The goal of your brand audit is to assess the effectiveness and consistency of a brand's identity, image, and messaging. If you have a loose set of guidelines, this will also help you identify gaps that need to be built out.
The audit process involves a comprehensive analysis of various brand elements and their alignment with the company's objectives. Your primary goal is to identify strengths and weaknesses, assess brand consistency, explore opportunities for improvement, and ensure that the brand remains relevant and competitive.
Section 1: Your workbook
This is where you make the sausage (collect as much information as you’d like). Skip down to the Conducting your Brand Audit section for more granular information. As you conduct your assessment and capture elements of your brand, use the workbook to document everything. This section will act as a historical baseline that you can refer back to as your brand matures. This is broken down into three components: your brand strategy, brand voice, and visual identity.
Section 2: The Brand Audit
Treat this as an executive-level document. In this section, you want to summarize what was captured in the workbook. You do this by summarizing and consolidating each section in the workbook down to only a sentence or two. You can always refer back to the workbook for greater detail.
For more context and information, refer to the Building an Authentic Brand course that guides you through this project.
Follow this procedure to conduct your brand audit:
Define the Objective(s)
Clearly define the goals and objectives of the brand audit. Determine what you want to achieve, such as identifying strengths and weaknesses, assessing brand consistency, or exploring opportunities for improvement. It could also just be a baseline and see how you stack up against competitors or how heavily you align with a cybersecurity category.
Gather Information
Collect all relevant brand materials, including logos, taglines, marketing collateral, website content, social media profiles, advertisements, and any other brand-related assets. One of your goals is to determine any gaps you may have and offer recommendations for improvement or start the process of building a section out.
Brand Strategy and Positioning
Evaluate the company's brand strategy and positioning. Understand the target audience, unique selling propositions, and the competitive landscape. Assess whether the brand's strategy aligns with the company's mission and values.
Visual Identity Audit
Assess the visual elements of the brand, such as logos, color schemes, typography, and design elements. Check for consistency in design across various touchpoints and mediums.
Messaging and Communication
Review the brand's messaging, including taglines, slogans, and brand voice. Evaluate the clarity and consistency of the messaging across different marketing channels.