Know-How Exchange : Branding

I generally start by interviewing the sales team. Find out who they talk to during the sales process. Who are the deciders and who provide input on the decision. What are all of their needs/pain points, goals, etc.

You start by identifying your most important target audiences and learning as much about them as you can. You want your brand to become the perfect solution to their most pressing problem, and the tone/personality of the brand to be especially appropriate for them.

Thanks for the answers.

Jay, I'm working with a group of companies in the lighting manufacturing space. Each serves a niche - for example, one manufacturers outdoor area lighting - typically for cities, or commercial environments, so really marketing to engineers, landscape architects, or even city officials. Another does decorative indoor stuff, for offices, hospitality environments etc., so marketing to lighting designers, interior designers, architects.

It's a crowded market space with lots of companies overlapping in product offering. This really drives my desire to uniquely brand them.

Jason

With multiple target audiences, each with its own needs, it's going to be all but impossible to come up with a single brand personality/persona. The thing they have in common is *light* at the core of the benefit customers can expect.

Perhaps you can reverse engineer a brand persona by using a familiar phrase -- like "bright ideas" -- and building a persona around that. Not a perfect solution, I know, but maybe a short-cut to address your challenge.

Are you looking to create personas for each company separately or a combined one for the group?

Jay, Michael,

I'm looking to create unique personas for each of the individual brands, not one persona across multiple brands, which I agree would be impossible.

Each brand / company is very niche and unique.

Jason