We’re all guilty of using jargon and insider short-hand when talking about our areas of expertise. Marketers are perhaps more guilty of this than any other group. As a brand and communication strategist, one of the short-hand terms that I find causes the most confusion is the broad and multitudinous use of the word “brand.”

Just as organizations realized, over four decades ago, that a deep understanding of brand could provide significant financial value to organizations, so it is with customer experience planning today. Recent studies by Gartner, Forrester, and Maritz all indicate the leading organizations are more than doubling their investment in understanding and planning their customer experiences compared to the previous five-year period.

Not sure how to get the ball rolling in the brand planning process? We’ve listed four steps below that will help you get started:

Working on a particular brand or brands day after day, we become attached to them in ways that others may not be. It’s a natural human response when we’re invested in the work we do.

Updating your brand is a big investment, and many clients approach us unsure whether they need to evolve their brand or completely reposition it. Often they’re not even sure how to articulate the difference between the two.