5 Questions to Help You Discover Your Brand
“How do I discover what my brand is?”
This can be a big, scary question for a lot of entrepreneurs and small business owners. You’ve probably read articles or watched videos about how important your brand is and how it can help you stand out in a crowded field of competitors but you might be wondering, “Where do I begin?”
I’m glad you asked.
One of my favorite things to do as a brand strategist is help people, just like you, discover their authentic brand and communicate it effectively to the right audience. But if you’re not quite ready to jump into a full brand strategy process I’ve compiled a handful of questions that you can use to get your feet wet.
1. What’s your origin story?
Like superheroes, every company has an origin story but yours probably doesn’t involve a radioactive spider. However, you did start your business for a reason, and it’s likely a compelling one. This is part of your “why.”
I started Justin Kerr Design because I found myself at a crossroad in my career and felt compelled to answer the question that had been lingering in the back of my head for several years: “What if I worked for myself?” I decided that I didn’t want to leave that question unanswered and wonder what might have happened because I didn’t take the chance to start my own business. In the five years since I don’t have to wonder any more and I’ve experienced the joy of helping others discover their own unique brand.
Maybe your “why” revolves around helping people live better lives through nutrition, or educate them about the ins and outs of estate planning, or help them navigate the sometimes confusing process of adopting a child. Or maybe you simply make the best damned cheeseburger on the planet.
Whatever your “why” is, it’s what propels you out of bed every morning and compels you to talk about your product or service with everyone and anyone who’ll listen.
Your “why” propels you out of bed every morning and compels you to talk about it with everyone and anyone who’ll listen.
2. What’s your mission, vision, and values?
These three elements: mission, vision, and values, lie at the heart of the brand discovery process. As I help clients uncover their why (mission), their destination (vision) and their core non-negotiables (values), they are always amazed at discovering their brand that was there all along but wasn’t formally organized and articulated.
I can’t replicate the full experience in this article but starting to think about your mission, vision, and values will take you further into the journey of discovering your authentic brand. Check out this short video that goes a little deeper into the explanation of mission, vision, and values.
3. Who’s your ideal audience?
You provide a product or service that is absolutely perfect for a particular person or group of people and once they know about you they won’t hesitate to become a loyal customer. But who are they? And where do you find them? I can tell you with great confidence that it’s NOT everyone and it’s not at all times. It’s helpful if you think about what problem your product or service solves and then think about who typically has that problem and when they have it.
For me, it’s entrepreneurs who understand that a brand is important but don’t know how to begin discovering theirs. This usually occurs two or three years into running their business when their marketing efforts are not having the desired effect and they realize that successful companies clearly understand who they are and effectively communicate their value to the right audience.
Your audience is specific people having specific problems who need a specific solution; namely yours. The second question you need to answer is, “where are they hanging out?” In order for your brand message to be effective you need to know where your audience will most likely hear your message. Are they hanging out on Facebook? LinkedIn? Business networking events? Trade shows? Are they listening to podcasts? Watching YouTube? Reading direct-mail postcards?
4. If your company could drive, what kind of car would it drive and why?
This question comes in other flavors, too. If your company were an animal, which animal would it be and why? If it had a celebrity endorsement, which celebrity would it be and why? I can see some of you rolling your eyes at these questions because they seem like some sort of weird Rorschach Test, but these questions help you identify the personality of your company. Yes, your company has a personality because YOU have a personality.
Is the car you chose sporty? Sensible? Adventurous? Exotic? If you want to appeal to the right audience, you have to know your brand personality because like attracts like.
5. Who’s your competition and how are you different?
Coming up with a list of competitors won’t be much harder than a local Google search but you also need to identify the one (or two) things that distinguish you from those competitors. And don’t hang your hat on pricing because there will always be someone willing to undercut you. Besides, do you really want to diminish your perceived value by being the cheapest?
When I started my business, my brand was… non-existent. I know this fact may seem weird for a brand strategist but cobbler’s children have no shoes and all that. Anyway, I looked like every other sheep in the herd and there was no compelling reason to work with me versus the next talented brand strategist or graphic designer. Then I had an experience that convinced me to rebrand myself and merge the pirate side of myself with the designer side, which you can read about here.
You may not be a pirate, but I guarantee that there is something unique about your business that you can highlight and use to distinguish yourself. It could be that you serve a unique audience, or something about your origin story that connects with people at an emotional level. When I work with clients we often discover this uniqueness in their “why” because there are many others who do what you do and how you do it, but rarely is there someone who does it for the exact same reasons.
Feeling better?
Hopefully, these five questions will make discovering your unique brand a little less scary and you can begin the journey. If you’re ready to go deeper and you’d like someone to guide you through this process, let’s talk.