Brand
Strategy.

+ Branding is a logo, right?

Branding not the logo, product, service or service you provide. Branding is the gut feeling of your audience; how they feel about you and how they feel about your brand. They assign an emotional value to your brand, as it were, which gives your brand a right to exist. You cannot force this feeling on your audience, but you can steer it with the right intentions through all communication with your audience.

+ Waarom collaborate with THE NOW?

Juliëtte Schraauwers and her flexible team now have 15 years of experience in developing a sharp and effective Branding Strategy & Design. It is important that you look at your brand from a holistic perspective; not only from economic profit, but also from ecological and social profit. This creates a clear focus on how you already want to make (personal) brand impact in the world. By going through the process you develop a compass for life. It all starts with the core 'Why' - if you, as a brand, can give a good answer to that, the rest will follow automatically. It is no longer your product that is central, but the solution with which you will make the world more beautiful, healthier, more sustainable and better.

+ What is branding and where to start?

Often people think that a Brand is the logo or corporate identity. But is that really so? Branding is not the logo, the logo is part of your brand identity. A logo is the logo or symbol of your organization, but does not make the brand itself. Before you can develop a fire, you must first define what you want to carry out from the inside to the outside world. We call this the Branding Strategy. It is everything you stand for and act upon as an organization.

You then develop a visual and verbal identity, of which the logo is a part. With these two aspects you can interact with your audience. This can be done both online and offline. This way the brand comes to life in the head and heart of your target group and they themselves link a value to it. People don't buy your brand, they join your brand. It is the gut feeling about your product, service or organization that determines whether your branding has a right to exist. You can't force this, but you can control it.

Often it starts with an idea or a dream. You see a gap in the market, want to offer a solution to a problem or have come up with a genius new service that makes the world more beautiful.

This can arise in an existing organization or in a new company. In other words: You know what you want and are ready for the next step in your business and you are 100% committed to doing whatever it takes to make it a success. Everything starts with the right mindset, if you are willing to do everything you can to make your Brand come to life, then this is the day why you agree with yourself. I believe you don't need a business degree to become an entrepreneur.

Along the way you will meet people who will tell you that it is not a good idea. But often that means that you have come up with something completely new. Go fo it!

+ Why is a branding strategie important?

To build a long-term relationship with your costumers, it is important that you develop a clear compass for your organization. Where are we now and where do we want to be in 5 years? What are our long-term goals and how are we going to achieve them?

You develop a branding strategy when you start a company, or when you want to reposition an existing company, this is also called Re Branding.

When you are a starting company with a good idea, your brand strategy is the first step. You ensure that you first develop a blueprint that serves as a basis, on which you can then build the fire. Without a good foundation, the surf collapses at the first storm.

Compare it to building a house, you cannot hang curtains until you have made the foundation. This basis gives you direction, focus, structure and creative space to keep developing. It is the blueprint on which to base all choices.

+ Branding v.s. Marketing, isn't that the same?

There is a lot of confusion about the difference between Branding and Marketing. So I thought, time for some clarification. That's better for everyone, right?

Let's start with Marketing. When an organization or company says to its audience: “Our product is great!”. This can be said face to face, through a website or other communication. When an organization proclaims itself that they have a great product, we talk about Marketing. Bright? Okay on to Branding.

Branding is when your audience or target group spontaneously say or think: “I think you have a great product” – in other words, it originated from the value that the person in question has added to it themselves, in this case speaking then we talk about Branding.

Branding is therefore an incredibly powerful tool to generate that feeling in your audience. Because if they think so and really join your brand, then they are willing to tell others on your behalf as well. In that case we speak of public relations. There are a lot of interaction options with your audience to make sure that the brand comes to life for them.

+ What will the future of branding looklike?

Our earth is our home. If we can take good care of our home, the earth will provide us with everything we need. Healthy food, fresh air, a roof over our heads, company, beautiful nature to enjoy and much more.

Science has long agreed, we humans have made a mess of it. Because of our consumerism that increased during the industrial revolution and has only grown since then, we are exhausting the earth at a murderous pace. What makes our life here on earth possible, we destroy.

It is an unsustainable situation to which we all, including you, contribute. It's cliché, but real change also starts with yourself. More and more companies are making the transition to sustainable, circular, social and transparent.

In this way, they weigh future generations in their decisions. From depleting the earth to restoring the earth, from me to we, from monoculture to biodiversity. Time is ticking away and consumers are becoming more discerning, demanding organizations to do the right thing for the collective good.

I therefore believe that the brands of the future will have a positive impact on people, animals and the environment. It is the brands that now dare to take the step that will survive in the long term.

Zo wegen ze volgende generaties mee in hun beslissingen. Van de aarde uitputten naar de aarde herstellen, van ik naar wij, van monocultuur naar biodiversiteit. De tijd tikt door en consumenten worden kritischer en eisen van organisaties dat ze het juiste doen voor het collectieve doel.

Ik geloof daarom dat de brand's van de toekomst een positieve impact maken op mens, dier en milieu. Het zijn de brand's die nu de stap durven te maken die het op de lang termijn gaan overleven.