“Participate, practice, and you will prosper in your branding regime.”
You know what the problem is?
A large portion of the business community has no idea what to do in a brand strategy workshop. They think they just have to participate for the sake of understanding branding lessons from a brand strategist or a facilitator. This is an utterly wrong assumption. Brand strategy workshops are as practical as it gets. There are no lectures, no boring meetings, but a cultivated session. The thing to underline is that there are brand strategy workshop exercises for founders and product leads. Don’t worry, these exercises are structured clarity sessions disguised as creative conversations. And at the heart of those sessions are a handful of well-designed, interactive exercises that do the heavy lifting.
To prepare for a brand strategy workshop, we have brought together a list of five essential exercises that will keep the energy flowing. We will also discuss why these exercises will work and deliver.
But before starting to break down each of these exercises one by one, make sure that you understand the importance of active listening and participation in a brand strategy workshop. Irrespective of your entrepreneurial journey, focus on learning and grasping knowledge from these exercises. Now, let’s begin this. Pay attention now.
Explaining your business to a five-year-old
You’ll be astonished to see how frequently founders fail at this. Not being able to address your own product or service to a five-year-old is an eye-opener for many product leads, sales managers, and marketing heads. Think about it: so much to talk about, so much to invest, such large budgets, yet professionals are failing to explain things in the simplest form possible.
Get everyone on the team attending the workshop and allow them to explain what they do to a nonexistent five-year-old kid. This may sound reductive, but it sparks focused and target-centric communication.
Why does it work?
This makes the team realize how they were dealing with jargon on a large-scale format. It makes them come to understand how many unnecessary elements were associated with the brand in the first place. So much so that somewhere in between, the clarity got buried forever. What’s left is a pretentious branding gimmick. This realization automatically evokes the objectivity of removing everything unrequited.
SWOT Analysis
I know it's old school, but hey, it still works. Apart from the key metrics to measure brand strategy success. SWOT analysis really does help. So, go on, you know the drill. Make a horizontal line, and cut it from the middle with a vertical line. There are four areas representing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Now, go on, be bold, be honest, write down each of the aspects, and voila. You will reach the outcome on your own. This exercise is self-appreciating.
Why does it work?
Because it’s simple, it’s effective. It produces a strong relative reflection on where exactly the brand stands in the market. You can perform it or make it a team exercise in a brand strategy workshop to gather around different angles from different professionals. This brand strategy workshop exercise is literally something we all learned at school, and that’s what makes it so common yet so effective at the same time.
Implementing Alignment
You’ll be surprised to know that 94% of consumers like to suggest brands they have an emotional connection with. This occurs due to proper alignment. When a business attends a brand strategy workshop, it is highly likely that they have everything dispersed across and around them. All their branding elements are disintegrated, with nothing in sync. This could also point out the real issues and concerns that brands are facing not only in the branding department but also in sales & marketing. The founders and product leads come together to devise an alignment in their brand's mission, vision, and values.
Why does it work?
It works because it is supposed to work. There is no better explanation than this. When you start participating in such brand strategy workshop exercises and go in pursuit of seeking alignment in all your marketing materials, thought processes, and unified visual and market identity, you start to devour the layers of marketing and branding one at a time and reach for a foolproof synchronization and consistent messaging in your branding campaigns.
Customer persona creation
Again, an essential brand strategy workshop exercise that is on point and draws real results is working on customer persona creation. I know you will say that you know your audience, but trust me, you do not. What you are aware of is the simple categorization of your target audience. To give you a subtle example, suppose you sell laptops; you just think your target audience are all types of people who need a laptop.
But that’s not it. You need to strive for your laptop specifications. Plan and match the specifications with people belonging to different fields. Are your laptops gaming laptops or designed for heavy working, video editing, and rendering purposes, or is it just a range of laptops that are made for regular office and college work? This guides you in understanding the right match of product with the right match of target audience.
Why does it work?
The more you talk, shape, and relate to your target audience. It creates empathy. You do not have fictional profiles opted as ideal customers. You describe them in detail, their job, their routine, their work, and, most importantly, how your product gets segregated from others and sets right in their daily lives.
Crafting a brand story
This exercise is mainly for founders and business owners. Ask yourself, why did you start this business in the first place? You could have done anything else, but why this product? Why this service? I often tell people that people don’t buy products but the stories behind them. You have to comprehend that your target audience will only connect with you in a better way when they know your story.
Why does it work?
This exercise specializes in enabling founders to think about their story and underline their struggles. People connect and like to associate with brands that reflect a journey behind them. It draws more attention and automatically creates a stir in the customers’ mindset.
Why these exercises matter
These brand strategy workshop exercises work because they induce active participation of the founders and CEOs attending the workshop. When participants break the ice, eliminate the small talk, and are interested in getting their hands dirty (metaphorically), they connect the dots and receive a better reception of their brand. They become curious rather than defensive.
These exercises keep you busy in the workshop and also give strong outputs. As a founder or a brand strategy workshop attendee, you must take all of them into account and practice these exercises effectively.
