Here’s what being a Brand Strategist feels like.
In the beginning.
In the middle.
And at the end.
Brand Strategy.
In the beginning.
I am pitching.
And they are catching.
I pitch in questions.
(Then more questions).
Then I pitch in ideas.
Then brand theory against which to test things.
Then I pitch in challenges.
(I become their very worst client.
And their very strongest competitor).
Then I pitch in even more questions.
Over and over and over.
I pitch in all sorts of things to batter the brain of the business owner.
In the Beginning – I Pitch.
Some things I pitch, they catch.
Some things I pitch, they drop.
(Too slippery).
Until eventually, the client toughens up and catches almost everything I pitch at them.
They start to home-in on what makes them special.
They start to home-in on their essence.
The reason they exist.
The way in which they define how they are the only solution to their client’s problem rises to the top.
The thing around which we should be building the entire brand becomes clear.
And at that point the client is super-lithe.
Confident.
Primed to win.
So we shift position.
In the Middle- I Catch.
In the middle bit.
The client starts to pitch their own ideas back at me.
(They’re more confident now.
They’re thinking more clearly.
Thoughts and notions entering their head are more coherent and aligned).
And now it’s my job to catch.
Some ideas I catch and keep.
They’re perfectly formed.
Some I let go completely.
(Because they’re too emotionally charged.
Or they overcomplicate things.
Or they’re just not relevant.
Or they’re a distraction).
Until eventually.
I am left holding the perfectly formed, simple and ownable shiny new client brand.
Then, we move into the end phase.
Together.
At the End – We Pitch Together.
In the beginning.
I pitched things at the client to see what they caught.
To see what stuck.
In the middle.
They threw things back at me.
Things they thought would be good to build into the new brand.
To see what I caught and kept.
And in the end.
We start to pitch the brand out to the market.
Together.
Simply.
Consistently.
Clearly.
Creatively.
To see what happens.
We bring the brand to life ‘in here’.
Embedding it into the organisation.
And developing the best stories.
Strategies.
Tactics.
Messages and Creative.
So that we maximise the brand ‘out there’ too.
Pitching & Catching.
So there you go.
That’s what it feels like.
To me.
Being a Brand Strategist.
The beginning defined then toughens the client brand up to competitor attacks and customer/client objections.
The middle bit identifies the best and most authentic brand because it is pitched back to me from the client.
And the end bit is where we pitch, test and hone the new brand out in the market – together.
Perfect.
