The 4C’s of brand effectiveness
Build Mode™ Issue 08.2024
Welcome to this issue of Build Mode, where I share brand insights to help you level up your business. Thanks for being here. We have an ambitious group of professionals working in real estate, architecture, engineering, construction, marketing, design, and development.
Haven’t subscribed yet? Consider joining us below and get the next issue delivered straight to your inbox on the first of the month.When I'm deep in research and auditing a client’s brand and other industry brands, I’m looking for anything I can get my hands on. A brand audit is an in-depth review and comprehensive analysis of a brand through all of its touchpoints. I’m analyzing everything… from a strategic perspective, like reading into the mission and vision; from an identity perspective, identifying the logo and messaging; and from an experiential perspective, like visiting a place in real life and comparing the visit to the digital experience. And I’m making conclusions on the brand’s internal intentions based on their external expression.
All of this research and analysis is informative, but even after doing this dozens of times, it was cumbersome to translate these insights into clear recommendations.
The reasons you should conduct an audit in the first place are to:
Gain an understanding of your current position
Get clear on challenges from an objective perspective
Learn from other industry players and leaders
Identify areas of improvement
Make informed decisions to enhance brand effectiveness
During a recent brand audit, this last part is what I realized is most important in a brand audit and the key to unlocking clear insights and recommendations: brand effectiveness.
What is brand effectiveness?
Brand effectiveness is the degree to which your brand is successful in achieving your business objectives.
An effective brand is one that is leveraged to its maximum potential, to increase the value and impact of your business. This is what all branding should be measured by! I’m a big proponent of making brands work for business. Otherwise, what’s the point in the investment?
To judge the effectiveness of a brand, I’ve discovered it comes down to four criteria. This is my new framework, tentatively named the 4C's of brand effectiveness:
Contrast
Consistency
Clarity
Compelling
Let’s dive into each one and how you can apply them in your own brand’s effectiveness.
Contrast
The state of being strikingly different
Ask yourself, ‘does our brand stand out?’
When it comes to branding, you know that being different is better than being better. Better will always be subjective, and there will always be someone else claiming to be better. From a strategic perspective, consider how your brand is positioned. Differentiation is a key driver of brand equity. The way to stand out is to shine a spotlight on your differences and claim a spot in the market that only you can deliver on. From a design perspective, identify how your visual and verbal identity contrasts with other players in your industry. ‘When the world zigs, zag.’
[For more on positioning, check out the Build Mode™ issue called Forget competition – you win when you play your own game]
Consistency
The adherence to the same principles
Ask yourself, ‘do people know what to expect from us?’
Brands need to communicate in many different places—your website, social channels, internal communications, external communications. And you’ll surely have a lot of people communicating on behalf of your brand: principals, business development professionals, marketing managers… basically everyone is a brand ambassador. When communicating for the brand, you need to remain consistent in your approach. That doesn’t mean being the same, or repetitive, or restricted, but it does mean adhering to the same principles, like following a brand guidelines document for communicating, designing collateral, and writing content. Being consistent with your tone, your rhythm, and your regularity will help build brand equity and create a reliable and predictable experience for your audience.
Clarity
The quality of being easy to understand
Ask yourself, ‘do people understand what we offer?’
Clarity is not only essential for effective brand communication – it’s also essential for effective sales. A clear product or service offering is one that connects with a client’s needs, that addresses their pain points, and one where they can imagine themselves using your product, or enlisting your services. Tactically, your offering should be organized and navigable so clients can understand how they can engage with you. Communication like a ‘process’ section on your website, or a list of FAQs, or behind-the-scenes photos of collaborative work sessions with partners are indicators of transparency and clarity.
Compelling
The power of having an irresistible effect
Ask yourself, ‘are people inspired enough to choose us?’
Consider the brands you crave…
Maybe you’re a builder and the only boots you’ll wear are Red Wing.
Or you’re a designer and you’ll only sketch in a Moleskine.
Or you’re in finance and your go-to outerwear is Patagonia.
Or you’re a coffee aficionado and you can’t start your day without Starbucks.
These kinds of brands are irresistible. They have a powerful effect on us, not just through their product – which of course is of the highest quality – but because of their lasting impression on us through their values, their mission, their identity… so we’ve said, ‘take my money!’ Brands that elicit strong positive emotions, through their storytelling, design, and experience, will build strong relationships and effectively drive business objectives.
[For more on appealing to people’s emotions, check out the Build Mode™ issue called Branding that resonates]
What you can do nextHow to create an effective brand
First, evaluate the effectiveness of your own brand with a brand audit. Think about all the touchpoints where your brand reaches out to its audience and analyze them – the strategic components, the visual and verbal identity, and the experiential aspects.
Then, use the 4C framework and the questions to ask yourself above to evaluate your brand on the four criteria: contrast, consistency, clarity, and how compelling it is to your ideal clients. Identify the gaps between where you stand and where you need to go.
Contrast
‘Does our brand stand out?’
If not, how might you adjust your strategy or identity to further separate yourself from others?Consistency
‘Do people know what to expect from us?’
If not, how might you show up more consistently so you build brand equity with your audience?
Clarity
‘Do people understand what we offer?’
If not, how might you make your products and services clearer and easier to buy?
Compelling
‘Are people inspired enough to choose us?’
If not, how might you build more desire through emotion, storytelling, design, and experience?
Answer these questions and you’ve got a roadmap for developing a more effective brand and leveraging it to maximize value in your business. If you go through this process yourself, I’d love to hear about it and what results you’ve come up with.
And if you need help auditing your own brand and other players in your industry, let me know. I’ve refined this framework with a couple organizations and will be offering a limited number of audits through the form below.
That’s all for this issue of Build Mode! Thanks again for being here. If this resonated with you and you think it might help others, feel free to share it with a colleague. And if you want to discuss how your own brand, just get in touch — I’d love to hear from you.
Best.
Kenny Isidoro
See my latest on Instagram, LinkedIn, or feel free to book a call.
Efficiency is doing things right.
Effectiveness is doing the right things.
— Peter Drucker
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