Customer Brand Analysis

Definition

A customer brand analysis is the digital branding work product produced during the customer brand analysis task that informally documents the results of the analysis of the customer organization’s existing brand.

Objectives

The typical objectives of a customer brand analysis are to:

• Document the current brand of the customer organization’s business enterprise.

Benefits

The typical benefits of a customer brand analysis are:

• It provides the foundation on which to base the new digital brand.

Contents

The typical contents of a customer brand analysis include:

• Current Brand Identity:
  • Logo This includes the content, standard colors (including graytones), default and minimum size, standard font, screen and page placement, and rationale of the brand’s logo.
  • Trademark This includes the standard font face, colors (including graytones), default and minimum size, screen or page placement, and rationale of the brand’s trademark, salesmark, or tag line.
  • Brand Typography This includes the standard font face, colors, default and minimal font size, screen and page placement, and rationale for the brand’s typography.
  • Brand Sounds This includes any standard branding sounds (e.g., jingles, recordings of spoken tag lines) and their rationale.
  • Brand Messages (a.k.a., Brand Associations) This includes brand messages describing:
    • The Business Enterprise (e.g., a competent and successful business)
    • What the business enterprises does (e.g., it runs the premier online office supply e-marketplace.)
    • The User’s Value Proposition (e.g., it empowers its users to easily and safely buy and sell the office supplies over the Web.)
    • The Core Beliefs and Values of the business enterprise (e.g., user success, quality products, reliable service, credibility, trust, and dependability)
  • Brand Personality (a.k.a., Brand Aura) This includes the:
    • Brand Tone and Voice (e.g., serious, businesslike, technical, fun)
    • Brand Look and Feel (e.g., clean, complete)
    • Brand Metaphors
• Planned or Requested Brand Changes
• Conclusion
• Appendices:
  • Major Issues
  • TBDs
  • Assumptions

Stakeholders

The typical stakeholders of a customer brand analysis are:

• Producers:
  • Digital Branding Team
• Evaluators:
  • Strategy Inspection Team
• Approvers:
  • Technical Leader
  • Project Manager
  • Customer Representative
• Maintainers:
  • Digital Branding Team
  • User Experience Teams
• Users:
  • Digital Branding Team, which uses it to develop the digital brand strategy.
  • User Experience Teams, which uses it to develop the digital brand prototype and when designing application human interfaces.

Phases

• Business Strategy: Completed
• Business Optimization: Maintained
• Initiation: Maintained (or Completed if not completed earlier)
• Construction: Maintained
• Delivery: Maintained
• Usage: Maintained
• Retirement: Archived

Preconditions

A customer brand analysis typically can be started if the following preconditions hold:

• The business strategy phase has started.
• The digital branding team has been staffed and trained in the customer brand analysis task.

Inputs

The typical inputs to a customer brand analysis include:

• Work products:
  • The customer organization’s:
    • Mission Statement
    • Core Values Statement
    • Branding documentation:
      • Corporate identity materials
      • Corporate logo
    • Marketing materials:
      • Print advertisments
      • Video advertisements
      • Audio advertisements
      • Marketing event literature
    • Communications materials:
      • Corporate stationary with letterhead
      • Business cards
  • Customer Analysis
  • Business Vision Statement
  • Competitor Brand Analysis
• Stakeholders:
  • Branding domain experts
  • Customer organization marketing personnel
  • Digital Brand strategist

Guidelines

• This is a living document that is developed incrementally and iteratively in parallel with other documents (e.g., Competitor Brand Analysis).
• Only produce this work product if:
  • The customer organization currently has a brand strategy and definition.
  • A new digital brand strategy is to be produced.

Conventions

A customer brand analysis is typically constrained by the following conventions:

• Inspection Checklist

Examples

• Example Customer Brand Analysis