Why Strategy & Design Should Be Your First Investment When Starting a Brand
When it comes to building a brand, we often find ourselves rushing to create the perfect product. It’s exciting to bring your idea to life, but here’s the truth: before you finalize your product, the most important step is understanding your audience and the market. That’s where strategy comes in.
Many founders want to jump straight into product development, but without a clear brand strategy and market research, you’re setting yourself up for unnecessary risks and potentially costly mistakes.
In today’s post, I’m diving into why strategy and design should be the first investments you make when starting a brand. I’ll share the importance of understanding your market and positioning, using a recent case study of a pre-teen girls' brand that benefited greatly from this approach.
Understanding Your Audience & Market: The First Step in Building Your Brand
Your product might be amazing, but if it doesn’t resonate with your target audience or fit within the competitive landscape, it won’t succeed. Market and positioning research allows you to dive deep into the needs, preferences, and behaviors of your audience. This helps you shape your product to fit their desires, ensuring it speaks directly to their needs.
Before diving into production, it’s critical to answer these questions:
Who is my target audience?
What are their needs, desires, and pain points?
How do my competitors position themselves?
What makes my brand different?
How can I position my product to stand out in the market?
By answering these questions, you can create a brand that feels relevant, resonates deeply with your target market, and is well-positioned for success.
Case Study: Pre-Teen Girls’ Brand
This past month, we worked with a pre-teen girls' brand that was in the early stages of product development. The founder had an exciting vision for the product - a line of on-trend sweatshirts, but she knew that before moving forward, we needed to first understand the pre-teen market. So, we conducted thorough market research.
Through this research, we identified several key insights:
Trends within the pre-teen demographic: What’s popular, and what’s outdated?
Emotional triggers: What makes this age group feel confident and empowered? What makes them want to buy a product? How are their parents motivated to spend money on a product?
Brand positioning gaps: While many brands marketed to pre-teens, few truly understood the specific desires of this group.
This research gave the brand the clarity they needed to position their product as authentic, empowering, and aligned with the unique style preferences of pre-teens. This research prompted them to change their entire approach to product design. Without this foundational step, the product would have been guessing at what worked for this audience, potentially missing the mark, and wasting thousands of dollars on a brand that didn’t land.
Why This Research Matters
Without thorough research, launching a product is like setting out on a journey without a map. The right research ensures that your brand’s voice, product design, and messaging are aligned with what your audience truly cares about. It saves you time, money, and the frustration of discovering later that your product doesn’t meet your market’s needs.
Think of market and positioning research as the blueprint for your brand. It guides every decision you make, from product development to marketing strategies. By investing in this step, you are setting your brand up for long-term success, not just a quick launch.
The Importance of Brand Identity Formation
In the same way that market research lays the foundation for your product’s success, brand identity formation is equally critical at this stage. Why?
Product Design: Your brand identity influences every element of your product, including how it is designed. Think about the logos on clothing or packaging—this will define how your product is perceived and how it aligns with your audience's values.
Messaging & Brand Naming: Your brand identity shapes the way you communicate with your audience. It influences your brand name, tone of voice, and the messages you convey across all touchpoints, from your website to your social media.
Legal Protection: Early identity formation ensures that your brand is legally protected. Trademarking your logo, symbols, and brand name is vital to securing your intellectual property and preventing others from using your hard-earned brand assets.
By defining your brand identity early on, you’re not only creating a memorable and cohesive experience for your customers, but you’re also protecting what you’ve built.
The Benefits of Starting with Strategy & Research
Clarity: You get clear on your audience, competitors, and unique market position.
Less Risk: You avoid launching a product that doesn’t resonate or fails to stand out in the market.
Brand Cohesion: Your product, messaging, and design all align with what your customers truly want.
Confidence: You can confidently move forward with a plan that’s grounded in research and insights.
In Conclusion: Strategy First, Always
If you’re in the early stages of building your brand, don’t rush into product development. Start with strategy and research. It’s the first and most crucial investment you can make to ensure that your brand is built on a solid foundation.
In the next post, we’ll dive into how design plays a crucial role in every decision you make, from packaging to customer perception. Stay tuned!
Ready to take your brand to the next level?
If you’re looking for guidance on how to conduct your own market research or refine your brand positioning, let’s chat. I’d love to help you create a strategy that sets you up for long-term success.
If you enjoyed this post and are ready to start defining your brand’s strategy, reach out to me for a consultation or drop me a message to talk about how we can work together to bring your vision to life!