Phase 01 - Explore
Phase 01 - Explore
Brand Audit:
where your brand actually stands.
We check how your brand actually lands at every touchpoint: against the competition, across every format, regardless of what the last presentation claimed. What works stays. What contradicts itself becomes visible. And whatever is actively working against the brand goes to the top of the list.
We check how your brand actually lands at every touchpoint: against the competition, across every format, regardless of what the last presentation claimed. What works stays. What contradicts itself becomes visible. And whatever is actively working against the brand goes to the top of the list.
Definition line
A brand audit is a comprehensive analysis of a brand from the inside and the outside: visual identity, communication, positioning and perception. Everything is checked against your own guidelines and against the competition. The result is a list of strengths, gaps and priorities.
A brand audit is a comprehensive analysis of a brand from the inside and the outside: visual identity, communication, positioning and perception. Everything is checked against your own guidelines and against the competition. The result is a list of strengths, gaps and priorities.
A brand audit is a comprehensive analysis of a brand from the inside and the outside: visual identity, communication, positioning and perception. Everything is checked against your own guidelines and against the competition. The result is a list of strengths, gaps and priorities.
Scope
What is included
Problem List
This is for you if
Your brand has grown over years.
Nobody can say what the rules are any more, and every department now decides for itself.
From the outside nothing separates you from the rest of the market.
You notice it in proposals compared against competitors you do not consider competitors at all.
A rebrand is coming.
And the discussion about what changes is running on taste rather than on evidence.
You have just taken over marketing.
And before you change anything you need a baseline that did not come from your predecessor.
"Most brands don't have a design problem. They have an enforcement problem."
"Most brands don't have a design problem. They have an enforcement problem."
"Most brands don't have a design problem. They have an enforcement problem."
Frequently Asked
Frequently Asked
Questions
Questions
What is a brand audit, and what does it give us?
A brand audit compares what your brand actually shows with what it's meant to show, and with what the competition shows. The result is a set of findings: which inconsistencies do damage, which are harmless, and in what order to address them.
What separates it from simply looking at your website is the method. We draw three comparisons: your brand against your own guidelines, meaning whether the corporate design survives where it's applied. Your brand against the competition, meaning whether you're distinguishable in your own field. And what you say against what it does, meaning whether the market receives what you send.
Both layers get checked: visual consistency across logo, colour, typography and imagery, and the substance, meaning whether your value proposition, tone and argument say the same thing across every channel.
Framer is a web builder for creative pros. Be sure to check out framer.com to learn more.
A brand audit compares what your brand actually shows with what it's meant to show, and with what the competition shows. The result is a set of findings: which inconsistencies do damage, which are harmless, and in what order to address them.
What separates it from simply looking at your website is the method. We draw three comparisons: your brand against your own guidelines, meaning whether the corporate design survives where it's applied. Your brand against the competition, meaning whether you're distinguishable in your own field. And what you say against what it does, meaning whether the market receives what you send.
Both layers get checked: visual consistency across logo, colour, typography and imagery, and the substance, meaning whether your value proposition, tone and argument say the same thing across every channel.
When is the right moment for a brand audit?
Whenever a decision is coming up that builds on the brand, or when the brand feels inconsistent and nobody can name exactly why.
Typical triggers: before a rebrand or a new website, so the brief rests on findings rather than opinions. After an acquisition or merger, when two brand worlds run side by side. When several suppliers produce in parallel and every piece of collateral looks different. Or when a new corporate design has been rolled out and you want to know whether it survives daily use. That's where a new CD breaks first: in proposals, on trade fair stands, in job ads.
One symptom shows up almost every time: sales, marketing and management describe the offering differently. That isn't a communication problem between departments, it's a sign that the shared foundation is missing.
Framer is a web builder for creative pros. Be sure to check out framer.com to learn more.
Whenever a decision is coming up that builds on the brand, or when the brand feels inconsistent and nobody can name exactly why.
Typical triggers: before a rebrand or a new website, so the brief rests on findings rather than opinions. After an acquisition or merger, when two brand worlds run side by side. When several suppliers produce in parallel and every piece of collateral looks different. Or when a new corporate design has been rolled out and you want to know whether it survives daily use. That's where a new CD breaks first: in proposals, on trade fair stands, in job ads.
One symptom shows up almost every time: sales, marketing and management describe the offering differently. That isn't a communication problem between departments, it's a sign that the shared foundation is missing.
What exactly does FRAEM look at?
Every touchpoint that actually exists in your case, checked against your own guidelines and against the relevant competition.
Usually that means website and landing pages, proposal and presentation templates, trade fair presence and print material, job ads and careers page, social profiles and their content, packaging, signage and vehicles, plus newsletters and sales collateral. Which of these matter depends on the company: for a building materials manufacturer the trade fair presence weighs more than it would for a software vendor.
We select by impact, not by completeness. A touchpoint three people see a year carries less weight than a proposal template every prospect receives. What we can't find, we ask for. What doesn't exist, we record as a gap, because a missing touchpoint is a finding too.
Framer is a web builder for creative pros. Be sure to check out framer.com to learn more.
Every touchpoint that actually exists in your case, checked against your own guidelines and against the relevant competition.
Usually that means website and landing pages, proposal and presentation templates, trade fair presence and print material, job ads and careers page, social profiles and their content, packaging, signage and vehicles, plus newsletters and sales collateral. Which of these matter depends on the company: for a building materials manufacturer the trade fair presence weighs more than it would for a software vendor.
We select by impact, not by completeness. A touchpoint three people see a year carries less weight than a proposal template every prospect receives. What we can't find, we ask for. What doesn't exist, we record as a gap, because a missing touchpoint is a finding too.
What do we get at the end?
The findings as a document, sorted by urgency, plus a session to walk through them together.
The document is sorted into three tiers: what's actively damaging the brand and should be addressed first, what's inconsistent and can be tidied up over time, and what stands out but has no consequence. Each point states where it occurs, why it matters and what a change would require. Not two hundred screenshots, but the points where something changes if you act on them.
You also get a short version with a slide set, so you can present the results internally without rebuilding them. That's the part that decides the impact in practice: findings only the marketing lead has read change nothing.
Framer is a web builder for creative pros. Be sure to check out framer.com to learn more.
The findings as a document, sorted by urgency, plus a session to walk through them together.
The document is sorted into three tiers: what's actively damaging the brand and should be addressed first, what's inconsistent and can be tidied up over time, and what stands out but has no consequence. Each point states where it occurs, why it matters and what a change would require. Not two hundred screenshots, but the points where something changes if you act on them.
You also get a short version with a slide set, so you can present the results internally without rebuilding them. That's the part that decides the impact in practice: findings only the marketing lead has read change nothing.
Want to learn more about us? Check out our entire FAQ!
Want to learn more about us? Check out our entire FAQ!
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Content that converts
(and doesn’t suck).
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Content that converts
(and doesn’t suck).
Let’s talk.
Content that converts
(and doesn’t suck).
Let’s talk.
Nikkan & Soli Managing Directors
Nikkan & Soli Managing Directors
Nikkan & Soli Managing Directors
