Brand strategy is more important than you think

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INTRODUCTION

Do you think that brand strategy is just about creating clever ads or messaging? Or do you think brand strategy is simply there to serve a business strategy? Well today is going to be a punchy one. Why? Well, today I am going to show you why everything you might have been told about brand strategy is wrong. I am going to show you why brand strategy, if done properly, can be the most powerful tool a business has. Don’t believe me? Well, let's reveal why it is by unpacking the strategy behind Dove. Let’s look beyond the award-winning creative advertising and learn a masterclass in transformative brand strategy.

#1 WHICH CATEGORY?

Dove launched in 1957 as a humble bar of soap. Over the coming decades, it rapidly expanded into new markets & product verticals  (ie shampoo, conditioner, face creams). This expansion was so successful that by 2001 the Dove brand was radically different from where it first began. It had gone from single market to multi-market. It had gone from one product to a range of products. And the humble soap bar, where it all began, now represented less than half of its total sales. So radical were these shifts that it prompted the brand team to sit back & take stock. It prompted the brand team to ask one very important question…what category should our business really be in?

After deep category analysis and sizing the opportunity head, they identified a far more commercially lucrative way forward. They realized they could reposition Dove from a soap brand to a beauty brand. And if they could achieve this, there was a far greater commercial opportunity ahead. An opportunity that would allow them to better sell their expanded portfolio. An opportunity that would also allow them to sell to a category with 10x the commercial value. 

There is an important lesson here for any brand. Your brand strategy is about far more than clever ads. Brand strategy, if done properly, will change the entire direction of travel for your business. Many great brands already get this. Liquid Death, for example, looks to compete in the far bigger alcohol & energy drink category, rather than the bottled water category. Airbnb positions itself as a better alternative to hotels that enables you to ‘Belong Anywhere’ rather than compete in the relatively smaller, vacation rental company category.    

Yet when it came to Dove, how did they actually position their business within the beauty category? Let me explain how below.

#2 SHAPE CULTURE

The beauty category of 2001 was radically different from the one we know today. It was a category that was obsessed with ‘perfect beauty’ rather than realistic beauty. An obsession that was having a devastating effect on women’s self-esteem.

Thankfully Dove positioned themself as an antidote to this all too often toxic category. They positioned their business & brand as a force for good in the world. A brand that would champion a more realistic & healthier version of beauty. A brand whose purpose would be to ‘Champion beauty without artifice’ with the ultimate mission of helping ‘women feel more beautiful every day’.

Dove’s brand strategy is incredibly smart for a few reasons. First, it achieves fame by tapping into a cultural tension & actively seeking to make things better. Second, it stands out in a category that is too often obsessed with perfection. Third, it speaks to a truth consumers actively want. And fourth it speaks to a truth about the Dove brand, that they have a range of products that are suitable for women of all shapes & sizes. 

So the second lesson for today is that no matter whether you are a scaleup or bigger brand, the ultimate prize would be to develop a brand strategy that actively seeks to shape culture for the better. However, I must offer a fair warning here. Far too many brands attempt to do this but fail miserably. Why? Well, their brand strategy fails to properly guide their business in the right direction. It fails to guide the business toward making the decisions necessary to back up the ambition of the new brand.

You see the most powerful brand strategies should guide every facet of your business. If they can properly do this they have the potential to thrive. If they fail to do this they will likely fail. Let me explain more about this below.

#3 BRAND-LED BUSINESS 

I came across an interesting article the other day by a fellow strategist whom I greatly admire. His article made a useful distinction between the three ‘rungs’ of strategy. Let me give a brief overview of his definitions below: 

• Business strategy; the overall direction of the business.

• Brand strategy;  how your business strategy is ‘presented’ to the world.

• Communications strategy; how your brand strategy is communicated.

Said strategist also goes on to argue that the process generally goes from top to bottom. The direction of a business is defined first, a brand strategy then ‘presents the business’ to the world & then finally all of this is communicated via communications strategy. Well here’s the wonderful thing about strategy…disagreement is common &  healthy. So let me explain why I don’t agree with this hierarchy by using Dove as an example. 

Dove’s brand strategy “Champion beauty without artifice” was indeed born out of some business decisions (how they went from soap to a broader range). However, it was their brand strategy that ended up guiding the mid & long-term direction of the business. Let me explain below:

• It was Dove’s brand strategy that identified the more lucrative beauty category to expand into. 

• It was Dove’s brand mission of making “women feel more beautiful every day” that saw them develop products & initiatives which serviced said mission.

• They created products that could be used by women of all shapes, ages & skin types.

• They created initiatives such as the ‘Real Beauty Pledge’ to help promote a more positive portrayal of beauty in the world. 

• They also created communications that championed real beauty.

So as we can see from the above it was Dove’s brand strategy that actually guided their business & communications strategy. And being a ‘brand-led business’ in its strategic approach empowered Dove to sidestep the category by being more creative in their commercial & communications decisions. You see as a business they could have kept selling to the soap category or defaulted to behaving the same as every other beauty brand…but they didn’t. Why? Because they were led by a creatively minded brand strategy.

Dove is not the only brand to adopt this ‘brand first’ approach to strategy either. In fact the two brands mentioned by said strategist, ironically, are also brand first in their strategic approach. Red Bull’s brand strategy of ‘giving you wings’ has seen them pivot from an energy drink business to a media business that inspires people to be more daring. Apple’s brand strategy ‘creativity through technology’ saw them pivot from a business that makes computers to a creatively led business that went on to develop iPods, iPads, Music & more recently TV series.

Of all the lessons mentioned today, this third one I feel is the most important. Why? Well in a world where most businesses increasingly lack creative thinking. A world where too many businesses are led by short-term ‘business strategy’ decisions focused on cost rather than value. And in a world where those brands that do adopt a more creatively led brand strategy tend to win…then surely brand strategy has never been more important or valuable.

That is why we are launching STRATLABS™ in January 2024. A school & toolkit that helps businesses of all shapes & sizes apply the full creative power of brand strategy. So whether you are a founder who wishes to unlock exponential growth for their company or a freelancer wanting to win more clients, by using a better brand strategy, STRATLABS™ is perfect for you. What makes it different? Well, three things:

• We give you all the strategic frameworks you desire but also a unique toolkit we have developed. A toolkit that helps you develop world-beating brand strategy, faster. A toolkit we developed working with the world’s most creatively awarded agencies & famous brands.

• The STRATLABS™ cohort is taught by a team of award-winning brand strategists who have won over 100 awards and have over thirty years of experience.

• Unlike other courses, we offer bi-weekly live office hours where you can share your work, receive feedback and get proper mentorship.

We recently updated our website and would love to get your feedback on STRATLABS™ on what you think. There is almost a limited-time 10% discount if you reserve an early bird spot for January 2024 right now.

Check out STRATLABS here.

I genuinely would love any feedback. So please take one second to reply to this email and let me know what you think.

CONCLUSION

Thanks for reading this week’s newsletter. Bit of a longer one this week but I hope you found the topic useful. To summarise the two most important lessons are:

• Brand strategy can (if done properly) guide everything a business does, from product to category entry points.

• Brand strategy can (if done properly) have a net positive impact on culture.

Will Poskett
Co-Founder  Defiant

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