Fact-driven strategies for success

Brand Audits

Objective, impartial advice

An objective, impartial brand audit can be invaluable to firms for:

1. Reviewing brand and marketing effectiveness.
Reviewing brand and marketing effectiveness of companies in the portfolio, and the efficiency of the brand architecture within each company. Ensuring that the brand appeals to all the relevant stakeholders – including potential partners, investors and staff as well as customers.

2. Assessing brand value.
Under or over-estimating the brand value could lead to under or over investment, and a failure to fully realise the commercial value of the brand.

3. Identifying brand risk.
Making sure that appropriate risk amazement and mitigation plans are in place.

Adding value in transactions

Brand audits are also very valuable for companies and Private Equity firms actively managing their portfolio through acquisitions and divestitures:

Evaluating the brands of target companies, and assessing potential brand synergies and brand risk

Developing a post-acquisition brand strategy to secure and grow the brand value when it comes into the portfolio, e.g. should the acquired brand be maintained, gradually transitioned, or replaced with an existing brand - and how and when.

Valuing brands in preparation for company sales.

We can target our brand audits to address specific issues, or look broadly at brand performance and marketing efficiency, identifying opportunities to make the brand more effective in driving revenue growth and profitability. Key questions we typically address are:

Is the brand well-positioned or under-performing?

Do your brand proposition and values still appeal to all of your target stakeholders? 

Is your brand promise believable given your history and your brand experience?

Are you brand applications all consistent with your guidelines?

Is your brand proposition really distinctive versus competitors?

Is the brand effective in attracting customers, winning market share and growing revenue and profits?

Could the brand architecture be more effective?

Do you really need all of the brands?

Is there a niche in the market that could be exploited using an additional brand?

What costs could be saved by reducing the number of brands?

Are corporate and product/service brands effectively endorsing and reinforcing each other?

Could the brand communications be improved?

Is the messaging clear and compelling?

Are the messages about relevant qualities that appeal to your customers and other stakeholders, and different from the competition?

Are all of the branded communication consistent, and projecting the same personality?

Does the creative work support the messaging?

Are the communications cost-effective and focused?

Brand Strategy

Hensley Partners helps clients in both the development of brand strategy, and in training executives in brand strategy frameworks, tools and techniques. 

Brands are critical for future revenue, so the brand strategy needs to address how the brand platform can be leveraged for innovation and growth? And how can the brand lead the rationalisation and transformation of the organisation?

The role of a brand is to give the people who know it confidence and attract them to choose it over other alternatives. So a good brand strategy is based on fact-based market insight - understanding what drives people to make the choices they do; provides a clear brand platform for messaging and design; and has a set of actionable plans for communication and change management to deliver the desired brand experience.

Our brand strategy services include:

Market Insight

Customer analysis: researching B2B and B2C audiences: from interviews with B2B decision makers to global quantitative research studies - developing insights into what they are looking for and what drives choice.

Competitive analysis: evaluating strengths and weaknesses of your product and service propositions versus competitors.

Capability analysis: evaluating which are the distinctive capabilities of the company that can lead to differentiation and future growth.

Brand Platform

Brand positioning: developing a brand platform that fits the corporate strategy - including the vision and mission, the brand essence, brand promise, brand personality - that will resonate with target audiences.

Brand architecture: defining the role and scope of the different brands in the portfolio.

Brand Guidelines: setting out guidelines for communications and behaviours that fit the brand positioning - and identifying those that don't.

Communication & Change Management

Brand communication: developing internal and external messaging and communication plans, so that the brand proposition is consistently and effectively communicated internally and externally at all touch-points, including owned, paid and earned media.

Change management and execution plans to ensure that all staff are aligned with the strategy, and that the brand experience is consistent with the promise at all points not he customer journey.

Brand Design

We work with our clients in bringing their brands to life through effective design.

Brand Identity Design

Designing logos and identity systems for all visual brand applications.

Creating identity design guidelines, so that marketing teams, internal communications, corporate communications, and the work of external advertising and PR agencies all has a consistent look and feel.

Business Strategy

We help our clients envision the future and develop strategies and plans to compete more effectively and satisfy more customers more profitably.

Future Situation Analysis

Identifying influential trends in technology, demographics, economics, regulations and fashion, and creating scenarios of possible futures - and their implications for the business.

Understanding customers current and latent needs and desires, how these are changing and the opportunities that creates.

Analysing competitors and new entrants strengths and weaknesses relative to the current and future capabilities of the business.

Strategic Option Development

Identifying opportunities for business enhancement, organic expansion and diversification, partnerships and acquisitions.

Reviewing implications  of each option in terms of revenue and profit potential, costs and investments, fit with existing capabilities and skills, and competitive sustainability

Building a consensus of key stakeholders around a desired long-term strategy and operating model.

Strategic Roadmap

Developing an action plan with clear goals and milestones and priorities for maximum impact, including investments, skills and technology development, partnerships, people and, if needed, organisation and culture change.

Establishing monitoring and feedback  systems so that progress on the plan can be followed, its effectiveness evaluated, and  so the strategy can evolve with appropriate adjustments made when needed.

Organisational Design & Transformation

We help our clients find the most appropriate organisational structure and partner with them in putting the people and processes in place to manage and motivate the organisation. 

Organisation Design

Designing organisational structures to ensure that the business can operate effectively and efficiently, with new or restructured entities where necessary.

Identifying the appropriate level of co-ordination  and links across units and functions - and with  external entities - to realise synergies while maintaining appropriate levels of operational autonomy and without overburdening bureaucracy.

People and Processes

Roles, responsibilities and requirements for key positions in the organisation, together with performance targets and development objectives.

Performance management and learning systems, aligning the Total Reward system to incentivise desired behaviours and performance, and ensuring that appropriate learning programmes are in place to improve competencies, capabilities and performance.

Culture & Change Management

Culture assessments  to identify how much change in attitudes, expectations and social behaviours will be needed.

Culture change programmes to engage staff throughout the organisation and help them understand the new expectations for attitudes and behaviours. build the desired

Communications programmes to ensure that all staff understand and are aligned with the strategy, new culture and ways of working.