Brand Strategy Workbook

Who this is for

This workbook is for founders, small business owners and freelancers who are starting a brand, or who suspect theirs is unclear. It is also a good starting point before a redesign, a rebrand or a first conversation with a designer, because it gives you written answers to the questions every designer will ask.

You do not need a design or marketing background. Each page asks plain questions and leaves room for rough, honest answers.

What is inside

• A quick-start page and a brand snapshot of where you are today
• Brand purpose, including a "why five times" exercise
• Mission and vision, with a fill-in formula for each
• Core values, with what each value looks like in daily work and what it rules out
• Target audience and the customer problems you solve
• Brand positioning, with a positioning statement and the alternatives customers consider
• Unique value proposition, with a way to test it on a stranger
• Brand personality scales and character words
• Brand voice: traits, words to use and avoid, and how you sound in different situations
• Competitor differentiation and an "only we" statement
• A "Brand on a page" summary sheet

A look at the pages

How to use it

Most people work through the workbook in a few sittings rather than all at once. Answers improve after a break.

1. Start with purpose and audience. Pages on purpose, mission, values and audience set the foundation. Write plainly and avoid slogans.
2. Talk to real customers. Where a page asks what customers say or value, use real quotes and conversations. Even three short conversations can change your answers.
3. Decide your position. Use the positioning and value proposition pages to say who you are for and why you are the better choice for them. Test the headline on someone who does not know your business.
4. Define your personality and voice. Mark the scales, choose a few character words and write down how you sound in different situations.
5. Finish with the summary page. Copy your best answers to the one-page summary and keep it where you and anyone who helps you can see it.

Printing tips

The planner is designed for US Letter paper with generous margins. On A4 paper, choose "Fit to page" in the print dialog and the layout will scale cleanly. Backgrounds are kept white and colors are light, so it prints well in black and white and uses very little ink. Print only the pages you need, and reprint any page you want to redo.

Why write a brand strategy down?

A brand strategy is a set of decisions made once, so you do not have to remake them every time. When you have written down who you serve, what you stand for and how you sound, a logo, a website page or a reply to a customer all become easier to judge: does this fit or not? It also helps when more than one person speaks for the business. Our guides on auditing your brand and keeping your voice consistent show how that looks in practice.

After you finish

Use your answers to check what already exists: your website, social profiles and emails. If you find gaps, fix the biggest ones first. If you are thinking about a bigger change, read how to rebrand carefully before you decide what to change and what to keep.

Related tools and reading

• 30-Day Marketing PlannerA printable planner for a month of focused marketing.
• Audit Your Brand: Does Your Website Match Your Socials?Check how consistent your brand looks today.
• Be Different, Not Better: Why Stand Out Brands WinPair with the positioning and differentiation pages.
• Know Your Target Audience Better Than They Know ThemselvesGo deeper on the audience pages of your plan.
• Brand Voice Consistency: Sound Like Yourself EverywhereGo deeper on the voice pages of the workbook.
• Rebrand Carefully: Change for Growth, Not Out of BoredomKnow what to keep before you change your brand.

Frequently asked questions