Strong brands are more profitable and increase company value. They enable you to command a premium, ensure customer preference in buying decisions, build customer loyalty which reduces the cost of sales and fend off competition.

A brand audit enables you to identify your brand’s strengths and weaknesses together with opportunities for innovation and growth so if your profits are falling or sales are not performing a brand audit health check will help give you insights into your brand’s impact and performance in the marketplace and, most importantly, why it’s not delivering.

A brand audit is effectively a health check of the brand to identify and address problems areas with a net result of helping you turn things around and grow your bottom line.

Brands are like living entities with life cycles. They start with much excitement and promise, grow and then eventually plateau. It’s at this mature stage of evolvement when they potentially start to lose relevance as customers move on to the latest hot new thing.

A brand audit health check helps you monitor this cycle so you keep your brand fresh and relevant and know when to reinvigorate or revitalise before sales start to slip. A brand audit also enables you to identify new areas for innovation and growth.

What is a Brand Audit?

A brand audit is a thorough examination of a brand’s current position in the market compared to its competitors and a review of its effectiveness. It helps you determine the strength of your brand together with its weaknesses or inconsistencies and opportunities for improvement and new developments.

Why do a Brand Audit?

Strong brands make more money. The stronger your brand, the more powerful your business. A powerful brand can inspire, captivate and engage your audience and consequently dramatically increase your bottom line. However, even strong brands need a reality check or health check to keep them on track.

A robust, consistent brand means you spend less money on attracting new customers. Your current customers keep coming back to you, and you are able to charge a premium price for your goods and services. A powerful brand also encourages referrals, be they online in the social engagement arena or offline in physical form, and are consequently a critical part of the brand and its profitability.

Equally, a weak, disconnected, out-of-touch brand will gradually see its market shrink, falling sales and ultimately put you out of business.

A comprehensive brand audit will often reveal new growth opportunities for your brand, and new ways to make your brand resonate with both existing and a new generation of target customers who will represent your brand’s long-term future.

Access Your Brand Audit eWorkbook Here

A brand audit will help identify both the company and the customer viewpoint in terms of:

• Business and brand resource strengths

• Value of the brand

• Awareness of the brand in the market

• Deficiencies of the brand

• New trends and market opportunities

• Outside threats

• New product development and future channels of profitability

• Competitive standing in the market

• Perception, image, reputation and attitude to the brand in the market

• Effectiveness of brand management efforts

Want to discover more about using a brand audit to build your standout, highly profitable, №1 brand working with us?

Schedule an appointment — we can meet in person online
Let’s consider a customised plan for you
And perhaps implement the plan together
Contact us: [email protected] or +353 1 8322724 (GMT 9:00 – 17:30)

We’ll audit your brand for you specifically to your particular requirements, business objectives, timelines, and resources so that you’re better equipped to:

Achieve higher revenue
Expand market share
Increase IP brand asset value
Differentiate more strongly
Ensure you maintain relevance
Enhance credibility, customer trust, and market recognition
Robustly future-proof and build business resilience
Innovate and grow your profits consistently
Internalize and develop brand-building capabilities
Reduce costs, prevent unintentional sabotage and mitigate risk

Alternatively, if you want to give your brand a health check yourself instead, take a look at the Auditing Analysis Accelerator™ Programme here. It’s a step-by-step DIY process empowering you to audit your brand yourself so you can grow your business and become more profitable.

Discover How To Do A DIY Brand Audit Yourself Here

Start Your Brand Audit Course Here

What are the Deliverables of a Brand Audit?

Essentially a brand audit will reveal how the customer perceives your brand, how your brand compares to the competition and how your brand has performed. The outputs will typically support the following:

• Improve and refocus brand management efforts and congruency

• Enhance internal staff brand awareness

• Sharpen marketing communications both on and offline

• Provide insight into your brand architecture, business structure and brand portfolio

• Evaluate and refocus your brand positioning

• Ensure your brand collateral is congruent and delivers return on investment

• Provide direction for your brand into the future

• Secure and grow the value of your brand/business through consistent implementation of recommendations derived from brand audit findings

…and more

Ring us to discuss your brand audit requirements

Give us a call T: +353 1 8322724 (GMT 9:00 – 17:00) or drop us a line to [email protected] to discuss your brand audit preferences. We’ll audit your brand specifically to your particular requirements, business objectives, timelines and resources so that you’re more empowered to make informed choices to build your brand, innovate and grow your profits.

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What’s Involved in a Brand Audit?

When initiating a brand audit its important to define your brand audit objectives. A brand audit is typically a bespoke service because there are so many different components to an actual audit, all of which may not be relevant or required to conduct an appropriate evaluation of your brand performance. Depending on the level and depth of the work required, you can either conduct your brand yourself or engage a specialist branding agency with the expertise to conduct the brand audit health check on your behalf.

The depth and extent of a brand audit is largely determined by the size of the brand, organisation, market, timescales and budget together with the size and power of your brand relative to the business and market in which you operate.

Key questions for reflection when considering a brand audit include:

• How profitable is the business at present?

• How well is the current brand strategy working?

• What are the company’s resource strengths and weaknesses?

• What are its external opportunities and threats?

• How competitive are the business’s prices and costs?

• How strong is the business’s competitive position in comparison to its competitors?

• What strategic issues are facing the business?

The following is a list of the typical elements of a more extensive brand audit. However, a brand audit need not include everything but a more abbreviated selection of those listed. An audit of a global brand like Coca-Cola, Guinness or Wavin will be very different from a national brand like the GAA or artisan brands like O’Egg or McConnells Gourmet Smoked Foods.

Strategy Review

• Business plans

• Marketing plans

• Brand positioning

• Brand plans

• Creative briefs

• Media plans

Market Research & Review

• Brand positioning research

• Brand asset review

• Brand extension research

• New product/service concept testing

• Pricing

• Brand logo recall and recognition testing

• Brand equity measurement: awareness, preference, usage, value, accessibility, relevance, differentiation, vitality, emotional connection, loyalty, associations, personality, culture

Communications & Brand Collateral Review

• Website

• Online engagement: blogs, social media, video content, e-newsletter, apps etc.

• Packaging

• Merchandising

• Sales collateral

• Advertising and promotion materials

• Vehicle livery

• Direct marketing

• Press kits

• Press releases

• Sponsorships

• Business cards, letterheads etc.

• Internal communications

• Intranet site

• Employee training programs

• Employee orientation

• Manager training

• Salesforce training

• Flagship locations: premises, offices, stores, etc.

External Information Research & Review

• Competitor analysis

• Industry analyst reports

• Customer interview & comments

• Business stakeholder and partner interviews and comments

• Marketing stakeholder interviews

Employee Research & Interviews

• Corporate/senior management

• Marketing personnel

• Salesforce

• Customer service employees

• Frontline customer contacts

• General employees

Human Resource Reviews

• Mission and vision statements

• Common objectives

• Organisation charts

• Departmental objectives

• Recruitment criteria

• Individual competency benchmarks

• Succession planning specifications

• Planning, resource allocation, systems and processes

Should I Get an Audit of My Brand?

Is your brand profitability shrinking, plateaued, or growing?

Can you answer the following questions in relation to your brand with authority?

• Vision: Who is your brand, and what is it striving to become? Where is it going?

• Values: What does it stand for?

• Concept: What business is your brand in, and what niche does it fill?

• Differentiation: How is your brand unique?

• Promise: What hopes, needs and desires does your brand satisfy?

• Solution: What problems does your brand solve?

• Benefit: What are your core brand strengths and advantages?

• Position: How is your brand versus your competitors perceived in the market?

• Motivation: What compels people to buy and use your brand’s products and services?

• Expression: What characterizes the way you sell and provide your service?

Are your answers truly representative of how your brand is perceived, performs, and delivers in the marketplace, or are you surmising? Assumptions are dangerous!

Do you really know what your customers think of your brand together with their needs, wants, loves, hates and aspirations? You need to know these answers and more in order to grow your brand.

If you are struggling to answer these questions or understand your brand’s performance then get in touch today.

Schedule an appointment — we can meet in person or online
Let’s create a customised plan for you
Let’s execute the plan together
Contact us: [email protected] or +353 1 8322724 (GMT 9:00 – 17:30)

Schedule your one-to-one brand audit consultation with Lorraine Carter here now

Alternatively, if you want a DIY solution then our Auditing Analysis Accelerator™ Programme is the perfect choice for you because it’s a step-by-step DIY course empowering you to audit your brand yourself so you can grow your business and become more profitable.

We’d love to help you address your brand challenges and support you in growing your business and brand. Want us to audit your brand for you?

Get in touch today, email [email protected] or ring +353 1 8322724

Remember: Brands don’t kill brands, people do through mismanagement, carelessness, and neglect. Nurture and respect your brand, and it will enable you to consistently achieve higher revenue.

Access the brand audit checklist below to help you evaluate if you need a brand audit health check to grow your business.

By entering your name and email address, you consent to receive the Persona Brand Audit Checklist and the Persona Design newsletter, from which you can unsubscribe at any time. We do our best to keep you inspired with insightful content and you can also review our Privacy Policy here and T&Cs here.

Your Persona Client Satisfaction Guarantee

When you work with us we’ll create a customised brand-building plan and strategy with clear investment for you tailored to your specific requirements and preferences
You’ll know each step of your brand building journey before we start because we’ll discuss it, document it and agree on it with you before work commences
You’ll have timelines, key milestones and deliverables to evaluate and approve for each stage and part of your brand building process
Because we know the unexpected sometimes happens we can make adjustments along the way if you need it and if something extra is requested we’ll ensure you’re fully appraised about what that entails before committing
As we achieve pre-agreed objectives you’ll be able to evaluate your brand building work and strategy in progress, coupled with the outcomes to ensure return on investment

Get in touch today because we’d love to get started helping you build your standout, powerhouse brand so you can increase your profits and leave your competitors way behind. Email us [email protected] or ring us +35318322724 (GMT 9:00-17:30) and ask about our bespoke brand audit health check service.

Access Brand Audit eWorkbook Here

Discover The Brand Audit Book

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Got a question or need some help with your brand?

We’re thrilled! Send us a short note and we’ll be in touch.

We do our best to read every message within 48 business hours. We’re kind of obsessive about customer care so if you don’t hear back, that means we didn’t get your message so please do send it again.

“I recently organized a large Business Forum for business owners and stakeholders entitled ‘After the Storm – New Business Opportunities’ to highlight the challenges and changing face of doing business in 2013. I was delighted to engage Lorraine Carter to speak at the Forum as I have seen first hand her expertise in Branding and Design.

More importantly I know Lorraine as a Professional Speaker who delivers not only excellent content but is passionate about the positive financial impact of great branding and design.

Lorraine’s talk entitled ‘Brand Your Way Out of Recession’ was extremely well received. Her clarity, eloquence and use of storytelling evoked clear examples of how both big, medium and even small businesses have reached the top with successful use of effective branding and design.

I’d recommend Lorraine as a Speaker at your next event or conference. She is an expert in what she does but more importantly she is an expert who knows how to speak about it!”

Sharon Cahir | Author Solicitor Lawyers and Leaders Coach and Trainer

“I have had the benefit of working alongside Lorraine Carter with mutual clients and will happily do so again.

Lorraine understands the power of brands for businesses in a way that makes practical sense to businesses. Her dedication to her craft is a great credit to her along with her attention to her clients and the details that matter.

Lorraine understands how to work with people who don’t work with brands on a daily basis and above all Lorraine has a bottom line value orientation. I look forward to continuing working with Lorraine and her team at Persona Branding & Design.”

Dave Gribben Enable Better Business

“The Maguire & Paterson brand was established in 1882 and therefore the rebranding and new packaging had to be managed in a very sensitive and caring manner.

Persona Branding & Design worked very effectively with the M&P management team ensuring that the findings of consumer research were correctly interpreted and factored into the brand revitalization and new range designs. We found their ability to steer us of significant benefit.

Persona Branding & Design also ensured that we kept our focus on core objectives and diplomatically challenged us at various stages on our thought process, ensuring that any brand preferences did not stray from the core objectives.

We would have no hesitation in recommending Persona Branding & Design and we would be very pleased to speak with any potential client(s).”

Neil ScaifeHead of Commercial Control | SHS Sales & Marketing Ltd

“Lorraine Carter creates meaningful and immaculately designed brands based on a deep subject matter expertise. She, through Persona Branding & Design, provides a world class professional services for all sized enterprises.

Her understanding of target markets results in memorable and distinctive work that empathises with end customers. Lorraine brings a uniquely positive energy to every meeting that leaves her clients engaged and delighted.

Emmet SavageFounder and CEO | Rubicoin

“Lorraine Carter is a true marketing professional. She is highly creative and has delivered impactful, innovative brand solutions for my business for almost a decade.”

Rita AhernManaging Director | Food Matters

“Persona Branding & Design supports our company with an excellent level of creativity in all areas of branding, design and marketing. They listen, understand and interpret our needs perfectly with a formidable proficiency in execution. It is only fair to say that our company expectations of original briefs have always been exceeded.”

Andy MulloyManaging Director | Connemara Seafoods Ltd

“I have worked with Persona Branding & Design for more than 8 years. They have become an invaluable extension of our team, working with us in a flexible, intelligent and pragmatic way.

Once commissioned, they became part of the business extending their expert opinion and brilliant creative solutions in total harmony with our requirements which has achieved great results. This is important since it is often the detail that can make or break a business relationship. Their work philosophy is the best contract a client can hope to receive.”

Gavin DivillyManaging Director | Cater Hire Ireland Ltd

“Persona Design successfully applied their extensive branding experience from consumer goods directly to an important industrial B2B product range within our organisation. This was pivotal in the formulation of our brand communications strategy which also included design, packaging, point of sale material and brand promotional plan, all of which contributed to a very successful commercial outcome.”

Michael O’DonohueCountry Director | Wavin Ireland Ltd

“Lorraine is an excellent start to finish project manager with tremendous creativity and ability to work budgets and timelines effectively.”

Kelley SpillaneSenior Vice President | Castle Brands

“I can’t say enough about the excellent work that Persona Branding & Design has done for us. They didn’t just look at our design requirements but challenged us to really look at the fundamentals of our brand and our target market.

They fully engaged with our team and questioned our thinking, providing strong guidance when needed to keep us all on track. Not only is their work exceptional but it’s an absolute pleasure to work with them too.

The end product has evoked huge comment from customers and buyers alike as to its thought provoking branding, design and uniqueness, thus putting Country Crest into a whole different zone of marketing.”

Tony Doyle Commercial Director | Country Crest

“Lorraine Carter from Persona Design recently presented at our Dell Social Media Event on the importance of Brand for Corporate and Self.  Lorraine provided great tips, many of them thought-provoking from her vast experience in developing brands, as an individual, for customers and the importance of building relationships. 

I would highly recommend Lorraine as a trusted advisor on Brand Development and Management.”

Joan ByrneSaaS Portfolio Manager EMEA | Dell Inc

“Persona Design has always exceeded the objectives of our briefs. Their level of interaction and creative rigour offering a range of fresh concepts is brilliant.

Apart from being great people to work with, Persona Branding & Design offers an unbeatable combination in their level of service, lateral thinking, attention to detail, strategic focus and commitment to all projects undertaken. They are a key asset within my company and I would be delighted to personally recommend their services.”

Donal KavanaghSales & Marketing Director | Zed Candy Ltd

“Persona Design are very talented brand consultants and packaging design experts. They are knowledgeable, creative and highly dependable. My company has hired them for a number of projects and we have always been very pleased with the results.

In fact, several of their projects for us have won prestigious awards. I highly recommend Persona Branding & Design.”

Mark Andrews IIIChairman of the Board | Castle Brands Inc

“Persona Branding & Design has adroitly managed several of our most important brand design briefs over the past couple of years and in doing so brought a high degree of creativity plus in depth knowledge in dealing with packaging and print suppliers that was vital for the completion of the successful end product.

Their attention to detail and open book costing consistently ensures no surprises on design or origination quotations.”

Gerry MurphyMarketing Director | Robert Roberts Ltd

“I was delighted to be a participant in Lorraine’s Master class on Branding, Packaging and Design. Lorraine has extensive experience is this area and her third party examples of clients she has worked with really drove the message home on the importance of one’s brand and how powerful it can be.

She is passionate in her message and delivers it with conviction. I strongly recommend her as a trainer, speaker in the area of branding, packaging and design as she is truly an expert.”

Margaret Hoctor Personal Coach | Trainer | Mentor and Facilitator

“Persona Design has worked with Wavin on the creation and development of the new branding and marketing collateral for the launch of a new range of premium products.

They worked closely with our commercial team during this period to deliver a fantastic launch, on time and within budget. I would highly recommend Persona Branding & Design to anyone who is looking for a company that adds value through innovative ideas.”

Brendan MurphyCommercial Director Wavin UK & Ireland | Wavin UK Ltd

“Lorraine is a highly experienced and expert marketing professional. That’s just one way of putting it. She is an expert public speaker and her passion for subject matter shines though when she presents on a subject that is obviously close to her heart. Highly professional and credible, she is always looking for the best way to apply her talent for her clients best interest.

Her firm is highly successful in delivering strategic marketing projects for their prestigious client base. I have no hesitation in offering my highest recommendation for Lorraine and her team at Persona Branding & Design”

Paul C DwyerGlobal Cyber Security Expert

“Lorraine’s depth of knowledge in branding is immense. I have attended some of her courses and also see first hand the benefits Persona Branding & Design can bring to a business. I am always happy to recommend Lorraine.”

“I have known of Lorraine’s high quality work for a number of years and in late 2008 I finally had the opportunity to work with her in developing a brand and marketing strategy for an upcoming awards ceremony.

Lorraine patiently guided the team through the process and was excellent in identifying the nuances, do’s and don’ts of our target market. We started out thinking a brand was just a logo but now know better!

Before this however, Lorraine had sat down for coffee on an number of occasions with my colleague and I on a different venture and was very generous with her time and sharing her knowledge. I aim to call on Lorraine many times in the future and look forward to it.”

Ian Lawlor New Business | Lotus Investment Group

“I’d be happy to recommend Lorraine Carter and her company, Persona Branding & Design, to any client who wants an enthusiastic and passionate business partner to produce compelling brands built on a sound strategy.”

Tim HealyMercator Marketing Research

“Lorraine is both highly creative and strategic. Her professional and flexible approach combined with her attention to detail resulted in exceptional work which perfectly met the clients needs. A pleasure to work with. I’d happily recommend her for any brand project!”

Alayne RooneyMarketing Consultant

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