Service · Brand consulting
Brand consulting and strategy
Clarifying the direction before multiplying actions.
Brand consulting helps decide what a company stands for, how it wants to be perceived and what it must prioritise to move forward. At Mariona Agency we analyse business, communication and experience to identify misalignments and turn them into concrete decisions. We work from Barcelona with teams that need a shared direction before investing in new designs, content or campaigns.
When there are many initiatives and little clarity
An offer that has grown without order, messages that change from one department to another or a proposition that is hard to differentiate can all be signs that the problem lies before execution. Producing more pieces won’t fix that lack of shared criteria.
We study how the company explains itself and what experience it offers at its main touchpoints. We compare the business objectives with the materials and information available. The diagnosis makes it possible to distinguish between strategic decisions, problems of expression and operational needs, so we can act where change makes the most sense.
How we see brand consulting
Doing more doesn’t help if every initiative pulls in a different direction.
We stop to look at where the brand is and where it needs to be.
With a clear direction, every decision pushes towards the same place.
Animation: many arrows pointing in different directions become points on a map; the diagnosis shows where the brand is today, a position is chosen and from it comes a direction that all of them end up following.
Clear Flow and Human First
A useful strategy fits into a few decisions. We refine the diagnosis until it can be explained in one conversation, and turn it into a roadmap the team can apply on its own.
The answers are usually inside the organisation. We listen to management, teams and customers before proposing, and we stay with each decision until it stops being a document and becomes a way of working.
The decisions we can work on
Brand diagnosis
We review identity, messages, offer and the relevant applications. We identify inconsistencies and open questions, reading them against the context and the benchmarks in the category.
Positioning and value proposition
We define who the brand matters to, what it offers and how it can explain that credibly. We prioritise arguments backed by the reality of the business.
Brand architecture
We organise the relationship between company, brands, lines and services. The structure should help the audience understand the offer and help the team add future extensions.
Roadmap
We translate the conclusions into priorities and actions. We distinguish between what needs to be defined, what can be improved with current resources and what requires a specific project.
A strategy you can make decisions with
The result has to work in a management meeting, in a briefing and when a new proposal is being reviewed. That is why we document the criteria, the priorities and the reasoning behind them. Consulting can come before a branding project or have a scope of its own; its value is also measured by the clarity it gives the team to carry the work forward.
How we bring order to the starting point
Understand
We listen to the people in charge and review the business, materials and context.
Clarify
We identify the main problem and the decisions worth taking.
Design
We formulate positioning, architecture or criteria, depending on the scope.
Refine
We test the proposals with the teams and against operational reality.
Launch
We finalise a roadmap that connects the decisions with their next steps.
Case study
Positioning and identity
Tutichip
For Tutichip we worked on positioning, the rebrand and the visual identity. The brand platform connected the company’s know-how with the way it treats its customers; the graphic system grew out of the silhouette of its own snacks.
See the case study: TutichipQuestions about brand consulting
Does consulting mean redesigning the identity?
Not necessarily. It may conclude that the identity works and that it is more useful to bring order to messages, offer or applications. Any redesign is considered as a consequence of the diagnosis.
Who in the company do you work with?
With the people who know the business and can validate the decisions. Depending on the project, it may be necessary to involve management, marketing, sales or other teams that play a part in the brand experience.
Does it include market research?
The type of research is defined in the scope. A review of materials and context is not the same as a quantitative study or fieldwork; if these are needed, they are scoped specifically.
Let’s put the important decisions on the table
Tell us what is changing and where it is hard to find a common direction. We’ll start by putting those questions in order.
Let’s talk about brand strategy