Brand Audits & Brand Architecture

A Polaris Brand Audit Tells You Exactly Where Your Brand Stands

You brand does not exist in isolation. Brands exist in the marketplace and as such there are three separate sets of forces working on your brand and determining how it is perceived in the marketplace:

● First, is your company and the actions you are taking in the marketplace,
● Next, are your competitors and the actions they are taking for their brands and against yours, and

● Finally, economic and social trends impact your brand.

Polaris has years of experience with hundreds of brands and can develop a comprehensive brand audit that will clearly identify your brand’s strengths and weaknesses. What information are you looking for in your brand audit? You are really seeking to understand the market space your brand currently operates in and you are trying to find the “white space” – those opportunities (current or future) that are available to your brand and not (yet) owned by any other brand. Brand audits identify opportunities and Polaris can help you find them.

Brand Architecture Research Helps Communicate and Strengthen Your Brand

Brand Architecture is a system of brands, names and symbols that:

● Defines the relationship between a company’s brands,

● Rationalizes the brand portfolio, and

● Describes how equity flows between and among a company’s brands.

Brand architecture helps you communicate your brand to specific target segments. Understanding and being able to communicate your brand architecture will help you manage your products and brands more effectively.

Researching your brand architecture focuses on whether the target segments understand how the brands in your portfolio fit together, whether they can identify those brands that are “just right for them” and whether they understand the differences between your brands. Knowing how your brand portfolio is perceived by your target segments will tell you where brand relationships are confusing, where messaging can address this confusion and, perhaps, where re-branding is required.