{"id":29294,"date":"2020-08-24T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-24T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/?p=29294"},"modified":"2020-08-21T11:30:10","modified_gmt":"2020-08-21T09:30:10","slug":"building-strong-brand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/building-strong-brand\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Steps to Building a Strong Brand With Matt Daley"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A strong brand is the foundation of any successful business. If you think\u00a0about the\u00a0products or services\u00a0you use on a daily basis,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0likely\u00a0a memorable, trustworthy and compelling brand logo\u00a0will spring to mind.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s difficult to overstate the importance of brand\u00a0strategy in a business context. That\u2019s why we invited <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/matthewdaley\/?originalSubdomain=uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Matt Daley<\/a>, brand consultant and founder of performance marketing agency <a href=\"https:\/\/circulatedigital.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Circulate Digital<\/a>, to talk about how businesses of all shapes and sizes can build effective brands.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His agency, which has offices in both the UK and Spain, works with clients all around the globe and has gained an international reputation for driving significant return-on-investment.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With all that in mind, let\u2019s take a look at what he had to say about\u00a0putting together\u00a0a successful brand strategy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Brand Story\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Matt started off by making the point that, as a society, we\u2019re&nbsp;now&nbsp;more divided and polarised than&nbsp;we have been&nbsp;at any other point in history. We live in a digital world that is defined by conflicting beliefs, opinions and preferences.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a company grows, the infrastructure of its brand changes &#8211; challenges become more common, the brand narrative often shifts and evolves, and consumer perceptions grow more entrenched. That\u2019s why it\u2019s essential for every company to \u201cknow its roots\u201d and ensure that the core story which underpins its brand remains consistent.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Your brand\u2019s story is essentially the \u201cwhy\u201d at the heart of your company<\/strong>. Matt talked about how his vision for Circulate Media was to create an energetic global agency that had an exciting and innovative workplace culture. Once you are clear about\u00a0your\u00a0fundamental \u201cwhy\u201d, you can begin to flesh out the specific values and goals that will make up your broader brand identity.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Brand Values\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You need to be clear about your values from the get-go. Write them down and use them as a tool to inform every aspect of the company decision-making process. Brand values need to become part of your DNA, and your team should live and breathe them every day. Crucially, this means ingraining your values into your recruitment strategy.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Matt described the following core values of Circulate Media:&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Passion<\/strong>\u00a0&#8211; Often passion trumps experience in the recruitment process. Matt said he believes it\u2019s the real driver of performance.\u00a0<\/li><li><strong>Relationships<\/strong>\u00a0&#8211; As a relationship-based business, a high level of customer service is essential.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><li><strong>Knowledge\u00a0<\/strong>&#8211; The ability to share genuine insights (in a world of self-proclaimed experts) while adding value is a crucial component of providing an optimal customer experience.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><li><strong>Failure<\/strong>\u00a0&#8211; Matt has actively worked to build an environment at Circulate Media that harnesses failure rather than denigrates it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><li><strong>No Bullsh*t\u00a0<\/strong>&#8211; The digital marketing space is filled with fluff and bad advice. Matt encourages a no-nonsense, transparent approach to clients and isn\u2019t afraid to tell them when they\u2019re wrong or when things aren\u2019t going as well as expected.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><li><strong>Value<\/strong>\u00a0&#8211; Demonstrating a clear return-on-investment is a key component of Circulate Media\u2019s ethos.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When your values saturate every facet of your company, particularly in regards to your team, you will connect with the right clients and develop a relationship that improves every time you work together.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. Visual Identity (Logo)\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Your visual identity should reflect your values and story. A memorable logo will form a lasting impression on your customers. And when you look at the logos of popular brands, whether McDonald\u2019s, Apple, YouTube\u00a0or any other well-known company, you instantly get a sense of their values.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Memorability is the key word here. <strong>The best logos have an associated icon to ensure people remember it<\/strong>. What\u2019s more, an icon should be recognizable without any additional text. Nike, Reebok and Adidas are all good examples.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Notably, Matt pointed out that the\u00a0number\u00a0of customers a company has is irrelevant. Logo design is about forming a lasting impression with the right group of people, even if your market is relatively small.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/pexels-picjumbocom-196644.jpg\" alt=\"brand identity\" class=\"wp-image-29296\" width=\"769\" height=\"512\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Matt also said that it\u2019s important to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/emotional-design\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pick a colour scheme and font that resonates with your customers<\/a> and potential customers. At Circulate Media, Matt and his team purposely chose a colour palette that communicated luxury, with a view to connecting with high-end clients.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The vital thing to keep in mind is that small details like these will separate you from the majority of your competition, allowing you to connect with clients in a deeper and more lasting way.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. USPs\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Defining multiple unique selling points is essential from a branding perspective. <strong>You should seek to create a value proposition that connects with your target market and is a natural evolution of your broader ethos<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Circulate media, for example, offers the following USPs:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Boutique, highly-personalized service\u00a0<\/li><li>Custom reporting\u00a0<\/li><li>A high level of communication\u00a0<\/li><li>A strong focus on employee mental health\u00a0<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Matt outlined a particularly important point that many businesses overlook. Unique selling propositions shouldn\u2019t be static. Instead, they should evolve as a brand changes. As a company grows, its customer base will likely diversify&nbsp;and existing client needs may shift.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As you build your own brand\u00a0strategy, you should allow for a certain degree of flexibility. This will enable you to modify your USPs as your market shifts.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5. Brand Point of View\u00a0\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Your brand point of view represents the way you are perceived in the context of your broader industry. It encompasses <strong>the specific characteristics you emphasize to position yourself relative to your competitors<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In its messaging, for example, Circulate Digital highlights the fact that it\u2019s a boutique agency with no outside investors and a strong focus on employee mental health.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As with your USPs, your point of view should tie back to your values. In particular, the values that strongly separate you from your competition and create a clear market position in the minds of your customers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">6. Map Your Brand Positioning\u00a0\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once you\u2019re clear about the characteristics that comprise your brand point of view, you should create a positioning map. This will help you clarify how you stand in relation to your competitors. It\u2019s also a useful exercise for determining pricing.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pick two defining\u00a0aspects\u00a0of your product or service &#8211; such as quality and cost &#8211; and map them on a graph. Then list all your competitors depending on where they fall on the spectrum.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>When you have a clear understanding of your market and position therein, you can better understand your cost of sale and tailor your advertising budget<\/strong> and marketing strategy accordingly.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">7. Target Customers\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By this stage, you should have a fairly clear idea of who your ideal customer is. You know their values and you also have an understanding of where they sit on your positioning map. It\u2019s now time to develop a cohesive strategy to target them.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Matt recommends social media&nbsp;platforms like Facebook, Google Ads, and LinkedIn. These tools are unparalleled in terms&nbsp;how specific their&nbsp;targeting features&nbsp;let you be.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Once you establish a steady stream of leads, set up processes to qualify them and deal with crises<\/strong>. Crisis management is required when you end up with a customer that isn\u2019t an ideal fit. And knowing what to do when somebody leaves a bad review or demands their money back will save a lot of headaches further down the line.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">8. Tone of Voice\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finally, Matt spoke about\u00a0tone of voice.\u00a0This is quite a fun part of the process and\u00a0involves understanding how your customers\u00a0communicate.\u00a0For example, clients\u00a0of\u00a0high-end services\u00a0will use very different tone, vocabularly and phrasesto individuals looking for lower-end items. <strong>Once you have a solid understanding of your customers\u2019 tone of voice, you can tweak your messaging<\/strong> and outreach content accordingly.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Considering a Career in Marketing &amp; Communication?\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Brand strategy is an exciting discipline that draws on a range of creative skills. If you\u2019re considering a career in this field, a bachelor&#8217;s or master&#8217;s degree from EU Business School will provide you with the expertise and experience you need to thrive.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/en\/Programs\/programs.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Generic.gif\" alt=\"eu business school cta\" class=\"wp-image-29291\" width=\"951\" height=\"158\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A strong brand is the foundation of any successful business. If you think\u00a0about the\u00a0products or services\u00a0you use on a daily basis,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0likely\u00a0a memorable, trustworthy and compelling brand logo\u00a0will spring to mind.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s difficult to overstate the importance of brand\u00a0strategy in a business context. That\u2019s why we invited Matt Daley, brand consultant and founder of performance marketing agency Circulate Digital, to talk about how businesses of all shapes and sizes can build effective brands.\u00a0\u00a0 His agency, which has offices in both the UK and Spain, works with clients all around the globe and has gained an international reputation for driving significant return-on-investment.&nbsp; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29297,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1771,1777],"tags":[761,953,725,5328],"class_list":["post-29294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-trends","category-eu-business-school-guest-speakers","tag-brand","tag-branding","tag-communication","tag-emotional-design","post--single"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\r\n<title>8 Steps to Building a Strong Brand With Matt Daley | EU Business School<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We invited Matt Daley from Circulate Digital to talk about how businesses of all shapes and sizes can build effective brands.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/building-strong-brand\/\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"EU Business School\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.euruni.edu\\\/blog\\\/building-strong-brand\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"EU Blog\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.euruni.edu\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"EU Community\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.euruni.edu\\\/blog\\\/category\\\/eu-business-school-community\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Guest Speakers\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.euruni.edu\\\/blog\\\/category\\\/eu-business-school-community\\\/eu-business-school-guest-speakers\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"8 Steps to Building a Strong Brand With Matt Daley\"}]}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"8 Steps to Building a Strong Brand With Matt Daley | EU Business School","description":"We invited Matt Daley from Circulate Digital to talk about how businesses of all shapes and sizes can build effective brands.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/building-strong-brand\/","author":"EU Business School","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/building-strong-brand\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"EU Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"EU Community","item":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/category\/eu-business-school-community\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Guest Speakers","item":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/category\/eu-business-school-community\/eu-business-school-guest-speakers\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"8 Steps to Building a Strong Brand With Matt Daley"}]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29294"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29300,"href":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29294\/revisions\/29300"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euruni.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}