Brand Strategy

How must you be perceived in order to own your market niche?

Did you know that brands account for more than 30% of the stock market value of companies? But what is a brand, and how do you get a strong one? A BRAND is a complex collection of thoughts, beliefs, and feelings – associations – about a product or service. It is everything your organization represents to stakeholders through what you are, what you do, how you do it, and what that means to them.

A strong brand is authentic to your organization, relevant and valued by your audiences, and in sync with market dynamics and opportunities. When you have a clear idea of your brand, it helps guide all of your customer-facing offerings and communications, as well as your internal operations. It can be guide for decision-making across your organization, eliminating decision cycles and synchronizing efforts, and resulting in better connections and more impact with your audiences.

Ok, so you know what business you want to play in and what your business goals are. A strong brand is the necessary next step, to guide all your operations and communications. But how do you know what that brand should be? How do you articulate it to your team, and communicate it to all stakeholders?

In this session: Investigate what’s authentic to your company, what your customers need and want, and identify market opportunities to determine your optimal brand strategy.

Takeaways: Attendees will develop a unique brand platform, including what you ARE, what you DO, HOW you do it, and what it MEANS. Attendees will also develop a succinct brand positioning statement, showing the unique value that you offer to customers in your market.

This workshop will be taught by Kate Howe, an award-winning designer, and brand and marketing strategist. Previously Head of Graphic Design for the NYC Dept. of Design & Construction, she has over 15 years of experience developing brands and designing multi-channel marketing campaigns, for the corporate, startup, not-profit, and public sectors. Kate Holds an MFA from Yale University, and has been published in the New York Times. Honors include the SEGD Sylvia Harris Public Service Award.