Asking Brand Strategy Questions The Right Way
Brand strategy requires quality questions that call for critical introspection and extrospection to create new pathways.
Too often, brand strategy is not viewed as a top priority for founders and small business owners, and understandably so since it's easy to think product/service and marketing are.
In reality, starting with brand strategy is very important for businesses of any size. It all starts with asking the right questions.
Questions are very powerful tools in the arsenal of a strategist or founder.
If our job consists of collecting and connecting the dots, then we must by nature be obsessively curious.
We need to observe, investigate, and ask the right questions to receive answers that will help us see what others can’t see.
We need to question the accuracy of facts and challenge the soundness of an idea.
Like Albert Einstein once said, “The important thing is not to stop questioning.”
Einstein knew the secret to learning lies in the curiosity to question and explore new horizons.
The Art of Discovery: question the quality of your brand strategy questions
We need to ask quality questions—questions that elicit actionable information that empowers us to make rational decisions while solving problems more interestingly.
We should prompt the respondent to take a critical introspective and extrospective look.
“If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask… for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.” - Albert Einstein
If an answer seems too obvious, it is probably not the fruit of a quality question.
But it doesn’t end here. The way we frame and compound the questions also determines the quality of the answers.
‘New roads questions’ is the answer to your brand strategy
If we seek change and growth, we need to ask questions from a positive mindset with genuine curiosity. The types of questions that I like to call “New Roads Questions''.
These questions create new pathways in the mind of the interviewee. Think of these questions as exhilarating roads the client is eager to explore that lead to destinations with transformative answers.
“It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question.” — Eugene Ionesco
Here is a questionnaire example that helps me reap great results fast when starting a brand strategy project
It’s important to set expectations right from the start of an interview. I take the time to explain what is going to happen and how I would like to receive answers.
I ask for short but loaded answers. I ask my interviewee to think of this as a conversation with a trusted person. It’s recommended to get personal and profound. A short paragraph is usually enough.
The founder of the company should answer these questions first. Then I like to ask the executive team the same questions. Then I consolidate the answers I have received into an executive summary that I share with the company.
I ask the stakeholders to sit down and review the answers as a team and debate over the conflicting answers. There will be conflicting answers.
My goals in asking quality brand strategy questions are:
To get to know my client on a deeper level. Understand my client’s vision, story, and goals;
To unearth deep learning and insights that will inform the strategy, brand narrative, and marketing communications.
The following 12 questions allow me to reap great results, fast:
About You
What do you expect from this exercise?
Who influences you or inspires you?
How can branding/marketing help make your work life easier?
If you could snap your fingers and change one thing in the company, what would it be?
Industry
If you were at dinner telling your friends “What is your company and what it does”, what would you say?
What are your favorite resources on the subject of your industry?
How are you generating creative ideas and innovation?
Business
What are the biggest mistakes and business challenges you see in your industry? What are the biggest wastes of time?
Brand
How would you articulate the higher-order purpose of existence? Why does your company exist in the first place besides making money?
What do you wish people knew about your brand?
If your brand ceased to exist tomorrow, what do you think your customers would miss the most?
Competition
Who do you see as your direct competitor(s)? And what makes you unique?
Questioning is mining for information.
Dig up the dirty soil and you may find the root of the problem.
Dig deep down into the earth and you may discover hidden secrets.
With practice, you’ll know better where and how to dig.
Bastien Frediani
LinkedIn: in/creativebrandstrategist
Email: strategy@thinkbastien.com
Bastien Frediani is the founder and strategist of ThinkBastien, a strategy studio that helps bridge the gap between vision and audience.