Using Research in Branding
All good work begins with thoughtful research.Understanding a clients needs, preferences, and market is essential to developing a strong brand. It’s impossible to effectively define a brand unless you go through a process of investigating the information that will yield the kind of answers that you need. It is essential to grasp the understanding of your brand in the mind of all stakeholders. The ability to gather valuable research and draw relevant insights and interpretations from it will be the underpinning power behind your future identity. It also is the driving factor behind decision making and progress. It provides the foundation from which all else is judged and built. Therefore an effective research methodology starts with a series of questions that need to be answered. We have a programme of research developed to answer them.
Define The Problem
It is essential that the first thing that you do at the outset of a project is to define a clear statement of intent. What exactly is it that you are looking to achieve with this specific branding project. It is the first step in outlining the perimeters for how you take things forward from here. It should be no longer than a page long, preferably shorter, and be completely visionary.
From that statement you define for yourself specific goals that will enable you to answer the questions that you have presented yourself with. This will allow you to then build a research methodology that will look to answer the questions and hypothesis that you have posed. Note that you might need to do research prior to these goals and visions being defined. But the end goal is to have the statement and the project plan signed of by the client before work commences.
This is where you take the goals and vision of the project and break it down into questions that you go about answering. You do this initially through a literature review, and try to formulate a research methodology as soon as possible.
Part 1: Literature Review
A good literature review will cover a wider range of media and literature:
• Documents
• Publications
• Presentations
• Audio
• Websites
• Articles
• Books
• Corporate Communications
Part 2: Understanding The Business
At this stage you do all that you can to understand the brand that you are working with. What is its history, who are its Stakeholders, past and present. Do an audit of all the brand’s previous and current communications, both copy and visual messaging. Interview as many people in the company as possible. Look under every stone for information that will reveal key insights to how to take the brand forward. Use as much primary research as possible.
Part 3: Understanding the Market
It is essential to know how to position yourself in this process. Here you understand the market as well as your clients position within it. Research subjects that are essential are a clear definition of the market, a competitor review, which looks at other brands looks and feel, and messaging strategy. Try to unlock their brand essence and position your brand in relation to them to gain the competitive advantage.
Part 4: Consumer Research
This is where you try and discover a consumers buying motivation. What is the brand in the mind of the consumer, and how should you position the brand respectively. There is a wealth of research methods that you can use to extract this information. Interview, focus groups, ethnography, video diaries etc.
Part 5: Analysis of Data and Insights
This is where all the research is considered and insights are drawn under the above categories. This will be looked at in light of the vision and goals of the company so we can see what should stay and what should remain.
Part 6: Conclusion
This is where conclusions are reached and presented.
