Medir el branding

We make good companies look as good as they really are. To do that, we need to have endless conversations about brands. With the team, with our more-than-partners, with the sector. And many times, especially when we present a proposal to a potential client, a question often comes up: how do you measure branding? Makes sense: investing in a project like this for your organization is a serious decision, especially considering that in the digital ecosystem data culture is deeply rooted.

We'd already reflected on this: for us, brand is a continuous construction that can apply product philosophy to: understand, ideate, design, build, measure. And start over, to deliver more value each time. But the truth is that in this iterative process we also account for Activation work at all touchpoints, not just the initial brand project.

So, can branding be measured? And if it can, how do we do it?

One (or two) answers

There are two answers to the question. Ismael Barros, our cofounder CEO, offers one or the other, or both, because they really are important, depending on circumstances.

The first is that it can't be measured, and it doesn't need to be. How do you measure how much a mother loves you? How important are you to a friend? There are things in life that don't need to be measured: what matters is perceiving that the bond exists.

The second, more constructive and especially useful for environments where you need to justify an investment like this, is that we can't directly measure branding, the direct return in euros our work will generate, but we can measure the impact it will have.

Like so many other measures in our lives, by observing certain indicators, we can measure variations between point A and a later point B. Therefore, although we cannot measure branding in the strictest sense of the idea, we can measure how the actions derived from working on the brand function and, above all, the return on investment we make in this essential facet for any company.

First, define the metrics

With this nuance crystal clear, the first step is to identify key indicators (the famous KPIs). There are hundreds, and their selection will depend on each business, each moment, each context. Some could be these:

• Number of leads: greater visibility and campaign effectiveness
• Lead quality: that they arrive well informed and aligned with what you offer
• Lead conversion time: how long it takes to close a sale
• Life-time value (LTV): customer longevity. That is, their level of engagement
• Access to better talent and time needed to hire: understanding our appeal to top professionals
• Talent turnover index: this allows us to understand, for example, whether our purpose resonates with the people who make up the organization
• Brand relevance: citations and mentions, both quantitative and qualitative

To help better understand what we're pursuing, who we should target, and what we can get from each metric, these indicators could be classified in the following matrix:

Diagnosis and continuous building

Once we've established the parameters by which we'll measure brand impact, we need to measure the baseline state of those indicators and set reasonable, well-defined, time-bound objectives so it's straightforward to align all the people and teams involved in achieving them.

From this springboard, we start working from the brand side, prioritizing those actions that help us improve those indicators. These actions can project outward, like creating content on social networks, and they can also be aimed at the brand permeating internal audiences, seeking, for example, greater clarity around purpose or verbal identity. And for this the Brand Center is an essential ally.

A challenge that generates return

We understand that brands are built over the long term, and iteratively, because we can't stop at strategy and design: you have to activate the brand, a process that involves the entire team.

It's true that it's hard to estimate reasonable objectives because countless factors outside our control come into play. Equally, it's very difficult to isolate what percentage of any growth stems from branding versus other, more operational initiatives. In any case, defining a strategy that underpins all the work and planning a conscious activation is essential to achieve a significant increase in the business's key KPIs according to the brand impact matrix.