There are two key tools to developing and optimizing your brand strategy:

1. The Brand Value Pyramid

Solid feature and benefits are the price of entry – the foundation of a viable product or service. Great brands are built around a strategy and compelling “story” working from the top of the pyramid addressing variables such as values, experience, and personality.

2. Optimization of Brand Strategy

Brands do not exist in a vacuum. They are the sum total of all that the company is, and wishes to be. The brand, on one hand, is a net-impression. On the other hand, it is a vision of the future. Effective brand strategies optimize the balance of a company’s core competencies, near term and future opportunities, with the needs of each constituent along the value chain. The weak link in the chain is the breakdown of the brand and potentially the failure of the company.