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1
PLANNING
WORKBOOK
brought to you by
Fiona Humberstone
Excerpt from How To Style Your Brand Fiona Humberstone (Copper Beech Press). For non-commercial use only, please do not distribute. thebrand-stylist.com. HOW TO STYLE YOUR BRAND PL ANNING WORKBOOK
WELCOME!
Ive created this workbook especially as a resource for you
to use alongside my new book, How to Style Your Brand. Use
the questions to find your focus, gain clarity and form the
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foundations of your fabulous new brand identity.
Warmest,
Fiona
Excerpt from How To Style Your Brand Fiona Humberstone (Copper Beech Press). For non-commercial use only, please do not distribute. thebrand-stylist.com. HOW TO STYLE YOUR BRAND PL ANNING WORKBOOK
DEFINE YOUR INTENTION
Intention will make the difference between a forwards. Its not about being a slave to design fads or
superficially pretty brand identity and one that has behaving like a magpie, its about creating something
traction. One that captures the essence of your utterly compelling.
business and wins you work. 3
This is a great opportunity to really examine
It costs you nothing, other than your time, to sit down your business, warts and all, and gain a strong
and really consider how your business should be understanding of what really makes your company
perceived. And yet in my experience, most business unique. Lets look at your strengths, your space in the
owners just dont think hard enough or often enough market and your clients. Finally lets think about you.
about branding basics, such as who their most What do you bring to the table and how much of
profitable clients are or what makes their company yourself should you put into the business?
unique. Fewer still ensure that this knowledge is
So grab your notebook and spend some time
channelled through to the design of their brand
pondering your answers to the following questions.
identity.
Mind map, create spider charts, write copious notes
For example, if you know you want your business to and deliberate as much as you can.
be seen as creative, inspirational and approachable,
You may feel that some of the questions ask you very
there are fonts and colours you can use which will
similar things. This is because I want you to really
communicate that. Ill show you exactly how to do this
put your business under the microscope and be very
the book, but first we need to do some groundwork.
specific. Youll find this will help you realise your full
My approach to brand styling is about pulling potential and step up your brand significantly.
together the elements that will drive your business
Excerpt from How To Style Your Brand Fiona Humberstone (Copper Beech Press). For non-commercial use only, please do not distribute. thebrand-stylist.com. HOW TO STYLE YOUR BRAND PL ANNING WORKBOOK
1
WH AT MOTI VATE D YOU TO
S TYLE O R R ESTYLE YOUR BRAND ?
Its important for you to identify upfront why youre
doing this. Do you want to be taken more seriously
in the market? Are you launching a new business,
product or service and therefore want to make the
right impact from the get-go?
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WHAT S YO U R A I M
F OR T H I S P ROJE C T ?
How will you know the rebrand has been a success? What do you need it
to do for you? Are there misconceptions about your business right now?
Do people think youre cheaper than you are perhaps? Are you attracting
the wrong sorts of clients?
Excerpt from How To Style Your Brand Fiona Humberstone (Copper Beech Press). For non-commercial use only, please do not distribute. thebrand-stylist.com. HOW TO STYLE YOUR BRAND PL ANNING WORKBOOK
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WH AT DO YOU DO?
WH AT DO YOU SPE CI ALI SE I N?
This may seem like a ludicrously obvious question. Of course you know
what you sell. You probably also know what your bestselling and most
profitable services are too. But bear with me for a moment.
You may find that your product and service range has grown out of
all control. That in your quest to grow your business youve expanded,
expanded, expanded and are now left with a literal or virtual range of
products that you just cant shift. Youve lost your unique selling point, 5
people are confused by what you stand for and youre struggling to see
the wood for the trees.
Take a breath and use this time to really examine where you are right
now and where you want to be headed. If you could be known for just
one thing in your business, what would it be?
If you could wave a magic wand and change one thing about your
business, what would that be?
Are you selling what inspires you? Are you known for products and
services that have you leaping out of bed in the morning? And do they
sell? Are there product lines or services youd like to drop and others that
youd love to major in? This is your chance to gain focus or to reinvent
yourself and your business!
Excerpt from How To Style Your Brand Fiona Humberstone (Copper Beech Press). For non-commercial use only, please do not distribute. thebrand-stylist.com. HOW TO STYLE YOUR BRAND PL ANNING WORKBOOK
4
W H AT MAKES YOU STAND
HEAD AND SHOULDE RS
A B OVE TH E COM PE TI TI ON?
When youre in the thick of running a business it can be
easy to focus on the wrong things. The reason you didnt
win a project. The apparent success your competitors
are having right now. The client that didnt quite have
the experience you set out to create.
What do you really excel at? What else? And what else?
Excerpt from How To Style Your Brand Fiona Humberstone (Copper Beech Press). For non-commercial use only, please do not distribute. thebrand-stylist.com. HOW TO STYLE YOUR BRAND PL ANNING WORKBOOK
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W HO AR E YOUR
P R O FITABL E CLI E NTS?
W HY DO TH E Y B UY FROM YOU?
Profitable clients are the ones who value what
you do and are prepared to spend what you want
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Excerpt from How To Style Your Brand Fiona Humberstone (Copper Beech Press). For non-commercial use only, please do not distribute. thebrand-stylist.com. HOW TO STYLE YOUR BRAND PL ANNING WORKBOOK
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IS TH ER E A TYPE OF
CL IENT YO URE
N OT CU R R ENTLY
ATTR ACTIN G?
You want more of your best clients,
thats a given. But is there another
group of customers who would
really benefit from your business
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that youre not currently attracting?
Excerpt from How To Style Your Brand Fiona Humberstone (Copper Beech Press). For non-commercial use only, please do not distribute. thebrand-stylist.com. HOW TO STYLE YOUR BRAND PL ANNING WORKBOOK
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WH AT DO YOU FI ND M OST
INSPIR ATIONAL ABOUT YOUR B U SINESS?
How often do you stop and think about what really inspires
you about your business? The right brand identity can help
you attract more of the clients and work that has you leaping
out of bed in the morning and less of the stuff that leaves
you with that unpleasant knot in your stomach.
Excerpt from How To Style Your Brand Fiona Humberstone (Copper Beech Press). For non-commercial use only, please do not distribute. thebrand-stylist.com. HOW TO STYLE YOUR BRAND PL ANNING WORKBOOK
8
W H AT VALUE S DRI V E YOUR BU SINESS?
This is quite possibly the most important question anyone
in business needs to answer. Why do you do what you do?
This is about the authenticity and the drive that keeps you
going when things get tough.
Excerpt from How To Style Your Brand Fiona Humberstone (Copper Beech Press). For non-commercial use only, please do not distribute. thebrand-stylist.com. HOW TO STYLE YOUR BRAND PL ANNING WORKBOOK
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W HAT DO YO U WANT TO BE KNOWN F OR ?
All of the thinking youve done so far leads to one, simple question. What
do you want to be known for? Lets bring together your understanding about your
most profitable clients, your space in the market and what inspires you, to create
an utterly compelling proposition. To be truly successful you need to stand out, be
distinctive and create a business thats in a category of just one. Challenge yourself
to dig deep and be brave.
If you were to plot out what makes you different from your competitors, how would
that look? What proposition are your competitors trading on
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and how is that different from what you want to be known for?
Take into account any insider knowledge youve gleaned from mystery shops,
feedback from clients and competitor research, as well as what they talk about on
their website and in social media. How are you doing things differently?
What is it about your product or service that your clients really value?
What makes you unique? And how can you communicate that through your new
brand identity and in your marketing literature?
Find a spot in the market that only you can own and use this focus to align all of
your communications with this one, compelling proposition. For instance, if you sell
creative services, edit your portfolio down so it only shows the work that you want to
win more of, the work of which you are overwhelmingly proud. This can be a bold
move, but will pay dividends
in the end.
You cant be all things to all people, so create a proposition so effective that it has
clients crossing continents to work with you. It takes confidence to create this amount
of focus, but by honing your product range or services to such a highly targeted style,
proposition or offer, youll make your business become irresistible.
Excerpt from How To Style Your Brand Fiona Humberstone (Copper Beech Press). For non-commercial use only, please do not distribute. thebrand-stylist.com. HOW TO STYLE YOUR BRAND PL ANNING WORKBOOK
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WH O , EXAC TLY, SHOULD THI S
N EW BR AND I DE NTI TY BLOW AWAY ?
Be honest with yourself here. Think broadly about who you really want to impress
with your newly styled brand. Think beyond clients.
Perhaps there is a magazine editor or a blogger who you wish would take you
seriously? Perhaps its more about getting a big supplier or a retail outlet to take
a closer look at your business? Maybe you wish to attract and retain quality staff?
Youre also going to be thinking about your most profitable clients too, of course... 12
Be as specific as you can. Think precisely about who within that
list you want to wow and exactly what sort of thing is going to
blow them away.
If you find that youre coming up with conflicting answers, now is the time to
priortise, before you get yourself into a pickle trying to please everybody with your
new design.
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H OW S H O U L D YO U R I D E AL
C L I E N T S F E E L W H E N T H E Y LO O K
AT YO U R N E W LY S T Y L E D B RA N D ?
Imagine way down the line when your beautifully
styled new brand identity is on a new website or
blog, or you hand a crisply printed business card
over to an exciting new prospect. How should they
feel? What should they think about your business?
Excerpt from How To Style Your Brand Fiona Humberstone (Copper Beech Press). For non-commercial use only, please do not distribute. thebrand-stylist.com. HOW TO STYLE YOUR BRAND PL ANNING WORKBOOK
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H OW WILL YOUR
NEW BR AND I DE NTI TY
R EFL ECT YOUR B I G V I SI ON?
This process is as much about encouraging you
to think big and communicate your dreams and
aspirations, as it is about the design.
Excerpt from How To Style Your Brand Fiona Humberstone (Copper Beech Press). For non-commercial use only, please do not distribute. thebrand-stylist.com. HOW TO STYLE YOUR BRAND PL ANNING WORKBOOK
OUR DEEPEST FEAR IS NOT THAT WE ARE
Excerpt from How To Style Your Brand Fiona Humberstone (Copper Beech Press). For non-commercial use only, please do not distribute. thebrand-stylist.com. HOW TO STYLE YOUR BRAND PL ANNING WORKBOOK
WHAT NEXT?
Are you feeling focused? Excited? Inspired, perhaps? Excellent! I was
hoping you might say that.
These questions have been taken from my brand new book, How to Style
Your Brand: Everything You Need to Know to Create a Distinctive Brand Identity 15
which is now available to preorder on Amazon.co.uk and shortly on
Amazon.com. It will also be available for worldwide shipping before the
UK launch on 19 May.
Youll find a comprehensive process outlined in the book for how to take
this focus and translate it into a powerful brand identity. One that really
reflects what your business is all about and something that makes doing
business easier.
Throughout the year Ill be publishing more, useful guides like this one,
and so if you havent already, do make sure youre subscribed to the
newsletter to be one of the first to hear!
Excerpt from How To Style Your Brand Fiona Humberstone (Copper Beech Press). For non-commercial use only, please do not distribute. thebrand-stylist.com. HOW TO STYLE YOUR BRAND PL ANNING WORKBOOK
l e f or p r e order
No w availa b
A m a z on. c o.uk!
on EV ERY THING YOU N E E D TO K N OW TO
C R EATE A D IST IN C T I VE B RAN D I D E N T I T Y
Excerpt from How To Style Your Brand Fiona Humberstone (Copper Beech Press). For non-commercial use only, please do not distribute. thebrand-stylist.com. HOW TO STYLE YOUR BRAND PL ANNING WORKBOOK
17
COPY R IG HT N OT I C E
You are free to use this workbook for branding your
own business but may not sell it, distribute it or
repurpose the content in any way.
Excerpt from How To Style Your Brand Fiona Humberstone (Copper Beech Press). For non-commercial use only, please do not distribute. thebrand-stylist.com. HOW TO STYLE YOUR BRAND PL ANNING WORKBOOK