How Is a Brand Strategy Born? Our Step-by-Step Methodology

“I want a beautiful brand, one of those that makes people fall in love with the company.” This is one of the requests we hear most often around here. And it makes perfect sense, after all, anyone running a small business wants to attract people, win them over, and make their brand unforgettable. But it’s important to remember that a brand’s beauty alone isn’t enough to create this kind of connection. What truly makes a brand lovable, one that stays in people’s minds and hearts, is the strategy behind it. And that’s what we want to talk to you about in this article.

A brand strategy is a core tool of branding. It works as a bridge between your business and how it communicates with the world. It’s brand strategy that translates what your company is in a way that people can understand. More than guiding communication, it drives decisions ranging from tone of voice to the company name, from the logo to colors and graphic elements. In our Beloved Brand projects, we always start with it. Before making any visual or verbal choices, we dive deep into the strategy. Want to know how we do it? We’ll show you, step by step.

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Step 1 – Clarity

Before any creation, we need direction. That’s why the first step of our methodology is to seek clarity. We need to deeply understand what your company does, what it believes in, how it positions itself, and what it aims to build moving forward. In our methodology, this step happens through an interactive questionnaire with structured questions that we’ve affectionately named Clarity. It’s through it that you’ll tell your company’s story in your own words. If you already have a structured business plan, you can use it as a reference. But don’t worry if you don’t have one yet. Many people organize their ideas as they answer, and that in itself is already a powerful process. After that, we continue the conversation, exchange ideas, and clear up any questions. Because what we want is to understand your business in depth. It’s only with this solid foundation that we can build a brand that reflects what your company is.

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Step 2 – Brand Heart

With the information in hand, it’s time to process what we’ve gathered. We organize everything you’ve shared to create material that reflects the brightest aspects of your company. That’s why we call this phase the Brand Heart. Here, the focus is on what beats at the core of your business, its feelings, values, and commitments. And all of this is presented in a way that makes sense to anyone seeing your brand from the outside: clients, partners, suppliers, and more. It’s in this stage that we define key points, and every single detail is designed to make your brand understood, remembered, and, ultimately, loved.

Chef Josie approached us to create the brand for her new venture. She was returning to Brazil with a plan: to open a café in Blumenau called Botané, with the goal of using high-quality local ingredients. She would also offer catering, something she already had experience in. During the process, we came to understand what drives Josie. And that’s how we arrived at the company’s purpose: “To be an affectionate kitchen where traditional food is shared with heart, soul, and boldness.” The phrase “rooted food” connects both to the chef’s roots and to the local ingredients that Botané values.

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Step 3 – Brand World

After looking inside your company, it’s time to open the windows and see what’s happening outside. After all, it’s in the outside world that your brand meets its dream customers, understands what it can offer to improve their lives, and considers how it wants to be perceived. In this stage, we organize and translate again, but now focusing on information coming from your business environment such as identifying competitors, customers, the spaces they occupy, and what your company delivers to them. The goal is to build a clear positioning that shows how your brand stands out. It’s like mapping the territory where your brand lives.

Tartiner came to us ready for a complete transformation of their packaging. But before starting the visual work, we investigated: what’s going on in the world of Brazilian spreads? We dove into the market to understand how other brands present themselves. Do they use mascots on the packaging? Do they rely on special finishes? What do they value? What do they leave out? These questions helped us see Tartiner’s current positioning and understand the best way for the brand to stand out in this new moment. That’s how the new line of “jars of happiness” was born, a rainbow of flavors with minimalist labels, aligned with the clean label positioning. This research not only guided the creation of packaging aligned with the brand’s strategy but also earned recognition: the project was shortlisted for the ABRE Award, in the Graphic Design category for sweet foods, and for the BDA – Brazilian Design Award, in the Packaging Design category.

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Strategy Ready (or Almost!)

We’ve gone through the three stages of developing the brand strategy, and now we have many relevant points organized in this powerful branding tool. This means that, first, we classify the information we gathered with you. And second, we write each point using the language and tone that reflect the brand’s personality and follow the attributes established in the strategy itself. This way of expressing the brand is also about understanding who we’re talking to primarily, your dream customer. But it’s not over yet. We’ll continue with the Beloved Brand project, always returning to the strategy stage. In other words, what we’ve done so far will serve as the foundation while we create the next steps. And the most interesting part: what comes next can also help refine and improve the strategy, keeping everything aligned and coherent.

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Next Steps: Identity and Experience

With the strategy in place, it becomes a key resource for completing the Beloved Brand project. It’s time to give your brand form in words and images. Starting with the verbal identity, this is when the brand name will be created, if needed. We’ll also define its tone of voice and write key messages within that tone, such as the brand statement and manifesto. Once the verbal identity is ready, it becomes our guide, alongside the brand strategy, for creating the visual identity: the logo, colors, graphics, illustrations, and everything your brand expresses visually.

Bangalô Ilhabela is a place with an unforgettable sunset, and this natural beauty became part of the brand. From the strategy we built, the visual identity was inspired by the bright, ever-present sun. This sun paints nature’s silhouettes with its rays of light. This was the starting point to design the graphic elements that today make up the brand’s visual identity: silhouettes of the bungalows, birds, and foliage. The Bangalô Ilhabela project was recognized by the Brazilian Design Biennial in the category Brand Identity & Spirit.

+ Also Read – How Does a Visual Identity Come to Life? Our Step-by-Step Methodology

Conclusion: How Does a Brand Strategy Come to Life?

In our creative process, a brand strategy emerges from the information we have about the company. From there, we organize, adjust, translate, and develop points that define who the brand is, who it relates to, and what the surrounding world looks like. This clarity guides the brand’s behaviors and decisions and is extremely useful for those managing it day to day. For us, the strategy also directs the creation of the verbal and visual identity, as well as every experience the brand delivers to its customers. With a strong strategy as the foundation, the identity gains greater weight. Your company goes beyond just saying nice words and showing attractive visuals, it communicates in a way full of meaning. This way, it’s ready to deliver what it does best and create true connections with what matters most: your dream customers!

And what about your business? Do you already have a Brand Strategy? Have you ever invested in a brand that looked beautiful but didn’t quite say everything you wanted? Tell us your story in the comments or write to us at [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you.

Do you feel like it’s time for your business to take the next step and invest in a Beloved Brand? Count on us, let’s create it together! Request a proposal.