In advertising, discovery is multifaceted — ranging from full brand discovery to discovery for individual campaigns. For now, let’s focus on brand discovery, its importance, and a few ways to begin the process.
Brand discovery
Brand discovery is the process of finding out as a brand:
- Who we are. Everyone thinks they know who they are as a brand, until they take a step back and look objectively. Who are you, really?
- Who we say we are. It’s important to have a unified internal message to present to the outside. Are your employees, your greatest brand ambassadors, all on the same page?
- Who others say we are. What is the outsides world’s perception of us?
When answered using discovery, these three questions help establish brand authenticity — showing that you are true to yourself and true to your consumers. Brand authenticity is a pivotal aspect of all advertising and marketing efforts. Your consumers don’t want to just buy into your service or product; they also want to buy into your values, heritage and personality.
Unfortunately, you can’t just throw these questions in front of people and expect to get the answers that will be truly helpful in forming these efforts. You need a calculated plan of attack to see how your brand is perceived from all angles. A few methods to help guide you through the discovery process are:
- Executive interviews
- Focus groups (internal/external)
- Surveys
- Competitive analysis
- Review of existing materials (sales/marketing materials, previous campaigns, websites, press releases, etc.)
Brand authenticity is the foundation of a brand. You wouldn’t build a house without a solid foundation, just as you shouldn’t build a brand without one, either. It lays the groundwork for everything that follows, and failing to establish an authentic brand through extensive discovery may result in the end of your brand altogether.
Brand discovery examples
Interested in learning more? Feel free to reach out below:
