Brand Strategy Checklist 3: The soul of consumer branding

September 4, 2019 | a toolkit by David Lemley

Brand strategy is a bit like faith — you can use it to believe in something and you can use it to call in the desires of your heart or, conversely, your worst fears.

Segments one and two of our Brand Strategy checklist discuss both the external forces shaping your brand and the ways the psychology of your leadership team impact brand strategy. Today, in the third and final segment of our checklist, we will discuss the spiritual aspect or soul of your brand.

Today’s could also be titled, “12 questions to give your purpose-driven brand a real purpose while maintaining a defensible market position” (but that felt too long). We will look at your brand promise vs. mission statement and study the crucial aspects of your brand’s pillars as well as show you how archetypes directly plug into brand strategy.

In order for brand strategy to become a powerful driving force for your organization, you need to understand why you and your team are here beyond making a profit. Retail Voodoo believes and navigates strategy through the maxim that “reality exists in language.”

So if your brand and leadership are speaking, but are unable to articulate the what, how, and why of your strategy, does it really exist?

Brand Promise

What is it?

A brand promise is externally focused. It is crafted to hold your company accountable for delivering a consistent customer experience.

The Retail Voodoo Way:

We believe your brand promise needs to be a powerful, clarifying narrative for the world. One that moves from the realm of goods and services and into that of purpose. Purpose as brand promise goes beyond a profit-driven transaction and strives for deeper, emotive connections that encourage people to have a relationship with your brand. Today both consumers and employees want brands to be purpose-driven as our world evolves from an experience economy toward a purpose economy.

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David Lemley

David was two decades into a design career with a wall full of shiny awards and a portfolio of clients including Nordstrom, Starbucks, Nintendo, and REI. His rocket trajectory veered when his oldest child faced a health challenge of indeterminate origin. Hundreds of research hours later, David identified food allergy as the issue and convinced skeptical medical professionals caring for his child. Since that experience, David and Retail Voodoo have been on a mission to create a cleaner, healthier, more sustainable food system for all.

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