brand audit white paper

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Brand Clarity Get an accurate view of your organization with a brand audit Ideas that engage, inform and inspire.

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Get an accurate view of your organization with a brand audit

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Page 1: Brand audit white paper

Brand Clarity Get an accurate view of your organization with a brand audit

Ideas that engage, inform and inspire.

Page 2: Brand audit white paper

Just about every company or institution

today claims to have a brand. But what exactly

is a brand?

Simply put, a brand is the expression of an organization’s philosophy, culture, abilities and

goals. Branded communications materials can announce or mumble, inform or confuse, delight

or depress, stimulate or irritate, and make or break a sale. It is therefore important for every

company or organization to plan its branding and marketing communications carefully.

A brand audit is a dynamic discovery process to determine specifically what a brand says. It

involves studying all existing branded communications material produced by an organization.

The analysis is based on comparing the existing communications material against a set of

fundamental ideals and qualities associated with good visual and verbal communications

(e.g., a clear message, a presentation that supports it, etc.). The audit provides a critical

analysis of strengths and weaknesses in the existing communications effort and, at the

same time, identifies opportunities for change. The process can also help garner the

necessary support for implementing change later on.

Another part of the overall strategy in conducting a thorough brand audit is to gather

perceptions from various areas of an organization. The most valuable perceptions usually

come from three sources—internal groups, external groups and user groups.

The premise of engaging in this information-gathering mission is relatively simple. A good image

development campaign and integrated marketing communications effort should be derived

from, and be reflective of, the organization’s self-image and take into consideration how the

company is perceived both internally and externally. This research should define, as succinctly

as possible, what that self-image is and what the perceptions about the organization are.

The goal is to understand the environment in which the brand must perform for the

organization. A thorough brand audit should help develop this understanding.

definition and purpose

Page 3: Brand audit white paper

By studying an organization’s existing

communications, a more complete picture of

the organization’s total identity and image it

projects can be seen.

A brand audit helps defi ne a strategy for improving the entire communications effort.

Furthermore, it articulates strengths and weaknesses of individual projects through an

objective framework and helps provide direction for branding on a broader scale. This

perspective allows an organization to plan a more informed course of action to enhance

its branding and communications effort.

Branding problems and solutions are unique to each company or organization, but the building

blocks of an effective brand and its communications remain virtually unchanged. The brand audit

and subsequent steps help to establish these building blocks by:

- Developing knowledge of what the company or organization is and wants to be

- Monitoring changing values and expectations among audiences

- Setting up goal-directed management of brand communications change

- Providing clear, positive and forceful branding and identity

The audit gives managers of branding and marketing communications more tools to work

with. It provides the opportunity to exercise more control in managing the overall image and

promotion activities of an organization. More control means enhanced quality, a higher level of

consistency, higher brand integrity and, ultimately, greater marketplace preference for a brand.

perceived value and benefits

Page 4: Brand audit white paper

The fi rst step in the process, before beginning an

audit, is to develop a clear understanding of the

organization’s perceived identity.

Certainly it is possible to audit the communications material without this context, but the

evaluation would lack depth. The more information about an organization that can be factored

into the evaluation, the more specifi c the recommendations can be. Most of the information

needed should be easily obtainable.

The following is a list of what’s needed:

1. Perceptions of the organization through the three groups mentioned previously

2. The history and evolution of the company

3. The company’s mission statement

4. The company’s business and marketing plans

5. As much information about the industry as possible, as well as what the

competition is doing branding-wise, including samples of its branded materials

methodology and deliverables

5. As much information about the industry as possible, as well as what the

competition is doing branding-wise, including samples of its branded materials

Page 5: Brand audit white paper

The next step in the process is to gather all

existing communications material produced over

recent years and to categorize it by department,

general nature or purpose. At this point the

evaluation process can begin.

As mentioned before, the analysis is based on the visual and messaging context, and

compares the existing brand communications material against a set of fundamental ideals

and qualities associated with good branding and marketing communications. The following

fundamental elements are referred to as “observable characteristics” which provide the

backdrop for evaluating an organization’s existing communications.

These components are:

1. Suitability—appropriateness and compatibility with the organization’s purpose

and general nature

2. Nomenclature—how you refer to yourself; by name or set of names

3. Dignity—attractiveness, staying power

4. Distinctiveness—uniqueness, memorability

5. Consistency—how everything works as a part of the greater whole

6. Technical quality—in the reproduction of materials, photography and imagery, etc.

7. Clarity of messaging—simple, direct, transparent

8. Versatility—the ability of branding and marketing communications to be

integrated in various media

After the evaluation is complete, a written analysis is produced. The analysis is delivered

with a verbal presentation to the client and includes exhibits of the evaluated items for

easy reference. The report draws on the evaluation and concludes with general and specifi c

recommendations for making improvements, and presents an overall strategy for next steps.

Page 6: Brand audit white paper

One of the most common results of a brand

audit is finding a lack of consistency in the

communications effort. Another is finding

the communication to be out of date with the

current image and direction of the organization.

This is particularly evident if an organization has

grown and evolved rapidly, and/or the people

responsible for the communications effort have

changed over time.

A brand audit is only one piece of the brand discovery process. As mentioned earlier,

gathering perceptions from internal and external audiences is also crucial, as is conducting

desk research to understand the competitive landscape. But a candid assessment of your

branding materials is the first step toward understanding what messaging and image

elements work to your advantage and which don’t, as well as identifying the opportunities that

can lead to a more accurate reflection of who you are (or want to be) in the marketplace.

implications and next steps

Page 7: Brand audit white paper

A branding expert

The Design Channel has extensive expertise in creating insightful positioning and brand

strategy solutions for organizations and companies in a wide range of industries. Visit

www.thedesignchannel.com to learn more about our work.

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Branding and Integrated Marketing Communications

The Design Channel, LLC

5420 Wisconsin Avenue

Chevy Chase, MD 20815

p 301.951.9195

f 301.951.9197

www.thedesignchannel.com