounds simple, right? It is, really. You could work on a lot of these areas by yourself but we set up the exercises to function a little differently. We make sure that everybody in the room gets a say, we make sure that each area is properly understood and we make sure that you leave the room (or Zoom in many cases) on the same page as each of your colleagues. Take a look at King Puck’s Wisdom to get a feel for the topics we cover.

“What do we need to do to get the most from the brand definition day?”

Give the day your full attention. It’s really as simple as that. Stay away from your devices if we are doing an in-person workshop and if we’re doing a remote workshop, turn everything off except the video conferencing tool. We’ll have lots of breaks so if you really need to check messages etc. you can do it then. Otherwise, be present, respect the timings and respect everyone in the room. We’ll guide you through everything else.

“What will we get from the day?”

You will receive a brand guide, which we’re sure you’ll love because as they say, it’s what’s inside that counts:

A defined brand, which leads to…

A clear and consistent message, which leads to…

Potential clients who will trust you and be more likely to buy from you.

Your brand guide will there for you to reference and refer back to when you are communicating in any way, both internally and externally. It will also be there for anybody who is communicating on your behalf (such as Puck Creations when we write content for you that makes your audience think, feel and take action) to ensure clarity, consistency, relevance and differentiation.

Are you ready?

We’ll look forward to seeing you soon. If you’re not signed up to a Defining Your Brand Workshop yet or if you need more information, TakeAction@puckcreations.com.