What is Brand Strategy?

Daria Volkova
3 min readOct 18, 2021

Recently I had an online conversation with a representative of educational platform about cooperation. The request — “leads are getting more expensive, so we want to build a brand”. The very formulation of the business problem raises questions, but let’s skip it. I was also asked: “Is a brand strategy a pdf file? For 1 year?”.

I realized that many people do not understand in principle what a strategy is and on what principle it is created, how it works and what result it brings. Let’s deal with this question!

The strategy as a whole is a long-term vision of the development path (business, person, military operations, etc.), aimed at winning and achieving the set goals. Strategy determines tactics, not vice versa.

Brand strategy is a long-term conceptual vision of developing a company’s public image in accordance with the financial and reputational goals of the business. That is, first of all, it is the vision of the desired result, understanding of the general ideology, the way of thinking of the top management and the team.

Brand strategy is clearly linked to business strategy. I would say that these are communicating vessels where the essence of business flows, value for customers and society as a whole.

By format, the strategy is most often in the form of a pdf file with research data and statements of positioning, mission and values. However, it can be expressed even in a song, even in a video clip.

For my opinion, a strategy works good when the team clearly understands what it is doing, why, how it differs from competitors, and what it has to give up in order to follow a certain strategy.

For example, when a company produces fertilizers for the soil and wants to reduce the harm from disasters and harmful emissions, then they will have to abandon cheap and hazardous ingredients in favor of more expensive and environmentally friendly ones. And in this case, they will bet on accentuating the global problems of mankind and a noticeable effect from their use.

The strategy does not have a calendar expiration date. The relevance of the strategy is determined not by calendar calculation, but by the life cycles of the company. If you have worked in some direction for 5 years, and then decided to change the market and product, then it’s time to change the winning strategy, based on the new data. And annual and quarterly activities are tactics.

Brand building is a clear, conscious and systematic movement in the chosen direction. And strategy helps you stay on track.

I’m a brand strategist, startup mentor, product strategy and customer service improvement consultant. I help IT products, classic businesses and individual entrepreneurs to identify growth zones and perfectly represent their strengths.

More articles and information about people, brands, and business culture you can find on my website: https://dariavolkova.com

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Daria Volkova

Strategist, Brand Marketer and Communications Expert for Web3 products. Master networker. Niche perfumes lover. Proud Ukrainian 🇺🇦