What is Brand Clarity and why it is important

Clarity is essential in the running of a resilient business, especially in times of uncertainty. However, many businesses find branding confusing and shy away from it.  

Acacia's methodology enables you to efficiently build a revenue-generating brand using a simple and crystal-clear framework.

Brand Clarity is the first of the four pillars of Acacia’s brand-building methodology, which need to be completed in the following order:

1. Brand Clarity: aligning your brand strategy with your business goals.
2. Brand Positioning: defining your most profitable market positioning.
3. Brand Visibility: giving your business a striking and memorable image.
4. Brand Reach: growing your audience to become a leader in your field.​

​Why brand clarity is key to standing out in 2021?

The 2020 Covid-19 pandemic has turned the world upside down, often forcing many businesses to reinvent themselves to adapt to a rapidly-changing world.

One of the effects of the pandemic was to accelerate changes which were already underway, such as the digital transformation of entire sectors of the economy. 

Being digital-first has now become even more timely for mid-size professional services firms. In 2019, many businesses relied mainly on meeting face-to-face with potential clients to win contracts, whereas in 2020, most business conversations and deals take place online. 

In this context, how your firm is perceived and communicates online has a direct impact on the bottom line. The professional services firms most likely to survive and thrive in the coming years are those able to adapt and pivot quickly to these new online realities. In other words, you need clarity.

Brand Clarity involves:

• Knowing how to use branding as part of your business growth strategy.
• Auditing your current brand and seeing what is currently holding you back.
• Undertaking a competitors analysis and identifying how to achieve a leading positioning.
• Creating a brand strategy which aligns with your business objectives​.

Clarity for your brand is necessary, especially at this time.

​Why invest in branding in 2021? Because you can't afford invisibility

Branding is one of the soundest investments a business can make – especially if you need to pivot and reinvent your business to adapt to a rapidly changing market.

Through our Brand Clarity phase, we will demystify the branding process by making it straightforward and jargon-free. But first we need to clarify why branding pays for itself easily if you are a firm focused on becoming a leader in your field.

When you see branding as an investment rather than a cost, the benefits of investing in building a strong brand are obvious. Here are three of the main ones.

Reduce your marketing spent while getting better results from each campaign

Every year millions are wasted on fruitless marketing activities, especially in the professional services sector. Many firms simply try the latest marketing trend without realising what they’re doing wrong. They often fail to see that their marketing is inconsistent, unclear or simply focused on the wrong audience.

When you have a cohesive and well-articulated brand, you increase the efficiency and effectiveness of all your marketing initiatives. You’ll get more qualified leads from each campaign while spending less.​

Attract and retain high-value clients

When you have a strong brand, clients know instantly why they need to choose you over competitors. 
Getting your branding right today will bring exponential returns because it will clearly show potential clients how you can solve their problem better than your competitors. 

You'll make it much easier for prospects to understand why they should choose you. Besides, once they become clients, they'll be less inclined to listen to your competitors' attempts to woo them with cheaper fees.

Make the sales cycle faster

Did you know that most business purchases decisions are made through online research and before the sales meeting? The higher the budget and the more likely they’ll research your firm before meeting with you. When you have a clear and cohesive brand, you give potential buyers the reassurance they need.

​How to gain more clarity on how to build your brand

To obtain clarity on how to get results from your brand, you should be able to identify its fundamental elements as well as the brand core. This means three things:

• Assess where you are by doing a brand audit.
• Research your market and competitive landscape.
• Define a brand strategy which aligns with your business objectives.​ ​
  

To obtain clarity in your branding, you should be able to identify its fundamental elements as well as the brand core

What is brand audit?

A brand audit is the examination and evaluation of a brand in the marketplace. To perform a brand audit you need to take a close look, examine and identify the current perceived image and audience of your business from every possible angle.

How to have an effective brand audit

A brand audit needs to give a truly objective view on how your business is perceived. The only way to achieve this, is to get an outside perspective. This is impossible to achieve when you are too closely involved in the day-to-day running of the firm.

What is a competitor analysis?

Your competitors will always try to attract more clients and increase sales exactly as you do. Competitor analysis will help you map out your position in the marketplace and discover the most profitable opportunities for your business.

What are the benefits of a competitor analysis?

There are invaluable insights to gain from analysing what your competitors do. You’ll learn from both their successes and mistakes.

Here are some key insights you’ll gain:

• Better understanding of the marketplace.
  
• Precise and effective client targeting.
  
• Marketplace forecasting.
  
• Competitor offer tracking.
  
• Competitor pricing.
  
• Market opportunities and limitation.
  
• Customer acquisition and retention.
  

​Conclusion

Gaining clarity on how to use branding as a strategic business tool and how your current brand is performing are the first and most important steps to success. 

Since many business leaders find branding confusing, Acacia’s Brand Clarity is the first phase in our proven brand-building methodology. It clarifies, demystifies and simplifies the whole branding process.

In order to gain brand clarity you will need to perform a detailed analysis of your brand, audience and the marketplace. 

This process will set solid foundations and  will lead future decision making while saving you a lot of unnecessary expenditures on future marketing campaigns.

After brand clarity the next stage of Acacia’s brand transformation process is brand positioning.