While the brand audit is underway, a brand strategy team (BST) is constructed. The BST should:

  • Be cross-functional, covering various functions that interact with customers
  • Include decision-makers with veto power. It is important to address concerns during strategy development, not after.
  • Should total no more than 20 participants
  • Include some junior participants who will not be intimidated by senior leaders.
  • Have diversity of markets represented.
  • Include agency partners or other creative vendors as participants, not facilitators.

The brand strategy team has two critical functions.

  • It works together in multi-day workshops. A commitment to attend all sessions is important. It is inefficient and disruptive for a participant to miss a significant part of a workshop and then try to catch up.
  • It assigns a sub-group with responsibility for the communication of the brand strategy throughout the organization and the activation of the strategy.  That activation has both external and internal components.