Central to the Literally Brilliant process is understanding what makes the company brilliant in the eyes of its customers. This process helps companies to understand what differentiates them from their competitors and delivers the value to their customers. This becomes the brand promise. Articulated in a narrative form, this brand story is the very essence of the business.
A logo is not a brand. Rather, a logo is a memory hook or a reminder of what a company stands for (the brand) but it is not the brand itself. The brand is built on the stories that people tell about the company, its people and its products and services.
In most organisations, three separate narratives evolve around the business: the narrative of mission, the narrative of culture and the narrative of the external stakeholder. In complex organisations, like universities, the number of organic narratives can be much greater as the stakeholder groups within the organisation are more diverse.
- The narrative of mission is the narrative of where the directors want to take the business in the future
- The narrative of culture is what the company (and its employees specifically) is saying about itself at this point in time
- The narrative of the external stakeholder, generally, is the reputation that the company has with its customers
Unmanaged, these separate narratives can often be conflicting or, at best, inconsistent.
Our process helps companies to understand the narratives that are already organically developing within their organisation and establishes a process for drawing all of those narratives together to form a brand promise that is meaningful and valued by the customers of the future.
Once a brand story (and key message strings) has been developed, it can be communicated in a way that is constant and consistent. Having this understanding also allows a business to organise itself to deliver the brand promise with literal focus. Communicating the brand story constantly and consistently, as well as persistently delivering on the promise, helps to build customer trust in your business.