WHAT IS BRAND STRATEGY?

ANDY WATT, Managing Director of OneBigStep Limited, tells us why branding is important and what it can do for your photography business

WHAT IS BRANDING AND WHY IS YOUR BRAND AN IMPORTANT PART OF ANY PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS?

Regardless of the size of your business or what you do, managing your brand is crucial to your success. There’s an important difference between your branding and your brand though.

Although many people start with a logo and a brand image – what most people understand as branding – they really do need to spend some time defining their brand. Understand what you do, how you do it, how you want to be perceived and the values your business embodies.

Brands with a clear understanding of the basics use this in every aspect of business development and delivery. Often this is encapsulated in a brand statement or slogan and this can be a way to validate what you’ve done in defining your brand and strategy.

WHY IS A BRAND STRATEGY IMPORTANT?

Think about two brands you like, one a multinational and one smaller. Now think about why you like them, their products or services, the way they deliver them and how they make you feel as a customer. They know what they do, how they do it and why.

In turn, having a brand strategy lets businesses define what they want you to think about them and the experience they want you to have. They have a set of shared values and business goals that allow them to say: “we do this… but we don’t do that”.

More crucially, there is also a sense of confidence and control that comes from defining exactly what a brand stands for. This allows them to target customers with a clear and compelling offer.

A brand strategy sounds complex and hard to sit down and define, but it isn’t.

Grab some post-it notes and a blank wall or table. Think about what you do and what you want to do. What does success look like? Use the information you put together for your business plan to look at strengths, weaknesses and opportunities and how your brand addresses them.

Your Unique Selling Proposition has to be encapsulated in an easily understood shorthand for your brand. If what you offer is a totally bespoke service, but every

image you show looks the same, how will a prospective customer understand what you are capable of doing?

WHAT TOOLS CAN PHOTOGRAPHERS USE TO HELP THEM WITH THEIR BRANDING STRATEGY?

The person who knows you and your brand best is you, so simply take some time to consider what you do. Write down two headings: “creative” and “business” and then make two lists, looking at things such as what generates sales, what makes clients happy and what gives you satisfaction. When you overlay how you work and what delivers for you personally, you can start the brand values and brand definition process.

Think about the clients you’d like to work with and the work you’d like to do for them. Write the headline and the first paragraph of an article you’d like to see written about you and your brand. I’ve done this with some clients and it’s amazing to see how varied people from the same business are when they define success in this way.

Once you have some ideas, perhaps you have one or more collaborators or clients you could chat to about your brand and how they perceive you. Better still is if these conversations help define what you do in the context of your competition. Even wellknown brands use comparison as a catalyst for decision-making.