The six legged spider is a great brand creation tool, it might seem a strange name for it, but as with any kind of branding, it’s good for brand recognition, being easy to remember.
Do this exercise on as big a piece of paper as possible.
Desired positioning – is about how you want your brand to be perceived relative to other brands in the mind of your customer i.e. cheap, expensive, efficient, fast, ethical, professional, premium, bespoke, reliable, locally sources, bespoke, innovative, stylish, trusted, reliable.
Style – is more concerned with how your brand will interact with your customers. Style is how it does it rather than what it does. i.e. Friendly approachable, inspirational, quirky, cool, trendy, approachable, academic, charming, helpful, reserved, academic.
Mission – not typical mission statements. This is the place for big statements, the big thought, the meaning beyond the money. i.e. the world to be more colourful, people to dress better, neighbourhood to be more colourful.
Vision of the future – don’t mix up with mission. Vision means how you see things developing in the future 6 months, 1 year 5 years. What brand will look like in the future. Focus on desired future. If brand ambitions don’t resonate with your inner self, it will save you wasting time chasing down false goals. i.e.
- geography where will you be,
- employees how many,
- reputation,
- competition and peers
Values – Brand values are the essence of your brand. The core of what drives you and how you act. They are behind everything you say and do. They act like a compass, guiding your every action.
Next distill the DNA of your brand from the six legged spider.
The magic circle
This is a hard part. A successful conclusion is when you look at it and say “yes that’s the good stuff”
Ask 4 questions
- Is it true or achievable? Or is it wishful thinking. Future truths
- Is it interesting to the customer? Will they care?
- is it commercially relevant? Is likely to make a buying decision?
- is it differentiating? It must make you different from competition. Not just material different but how you tell your story. More engaging, and compelling
It must pass all these questions to get into the magic circle. Those that do make it into the magic circle are the ones you will use going forward.
Branding 101
- Branding 101: start here
- Assessing your brand
- Finding brands authentic purpose
- Brand strategy
- Brand purpose, vision and mission
- Branding: talent
- Brand values
- Differentiating your brand
- Focusing on your ideal customers
- Developing brand – six legged spider
- Brand positioning
- Brand story
- Brand name
- Crafting the Internal brand positioning statement
- Shaping the external brand positioning line