Brand Workshops help clients construct and build a strong emotional relationship, and nurture qualities in the brand that can lead to more profitable results, and loyal customers.
Consumers buy products but they have emotional connection to brands. Markets are also changing rapidly due to technological disruption but also due to socio-biological forces, as the current Covid-19 Pandemic is showing us. When consumer needs or market forces bring change, brands need to flex. If brands do not move with changing dynamics, they lose relevance, trust, interest and sales.
The goal of a brand workshop is to sharpen a brand that may be losing relevance or facing rising competition; or alternatively create new brands to fit emerging markets. The workshop should also ensure the brand reflects the vision and values of the business and help clients build a set of strategic brand tools, and a marketing plan.
A brand sharpening workshop may only require half a day, whereas a brand building workshop may require up to 2 full days depending on the scale.
We strongly suggest building in market research. If you do not have market research available, we strongly suggest you allocate some budget and time prior to the workshop. This may add another 4–5 weeks to the timings, but the outputs will benefit enormously. It may take you that long to align diaries!
Offsite is the best where there are no distractions from the office, and you can focus on your brand. Hiring a large workshop space or function room at a hotel can provide the space you need.
Make sure you have plenty of breakout spaces, flipcharts, marker pens, post it notes and sweets for afternoon energy bursts. It is critical to build an agenda with enough breaks for coffee, lunch and personal time and providing catering is essential to keeping everyone focused.
Ideally you need an experienced brand workshop facilitator, who can guide the brand objectively and allow the marketing team to contribute to, rather than drive the conversation. This is important because it allows the team to be more creative and focus on building a brand, they feel proud and excited to market. It can also help the marketer manage key stakeholders who can derail your good thinking and help keep everything on track.
It is also important to have creative energy in the workshop. We would always suggest having someone attend from a creative agency that you are using or want to use. This could be an ad agency or a design agency for instance, but they must understand the total composition of the brand, and that it's not just about communication.
Someone future focused, with an eye on innovation and NPD pipeline, R&D is also very helpful, and we have also found great energy from the more creative types in HR, Finance, Ops and elsewhere.
What is required will depend on the scope. To build a well-crafted brand that is differentiated and meaningful in the market, you will need the following tools before you launch into workshopping:
You should expect a range of outputs from your workshop depending on the scope:
Running brand workshops are like taking your car to the mechanics. Fine tuning key elements or deciding to invest in a new brand are important decisions that take time, investment, and preparation.
Invest in market research to understand your brand today – strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities to help you put together a clear minded strategy.
Know your competitors and the energy and flow of the market so you can differentiate your brand accordingly.
Align your brand to the vision and mission and ensure the brand has a story that is meaningful to your target audience and has a clear brand purpose.
Your brand strategy needs to articulate who your target is, how they feel and bring them to life and research can help your brand target them with better offers, communication, and purpose.
To ensure the smooth running of your brand workshop, from managing stakeholders to creating a cracking brand future it is wise to invest in research and an objective facilitator who has experience across a wide range of brands. Ruby Cha Cha is experienced in brand workshop facilitation and brand health, brand positioning research and much more.
