In the first of our Seven Steps to Brand Engagement strategy, we lay the brand foundation for both customers and employees simultaneously. Having a successful consumer and employee brand means clearly defining and presenting your brand in a way that is meaningful and relevant. In this article we look at an important step in that process - conducting a Brand Audit.

The Dovetail Brand Audit

Here at Dovetail we’re fascinated by the etymology (or origin) of words. The word “audit” has its origins in the Latin word “audire” meaning “to hear”. Back in ancient times, accounts were initially presented orally, hence you would literally hear them.

And that’s one of the first steps in what we do when we conduct a Brand Audit. We aim to hear what our consumers and target consumers have to say about our brand and those of our competitors, and we use that to inform brand positioning and strategy.

In most audit methodologies - whether a financial, stock or other audit - the process stops when the information is gathered and accounted for. However in our Brand Audit we take that further into action - defining a brand positioning, clarifying our target audience, defining brand values, and creating brand strategies.

Getting all of these pillars right is key in creating brand engagement, and moving a brand up the Brand Engagement Pyramid. We do this not to be theoretical, but to have a real impact on growing your brand your bottom line.

A brand audit can be used at the very start of a brands journey, in order to establish it correctly from the start.

Creating a brand identity using a brand audit.

CASE STUDY: Nimy Resources

NIMY Resources was a brand in Step One of the Brand Engagement Pyramid - needing to establish a clear brand identity and awareness prior to listing on the ASX (ASX-NIM).

The company is a responsible, community focused Nickel-Sulphide “explorer” who has accessed one of the largest untapped “District Scale Nickel Belts” in the Goldfields District of Western Australia. The challenge: creating a brand identity that would differentiate the company from established and recognised Nickel players globally, whilst remaining true to the company’s long term vision.

We conducted a Brand Audit, looking at competitors and producers in the Nickel market, as well as dynamics in the industry. It became clear that responsibly sourced Nickel is essential to the long term manufacturing of today’s renewable batteries used in electric vehicles as well as home based charging, solar panel storage systems, space craft and stainless steel.

And so the positioning brand positioning platform of “Essential” became clear, and from there flowed a clear brand identity and collateral. The brand successfully established itself and over-achieved on their IPO targets - a worthwhile investment.

To read the detailed case study click here.

Brand audits are immensely useful when a brand has slipped down the pyramid - often due to time, a change in market conditions, new competitors, changing consumer needs or new technology. There are few successful, established brands who have not had a brand refresh - the brand audit plays a powerful role in the process by identifying changed dynamics, relooking competitive positioning, and redefining offerings and brand strategy.

Using a brand audit to refresh a brand

CASE STUDY: REID Stockfeeds

Often family businesses can be the most challenging when it comes to relooking brands, as there is so much emotional attachment to the existing logo, positioning or signage. Understandably so.

However, the owners of Reid Stockfeeds, a 37-year old family business, understood that future proofing their business and brand meant that they needed to take stock (excuse the obvious pun).

Their logo was originally designed 20 years prior with one key objective - to look good on a truck and trailer. Nowadays logos have to have digital relevance, have numerous on-premise applications, be impactful on all collateral and - critically - imbue the essence of the brand and its values.

We embarked on a brand audit into the stockfeed market, interrogating competitors' brands, messages and positioning as well as listening to customers. In a market where everyone was attempting to claim “performance, leading or potential”, we discovered that the essence and key differentiator of the Reid brand was “trust” coupled with a high performing product. And so the brand positioning came to be “Trusted Performance” , and from there flowed the design brief for the new logo.

A key success of this process was that the much loved family brand went through a positive evolution, without losing any of its heritage. The process has seen the brand regain ground on the pyramid, and set it up for the future.

To read the detailed case study click here.

When should you look to do a brand audit?

Good brand management practice will see you conducting brand audits every few years, in order to keep your brand healthy and,importantly, relevant to consumers. That being said there are certain circumstances which will initiate the need for an audit:

New Brand: the perfect time to ensure you are creating your brand identity and positioning correctly from Day One.

Name Change: when a brand undergoes a name change (eg Coon cheese undergoing a change to Cheer)

Your brand no longer matches your offering: eg Kentucky Fried Chicken changing to KFC in order to broaden their food offering or Weight Watchers changing to WW in order to focus more on health and lifestyle instead of dieting.

Customer Feedback: you sense your customers are unhappy and you need to discover why

New Competitors: when a new competitor launches, the ripple effect onto all players in the category is that consumers do a repositioning in their own minds.

Brand stagnation or growth decline: when your sales change over time you need to understand why, and quick corrective action can get your brand back on track.

You want to innovate or expand your offering: a brand audit can be a goldmine of consumer insights, such as Adidas creating sustainable running shoes made from ocean plastics after customer feedback highlighted the need for the brand to be more socially conscious.

You haven’t done one in the last 5 years: chances are you’re out of touch with your consumer, and where you’re positioned versus your competitors if you haven’t done an audit in some time. The market and changing dynamics mean that brand owners need to do health checks annually when doing their Brand Plans for the year - perhaps not a full audit each year but certainly elements or tracker studies such as our brand surveys.

As the only dedicated dual Brand and HR experts in Australia, Dovetail Brand Engagement are well placed to bring objectivity and the essential expertise needed to best position your brand with a long term vision and to future proof your business for the competitive challenges ahead. More >