Expertise / Strategy
Brand strategy in Dubai, settled before the design starts.
Alternative Space writes down who the business sells to, why they should choose it, and the idea every later piece is checked against.
Clients includeBedaya Polyclinic, Lento, Whispers of Alara and La Vie
Before the design
Brand strategy belongs before the design. Design bought before the idea is settled gets redone, and each later piece argues a different point.
Settle it first, and the logo, the site and the posts all say the same thing.
What a brand strategy settles
The audience
Who buys, and what they compare you with.
Brand positioning
One line on why they should choose you.
The idea
The thought every piece is checked against.
The voice
How the brand speaks, and what it never says.
The name
When the idea needs one.
The marketing strategy
The channels, and what each one is for.
Brand strategy in the UAE, for businesses in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.
What the written strategy contains
The written strategy is a document your team keeps, written in the brand's voice rather than ours. Depending on the scope, it covers:
The position
One insight about the trade or the buyer, a paragraph on it, and the line that follows from it.
Mission, vision and values
What the business does, where it is going, and what it holds to on the way.
Personality and manifesto
The brand's character, and a short text that says what it believes.
The customers, as people
Who they are, what they come for and what brings them back.
The journey
Each stage a customer passes through, with a principle for it and one moment the brand owns.
It leaves out cost tables and sales forecasts, which belong in a business plan.
Naming
Naming starts from the idea, so the name is agreed before the logo is drawn. We write territories, then a shortlist, screen each name in the languages it will be said in, and check that it is available. Screening is not legal clearance: the trademark search and registration sit with you and your lawyer, and we say so in writing.
What follows the strategy
Identity work follows directly from the strategy. The same team that writes it draws the mark, so nothing is lost between two agencies.
A marketing strategy comes next. We decide what the website, the store, the feed and the shop floor are each for, so each one is judged on its own work, and the content plan is built on those decisions.
The voice, written down
A brand voice is written as rules with examples: the words the brand uses, the words it avoids, and the same sentence written its way and the wrong way. Anyone who writes for the business can check a line against it.
For a business already trading
Brand repositioning starts from what customers already believe about the business. We read what they say and what they search for, keep the parts of the old position that still hold, and write the new line from there, so regular customers still recognise the business after the change.
Branding consultancy
Branding consultancy is part of it too. For teams that design in-house, we set the strategy and review the work as it is made.
Brands that started from a strategy
All strategy work
How a strategy project works
- 01
Listening
On the first call
Who the business is for, what it competes with, and what has to be decided first.
- 02
The proposal
Before any research
The parts the strategy will cover, the dates and the fee, signed before work starts.
- 03
Reading and writing
Over the dates agreed
The market and the alternatives read first, then the position, the idea and the voice written, with the rounds of changes the proposal sets.
- 04
The document
Before any design
The written strategy and its files handed to you, with three weeks of support included.
Questions
What is brand strategy?
Brand strategy is the decision about who a business is for and what makes them pick it over the alternatives. It is written down so the identity, the website and the content can all be tested against it, and it comes before any design. At Alternative Space it is delivered as a written document. Our article on what brand strategy is gives a plain answer with a worked example.
How do you build a brand strategy?
Building a brand strategy runs in order. We listen on the first call, read the market and the alternatives your customers compare, find the insight those alternatives ignore, and write the position and the idea. Then we hold the idea against the pieces the business needs first, perhaps a menu, a website and a sign, and keep it only if it gives the designer a clear answer for each.
Do we need a strategy before a logo?
A strategy written before the logo gives the logo something to mean. Without one, the mark is a guess, and each later piece, the menu, the site, the first campaign, has to work around it. With one, the designer has a test: does this mark say what the strategy decided? For a business that already has a logo, the strategy shows what to keep and what to change.
What do we get at the end of a brand strategy?
The end of a brand strategy is a written document, with each part on its own page, from the position to the customer journey. That lets your team pass one page to the person it concerns: the voice to a copywriter, the journey to the staff on the floor, the position to the designer briefing the identity. The document and its source files are handed over, and every later brief can quote it.
What happens after the strategy is written?
For three weeks after handover we stay on hand for fixes and questions on what we delivered, while the first pieces are briefed against the strategy. Beyond that, support is a separate scope.
What decides the fee for a strategy?
A strategy's fee follows what it has to decide. A position and an idea for one opening is a smaller piece of work than a full strategy with personas, a customer journey, a name and the channels. A written quote follows the first call, and nothing starts until it is signed. The fee is set by the decisions to be made, never by the hours.
How long does a brand strategy take?
A brand strategy takes as long as the decisions in it and the people who have to agree them. A founder who decides alone moves faster than a board, and a strategy that includes a name adds time for screening. The proposal puts a date on each step, from the first reading of the market to the written document, so the design can be booked to start when it is done.
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