A man is standing on a mountain top, looking through binoculars. He is wearing a large backpack and a hat.

Ever wondered what happens in a brand discovery workshop?

  • Will they make me sit on beanbags?
  • Is it a collaboration of minds along with fun, creativity and discovery?
  • What will I learn?

If we start with the definition, “the brand discovery workshop is a meeting with your management team and marketing leaders to help define your brand and draw out the brand values and personality that will drive the brand development process.”

Within this session, we work to uncover the ‘so what’ and ‘who cares’ questions.

We’ll crystallise what you want to do and where you want to go.

 

The goal of the brand discovery workshop

The purpose of a workshop depends upon your business’s unique challenges and goals.

This deep dive will help us identify your business focus and develop key messaging to form the framework of your content and collateral. It will allow us to clearly define who your audience is and where they are.

Our aim is to truly understand your brand, its clients, competitors, challenges and strengths. Once we establish these fundamentals, we can target the right people, with the right message, at the right time.

The best way for us to develop your brand and help you start your journey is to understand the ‘who’, the ‘why’ and the ‘how’. Knowing what drove you to create the business and understanding the motivation helps us to deliver better content, and a brand suite that truly suits your company.

 

Why does my business need a brand discovery workshop?

Does your management team have a cohesive vision? As an intermediary, we draw actionable insights that produce market-ready solutions. You will benefit from a brand workshop if:

  • You are a new company and need a brand name and identity.
  • Your existing brand feels outdated or in need of a refresh. (Check out our blog Is it time to rebrand?)
  • We are building you a new website and need to fine tune your values before commencing the design, build and copy.
  • Your brand lacks strategic direction.
  • Your messaging doesn’t clearly explain what you do to people who don’t yet know the company
  • Your company is taking a new direction or has expanded, and you are looking to engage the management team to collaborate on the best way forward.
  • Often, management teams have differing opinions in what strategic direction a company should take. We facilitate these conversations through positive collaboration that produces results.

Our experience working with small and medium sized businesses shows that it’s rare for companies that don’t have a marketing team to gather for the purpose of discussing their marketing needs. This means they miss out on identifying the direction they want the brand to take. Cohesion ultimately builds brand identity and purpose.

 

Typically, what would be the agenda?

As previously mentioned, each workshop would be tailored to suit your goals, for example if you were a new company, we would include a naming exercise to brainstorm possible names.

Here are some other agenda items that may be included in the workshop:

Background

Here we get to know your business; we discuss and discover what business you are in, what services you provide and your business objectives. Why did you start your business?

Competition

Your competitors are an important part of the discussion, do you know who they are? Which pose the biggest threat and how are you different to them?

Market

What is the market opportunity; are there key trends fuelling or stopping your success?

Target Audience

What is the audience you are targeting; are there segments you are purposely not targeting? What are the demographics of your target audience? Identifying this information is crucial to the success of your brand.

Sales and Buying Process

In this section of the workshop, we ask you about the process for selling your services or product and who is involved. How does the target audience purchase your product or service? We identify you, your strengths and key business areas.

Messaging

Next, we explore the key messages that resonate with your identified target audience. This ensures we can create a robust plan to build the brand along with tools to ensure brand consistency as you grow.

 

Marketing exercises

Don’t worry. We won’t make you do star-jumps while eating donuts, but be warned, we often get down to some serious scribbling and brainstorming.

We work through exercises to narrow down and identify your company values, customer needs and brand personality as we well as your positioning summary. These are normally completed using different matrixes and graphics, it’s fun and super informative!

 

How long will the workshop take?

Our brand workshops are typically 2-3 hours and take place in our offices or a location of your choice.

 

What happens post-workshop?

Based on workshops goals, we’ll often develop a positioning analysis and statement capturing the learnings and document the ideas we have discussed. This includes development of core messages to inform marketing content and brand collateral.

Messaging can include tag lines, boilerplates and elevator pitches, so that next time you are asked for a media pack, you’re ready to go. Check out our blog, Brand image – why it matters more than you think.

A brand discovery workshop is an effective collaborative exercise. It will draw out your business focus and develop key messaging that supports your content and collateral. It will also help us clearly define who your audience is and where they are.

…And we won’t make you sit on beanbags!

 


 

Unsure where to start? Focused Marketing specialise in branding workshops, brand audits and strategy-led brand reviews and design projects. Email Caitlin at [email protected] for an informal discussion or call us on (07) 3844 9664.