Why you need a brand audit as we exit the crisis is clear. Wouldn’t you like to protect your brand value and increase your customer retention? The best time to test the health of your brand is now – during the recovery and revival phase. Book your brand audit by calling 01565 632206 or complete our quick contact form.
Brand audits are not a new phenomenon. In fact, a little like a marketing audit, they only tend to be called on when times are tough when in fact, they have more benefit if done regularly. Unlike a financial audit, brand audits are optional but often overlooked.
Here, we explain why you need a brand audit and how it benefits your brand strategy.
What is a brand?
A brand communicates what your business stands for, its purpose and values. A strong brand underpins your value proposition, competitiveness and pricing strategy. Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, once said that “To me, marketing is about values…we have to be really clear on what we want them to know about us.” Your brand, in this case a single image, represents something much more than a phone, computer or tablet.
To help clients remember why a brand is important, we use our brand ABC:
- Attract New Customers
- Build Customer Loyalty
- Create Lasting Advantage
What is a brand audit?
A brand audit helps you identify how well your brand and communication compares to your competitors and how it is perceived by your customers to achieve your brand goals. Furthermore, a brand evaluation gives you a temperature check to see how well aligned you are to customer expectations.
Why is a brand audit necessary?
A brand audit is necessary wherever there is a perceived brand value to a business. Many large firms have brand valuations in the millions or billions of pounds on their corporate balance sheet. Brand value, like shareholder value, must be protected at all costs. In addition, remember that a single poor customer experience can destroy hard-fought brand equity in an instant.
What are the benefits of a brand audit?
A good brand audit framework lets you measure brand effectiveness, maximise your brand positioning and grow or recover brand value. In this ultra-competitive environment, a regular audit of internal and external branding will help you attain any opportunities that are available. Additionally, the strength, value and emotional reaction to your brand are crucial to sustained competitive advantage, maximising long-term profits.
When is a good time to review a brand?
A good time to perform a brand audit follows declining market share, negative publicity, price competition or following large advertising and marketing campaigns. In these turbulent times, it is necessary to check the health of your brand immediately after a crisis, sudden downturn or changes in senior personnel. Moreover, a brand review can help if your brand made it easy for customers to choose an alternative, such as through poor customer experience or declining customer advocacy metrics.
Unfortunately, most businesses only turn to audits when they have to do so. A regular health check can ward off any risks to your brand power and value.
What are the elements of a brand audit?
A brand audit varies significantly between practitioners. Some will merely make a visual assessment of your logo and colour scheme within your brand guidelines. Others will review all of your external materials and channels for consistency and to recommend a refresh.
Our framework audits your brand visibility and reach, researches the response to your brand, measures how you are achieving your brand goals and suggests a brand strategy to achieve your brand goals linked to your marketing goals.
When you combine our brand audit with neuroscience and branding, or neurobranding, you have a very powerful tool on which to base brand decisions and build brand value.
A brand audit and beyond
Think Beyond is a marketing and business consultancy based in Cheshire. We work with clients, both B2C and B2C, across all industries. Using the science of marketing, we support your strategy and goals and measure the results, underpinned by our philosophy of partnership and customer first. Your needs are our priority and your brand is an asset that we can help you cultivate and measure.
To book your brand review or a neurobranding study, call us now on 01565 632206.
Alternatively, we have a simple contact form for you to fill-in and request a call back. Why not find out more about why it pays to hire a marketing and brand expert.
Finally, why not view our customer testimonials to see what it is like to work with us.