The 10 commandments of running a good brand audit.
Brand audits are often loathed, even feared. But when done right, they can be so crucial to the success of a brand — and how well its positioning, visual identity, and verbal design lands and stands out.
Here are 10 Commandments I share with teams when running a full brand audit:
#1: Have the end goal in mind.
Consider what you -- selfishly -- need out of this. What are the deliverables you're on the hook for? Start there.
What would be helpful for you to know? What knowledge will make your work smarter? better? faster?
#2: Align on specific elements to audit.
Be prescriptive. Narrow down exactly what you'll look at, and importantly, where.
Ensure cross-team alignment, especially if working with multiple disciplines.
#3: Decide on format.
Individual brand audits, cross-brand analyses, or both?
If working with another discipline, think about how you'll collaborate and make format and findings work together (and amplify one another).
#4: Don't audit too many brands.
Max 5. Anything beyond that will make the process more tedious and messy — and the story hard to follow.
#5: Create your corpus.
Miro is your friend. Screenshot (or copy paste) like items together. For example, if you're looking at "About us" pages, put all the about us copy together across competitors (+ the client) you're examining. Repeat this process for all elements outlined on point 2.
If easier, start pulling themes you're seeing emerge in slides.
#6: Generate insights.
Now that you have everything collected, pull out the key themes you're seeing.
Are there things multiple brands seem to be doing/saying?
Are there things only one (or handful) of brands seem to be doing/saying that others aren't? Is this a good or bad thing?
Where's the white space?
Look for opportunities to show off the data & insights you've gathered. How can you help your audience easily visualize what you want them to take away?
#7: Go outside your discipline.
Don't be afraid to act as a strategist or a designer. If you see visual themes that help accentuate your points (or feel important) -- call them out.
Messaging is strategy. Strategy is storytelling. Storytelling is design.
#8: Outline the story.
What insights are worth bringing into the audit? Decide what's a "good-to-know" versus a "must-know." Try to have as many "must-knows" as possible.
What's the story you're seeing emerge? How can the audit tell ONE story, versus disparate sections with no clear connection to each other.
#9: Make it interactive.
Think about how you can engage the client throughout the presentation
Are there strategic questions that can help with future outputs? Are there insights that may be good to get their reactions to?
#10: Make it actionable.
Outline tactical implications and what it means for next steps. Make sure the "so what" is clear.
If some insights don't feel like they have clear implications, it may be a sign they're not necessary.
