A brand definition is a succinct articulation of what your brand is about and what makes it different.
It articulates:
A strong brand definition lies at the heart of successful brands. It is important because it sets the direction for how your brand looks, speaks and behaves. It is the driving force that ensures that your brand is always coherent and never chaotic. It enables your audiences, whether they are staff, volunteers, customers, supporters, investors, donors and so on, to understand what you are about, why you are different and why they should support you.
Fundamentally a great brand definition is what will help you create a strong and sustainable identity that will command a loyal band of supporters more quickly and for the long term.
Creating your brand definition should be one of the first things you do when you start out, but it is never too late to create one. In any case, you should revisit it periodically to make sure that it still holds true within your changing landscape.
Essentially a brand definition is a strategic statement about your brand that defines who you are. If you follow the step-by-step guide laid out in the Housebrands Toolkit, by the end of the programme you will have your own brand definition, applicable to your organisation and none other.
It will consist of the following:
