Effective Branding Workshop Facilitation Kit for Your Organization

BRAND PILLARS WORKSHOP FACILITATION KIT

BRAND Pillars Workshop Facilitation Deck

PURPOSE PRE-ACTIVITY QUESTIONS What positive difference does your brand make for your audience? Why does your brand exist? What do you promise to deliver to your customer regarding every product, experience, and service interaction? What is the history/story behind the formation of your company? What will your company be doing in 10 years to deliver its promise? 1 8

MISSION Follow these steps when writing your mission statement: There are two ways in which you can conduct this activity: You can have each team member (or a small group of team members) write a mission statement to then share with the group. You can have the group develop the statement together. WHAT:In two or three words, describe what your organization does at its most basic level. NEXT: Step away from this card for a moment and complete the values card within this activity. HOW: Using one of the values you ve determined, describe how your business does what it does (i.e., how it operates). WHY: What is the passion behind your business? Why did you start? What difference do you want to make? 1. 2. 3. 4. Remember that the statement you come up with during this exercise is simply a starting place; avoid getting caught up in wordsmithing by assigning a timekeeper. After answering the questions above, use those answers to create a sentence. You now have a mission statement that you can revisit to change the wording if necessary. 2 8

VISION Your vision statement acts as your North Star. It clarifies the goals that you aim to achieve over the next 5-10 years. ACTIVITY TIPS After determining your mission and values, answer the questions below with your team. From those answers, craft your vision in three to five bullet point statements. Use either the individual or collective approach to discover your vision statement. Select the bullets that best facilitate the team s productivity. 3 8 Be sure to timebox this activity. You can always return to your statement to fill in any gaps.

VISION questions Imagine your successful business in 5-10 years. What is it doing to be successful? How is it accomplishing this? How has it expanded (i.e., physically, geographically, and financially)? How might your future market shift? What does success look like for your company? Finish the following sentence: Our company is successful if it is For nonprofits, the vision statement often envisions the ideal world. For for-profits, the vision statement describes what they do in that world. Use competition to help define your vision: We will be the leader in x industry. By x date, we will reach x number of people. View examples of competitors to see what they hope to achieve. Determine how you will do it better. You can use measurable goals: We will double our profits and become number one in x industry while still maintaining our values. 4 8

VALUES You can determine values using a wide variety of approaches. ACTIVITY TIPS Select the statements that resonate most with your concept of your values. (You should have 4-10 values.) Refine your values and record them on large sticky notes; place the notes on the wall. 5 8

VALUES questions What do you want your employees to be able to share with a friend when they talk about working for you? Determine how your company might address issues with stakeholders. What other companies inspire you? Look at their values. If you were your company s customer, what would you want in your product and interactions? Search online for a comprehensive values list. (There are many.) Share the list with your team and have each member write 5-10 values (one per sticky). Next, have each team member place their values on the wall, making sure to group similar values together. See what shared values emerge. These values can be either of a personal nature or geared to the company. What does the practical application of your values look like? How do your customers and employees live out the actions that correspond to these values? What kind of actions work against these values? Now test your values by cross-examining them: In what ways is your company unable to commit to these values? To whom is the company accountable - its customers, its employees, its shareholders? Next, test your values in mock ethical situations. Be honest about whether you can live up to them. Adjust the values accordingly. 6 8

BRAND PROMISE A brand promise is external. It articulates the commitment you have to your customers. It may be similar to your mission, vision, and values. What brand experience can your customers consistently expect? Why does your brand matter? Can your brand quantify how it will help customers? What actionable language defines what you do well? What will you do well every time without fail? 7 8

BRAND PROMISE Develop a tagline or simple sentence that is powerful and clear. During every interaction with your brand, your customers will count on and expect you to keep this promise. Perform due diligence on your promise by evaluating the weak areas that would keep you from fulfilling it? 8 8

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