Unlocking Strategic Growth

Five models for modern brands to create product portfolios, expand into new categories, saturate their market, and protect their pricing power

This article was originally published on The Sociology of Business.

Brand strategy is the way by which brands create and deliver value to their customers, convince them to pay for this value, and harness their payments into profit. Business models power brand strategy, based on the specific value proposition made to clients and the value architecture that’s created around it.

It’s important for companies to select their brand strategy early, because a clear brand strategy charts the trajectory of brand growth. For example, a brand strategy can be optimized for a quick growth (Uber), for creating a monopoly (Google), for undermining competition through lower pricing (Zara), for creating strong symbolic capital (Apple), for remaking a category (Warby Parker), for establishing itself as a status symbol (Tesla), or for something else.

Brand strategy prioritizes a company’s products and services, defines and protects the price, and focuses audience segmentation and communication. It ensures that there is coherence in the brand growth, and a plan around entering new categories and markets. Brand strategy directs product and brand extensions, and guides the market share expansion. Brand…