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Business strategy and brand strategy are one strategy.
For years, businesses have treated business strategy, brand strategy and marketing strategy as separate disciplines.
The board develops the business strategy.
Marketing develops the brand strategy.
Then an agency develops the marketing strategy.
Three different strategies for the same business.
I don’t believe it works that way.
Business strategy and brand strategy are one strategy.
Because ultimately, business is about understanding a market, finding your place within that market and creating enough value that people choose you over everybody else.
And that is exactly what a brand does.
You have to understand the market to win at the game of business.
“You cannot build a winning business by looking only inside the business. Understand the market, find the position you can own, and build your brand around it.”
What Is Business Strategy?
A business strategy isn’t simply a business plan, a revenue target or a list of goals for the next financial year.
Strategy is about choices.
Where are we going to play?
Who are we going to serve?
Why should they choose us?
What are we going to become known for?
Where can we create value?
What are we going to do differently from everyone else?
And just as importantly, what are we not going to do?
These are business questions.
But they are also brand questions.
That is why I find it difficult to separate the two.
If your business strategy determines where you are going to compete, your brand determines why the market will choose you when you get there.
One cannot work properly without the other.
Your Brand Is Part of Your Business Model
One of the biggest misconceptions in business is that brand is a marketing function.
It isn’t.
Brand affects what people are prepared to pay for your product.
It affects who wants to work for you.
It affects customer loyalty.
It affects your ability to enter new markets.
It affects your cost of acquiring customers.
It affects whether customers compare you on price or seek you out by name.
And ultimately, it affects the value of the business itself.
So how can brand possibly sit outside business strategy?
Your logo sits within marketing.
Your advertising sits within marketing.
Your social media sits within marketing.
Your brand does not.
Your brand sits at the centre of the business because it represents the value and position the business owns in the market.
You Have to Understand the Market to Win at the Game of Business
I often think about business as a game.
Not because business isn’t serious, but because every game has players, rules, opportunities, threats and a way of winning.
Imagine playing chess without looking at the other pieces on the board.
You could have the most beautiful chess pieces in the world. You could spend thousands polishing them. You could advertise how wonderful your pieces are.
It wouldn’t help you win.
You have to understand the board.
The market is the board.
Your competitors are the other players.
Your customers ultimately decide who wins.
And your business strategy is how you choose to play.
This is why I believe market research is fundamental to both business and brand strategy.
Before deciding what a business should say, we need to understand what is already being said.
Before deciding where a business should go, we need to understand where the market is going.
Before setting another growth target, we need to understand whether the opportunity actually exists.
Sometimes the biggest opportunity is sitting right there in the market, but nobody inside the business can see it because everyone is too busy looking inward.
Brand Strategy Is Business Strategy
Traditionally, a business might develop its commercial strategy first and bring in branding later.
I think that’s backwards.
Because many of the decisions we call “branding” are actually fundamental business decisions.
Who is our ideal customer?
What market segment should we target?
Are we premium, value or somewhere in between?
What problem are we really solving?
Why should somebody choose us?
What should we become known for?
What experience should customers have?
What value can we create that competitors cannot easily replicate?
These decisions affect your pricing, products, people, operations, sales and marketing.
That makes them business strategy decisions.
Brand strategy isn’t what happens after the business strategy is written.
Brand strategy helps determine the business strategy itself.
Marketing Cannot Fix a Business Strategy Problem
This becomes particularly obvious when businesses struggle to grow.
The immediate response is often:
We need more leads.
We need Google Ads.
We need SEO.
We need a new website.
We need more social media.
We need a salesperson.
Maybe.
But sometimes you don’t have a marketing problem.
You have a strategy problem.
Marketing is an amplifier.
If your positioning is strong, marketing can accelerate it.
If your positioning is weak, marketing simply amplifies the confusion.
Before spending more money trying to attract customers, I would rather answer one fundamental question:
Why should the market choose you?
“Great customer service” isn’t a strategy.
“Quality” isn’t a strategy.
“Competitive prices” isn’t a strategy.
Almost every competitor in your market can say exactly the same thing.
Strategy is about finding something worth owning.
business Strategy Should Build Brand Equity
This is where the conversation becomes even more interesting.
Most business strategy consultants will naturally look at revenue, profitability, operations, people, market share and growth.
All of those things matter.
But I believe there is another asset that needs to be considered.
Brand equity.
Revenue tells me what you sold.
Profit tells me what you kept.
Brand equity tells me about the value that exists in people’s minds.
Why will someone pay more for one product when another does essentially the same thing?
Why will someone travel further to visit one business?
Why will someone wait for a particular product instead of buying the alternative sitting directly in front of them?
Why do customers recommend certain businesses without being asked?
That difference is brand equity.
And brand equity has commercial consequences.
A strong brand can help a business command premium pricing, create customer loyalty, reduce dependence on paid acquisition and make it harder for competitors to compete purely on price.
That isn’t fluffy marketing.
That is business value.
Our Approach to Business Strategy
When I work on business strategy, I don’t begin with a predetermined answer.
I begin with questions.
We look at the business from the inside out and the market from the outside in.
We look at the business model, revenue, products, services, customers and capabilities.
Then we look outside.
The market.
Competitors.
Customer behaviour.
Trends.
Perceptions.
Unmet needs.
Emerging opportunities.
Only then do we start asking:
Where can this business win?
From there, we determine the position the business should own and build the commercial, brand and marketing strategy around it.
That might influence your products.
Your pricing.
Your customer experience.
Your sales strategy.
Your people.
Your partnerships.
Your marketing.
And sometimes the entire direction of the business.
Because there shouldn’t be a business strategy sitting in one document and a brand strategy sitting somewhere else.
There should be one strategy.
Business Strategy + Brand Strategy + Marketing Strategy
I see the relationship very simply.
Business strategy asks: Where will we play and how will we win?
Brand strategy asks: What position will we own and why will people choose us?
Marketing strategy asks: How will we take that position to market?
But they should never operate independently.
If your business strategy says premium but your marketing constantly discounts, there is a disconnect.
If your brand promises exceptional service but your operating model is designed around doing everything as cheaply as possible, there is a disconnect.
If your growth strategy says you want larger customers but your brand, website and sales process continue speaking to small businesses, there is a disconnect.
Eventually the market sees it.
Because your brand isn’t what you put in a brand guideline.
Your brand is what people experience when they do business with you.
Looking for a Business Strategist in Perth?
If you are looking for a business strategist in Perth, I am probably going to ask you different questions.
I won’t only ask where you want the business to be in five years.
I want to understand the market you’re trying to win.
What is changing?
Where is the opportunity?
What do customers value?
Where are competitors vulnerable?
What position could your business genuinely own?
And how can we turn that position into commercial value?
My approach combines business strategy, market strategy, brand strategy and marketing strategy because I don’t believe they should exist separately.
There is one business.
There is one market.
There is one customer.
There should be one strategy connecting all of it.
Strategy Before Tactics
Websites.
SEO.
Social media.
Advertising.
Content.
Lead generation.
All potentially valuable.
But valuable for what?
Who are we trying to reach?
What position are we trying to build?
What behaviour are we trying to change?
What market opportunity are we trying to capture?
What value are we trying to build into the business?
Without those answers, marketing becomes a collection of activities.
With strategy, those activities have direction.
So perhaps the first question isn’t:
How do we market this business?
The better question is:
How do we position this business to win?
Understand the market.
Decide where you want to play.
Build a position worth owning.
Build brand equity around that position.
Then take it to market.
That is business strategy.