“I just feel like my brand is a hot mess right now”
“What does that mean?”
“Well, it’s kind of all over the place”
ahhh yes…and while sometimes it might be fun to be a hot mess, it is not something you want when it comes to your brand.
I have these conversations often with potential clients as they look to solidify their brand and all the moving parts of it.
They have realized that:
The logo
The tagline
The perfect font
The colors
are not the main components of a strong, aligned, and resonant brand (think of those things as the ‘sprinkles’ of your brand). They evolve after the foundational work has been done.
So how do you know whether or not your brand is a hot mess??
Your brand might be a hot mess if you cannot answer the following:
Do I know my brand values? (3-5 tops) and consistently convey them through all of my brand touchpoints
Have I defined my brand mission/credo? (what my brand is about)
Do I live the story of my brand? (the “why”)
Do I have a clear vision? (where my brand is going in the world; think legacy)
Have I distilled my brand essence into a 2-3 word phrase? (in other words, do I know my brand superpower)
Do I know who I am talking to? (this is not about demographics, but psychographics)
Can I put myself in my clients’ shoes and articulate my clients’ challenges, feelings, and wins?
Do I provide clear solutions to said client challenges?
Do I clearly show how I’m different from everyone else?
Does my marketing language tap into my strongest archetypes? (my differentiator)
These are vital questions to understanding your brand and are just a few that I delve into with clients.
If you can answer these questions concisely (because brevity rocks), your brand is not a hot mess, but one that is aligned, nimble, and memorable.
If these questions make your eye start to twitch and you feel butterflies in your stomach, never fear…I can help you get clarity around this and much more in your brand. You can check out how here
Go forth and brand prosper!
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