A strong brand strategy is about more than visual identity or messaging. It defines how an organisation positions itself in the market, connects with audiences, aligns internal teams, and drives commercial growth.
At Wardour, we approach brand strategy through the lens of storytelling, stakeholder insights and business impact. Wardour founder and CEO Martin MacConnol discusses Wardour’s approach to brand strategy projects, what differentiates our methodology, and how organisations can future-proof their brands.
What is Wardour’s approach to brand strategy?
Martin MacConnol:
Like a wolf. For us, it’s all about storytelling. We believe that a brand is really just a story in very short form, which can then be expanded to be in long form and expressed by different people around the organisation. But we still see the brand strategy as getting to the heart of a very short story.
I think that’s one of the things that makes us different as an agency. We help clients to properly understand what their story is, what their story has been, and what they want their story to be.
We use proprietary tools to help unearth what client stories are. We don’t just use basic brand canvases, though they can be useful. We also use some storytelling tools, which we find massively successful. They help people to talk about their business, their brand, their purpose, their audiences, as well as who they are and who they want to be, in a way that uses the universal language of storytelling.
This then gives us insights to create a brand positioning that’s authentic, and that’s going to land with people, because it uses language that people are naturally inclined to lean towards; because it’s about storytelling.
So I suppose the short form is that we approach brand strategy from the perspective of: what’s the story?”
What does Wardour’s brand strategy process look like from start to finish?
Martin MacConnol:
“When we map out the course of a brand strategy project, there are certain milestones to a brand strategy project which are pretty universal, but the approach to a brand strategy project should be unique to the agency. We will do the classic things. We undertake desk research, key stakeholder interviews, and look to talk to stakeholders within the business. We also look to talk to people outside the business.
Depending on budget, we like to talk to people at different levels within the business, from different verticals, from different regions. Similarly, we look to engage audiences to get a really good picture of what perceptions of the brand currently are, and where people think the brand should be going. But then we find the rocket fuel to this is actually to have one or two storytelling workshops. We find these work really well, where we use our storytelling tools to encourage people to explore key brand questions through the lens of storytelling.
We use storytelling to explore what the personality of the organisation is, what the story of the organisation is, what it has been in the past, and what it might be in the future.
“So I suppose the short form is that we approach brand strategy from the perspective of: what’s the story?”
Where there are tensions, or where that story might not be a strong story, we find out the wrinkles in the rug, and we identify the really strong colours and strong patterns that need to emerge sharply. When we’ve done that, we produce findings for the client based on the desk research, stakeholder research and workshops, alongside the key core elements of what the brand messaging house should be.
Then, depending on the client’s needs, we refine concepts, test them with stakeholders, develop the messaging, and build out the playbook.
I really hate it when brand projects end there. I call that the ‘Brand in the Box’ moment. A brand in the box is all very well, but what does it actually look like when it’s unpacked? We like to help clients actually take the brand to market. We move from being strategists, to being brand creators and implementers of the brand rollout.
That means training people internally, helping them understand how the brand is meant to be used, articulated and expressed, before taking it properly to market through campaigns, thought leadership and communications assets.”
How vital is stakeholder buy-in in a brand strategy project, and how does Wardour aim to earn it?
Martin MacConnol:
“Internal stakeholder buy-in is critically important.
The first reason is obvious: you need to understand the insights from the business about what’s working and what’s not currently working with a brand strategy to be able to evolve it into something more relevant for today. But the other thing is that you need people on board with a brand strategy. That’s a consultative process.
At Wardour, we really do believe in the power of collaboration. Collaboration is a bit messy, but on brand projects it’s hugely important. If you engage internal stakeholders early, they feel as though they already own the brand, and it’s not just being imposed on them.
So we engage internal stakeholders through research, one-to-one meetings, group meetings and storytelling workshops.”
What are the three most important elements of a strong brand strategy?
Martin MacConnol:
“It has to land with the audience, so you have to have real audience insight. It has to be relevant to the audience, and the audience of today. Outside factors influence how an audience perceives a brand, so sometimes you need to update the brand because the world has changed around you.
Second, the brand has to be differentiated. You don’t want people thinking, ‘Was that Wardour or was that X other agency?’ A brand that isn’t differentiated is one that is going to get lost.
Thirdly, the look and feel of it, and the tone of how it’s expressed, has to capture that differentiation. We can consider it as three pillars of Wardour’s approach to brand strategy:
- Audience relevance
- Differentiation
- Distinctive expression.
Each meaning:
- it lands with the audience,
- it’s differentiated,
- and it’s backed up by a visual and tonal positioning that’s unique.”
How important is the storytelling piece in brand strategy?
Martin MacConnol:
“I think the storytelling element is critical, and I think it gets overlooked by lots of clients and agencies who jump to the eye-catching side of branding — what it looks like, what it sounds like — and not really what’s the story behind it. We put a lot of emphasis on what the story you’re trying to sell actually is, and that’s the most critical part.
If you have a really clear story that you can sum up in a few words, that builds into an elevator pitch, that builds into a short narrative, that builds into a long-form narrative backed up by proof points, then you’ve got a really strong brand position.
But it all starts with the story.”
“Wardour’s approach is differentiated because we’re a grown-up agency for grown-up clients. When you work with Wardour, you’ll be working with a senior team leading the project. We believe in rolling up our sleeves and getting stuck in as leaders.”
What differentiates Wardour’s approach to brand strategy?
Martin MacConnol:
“I think Wardour’s approach is differentiated because we’re a grown-up agency for grown-up clients.
When you work with Wardour, you’ll be working with a senior team leading the project. We believe in rolling up our sleeves and getting stuck in as leaders. That means clients get the benefit of experience that straddles multiple sectors, multiple industries and many years.
We also understand that what a client at a senior level is looking for is sometimes very different to what a brand manager or brand director is looking for. At Wardour we make sure it works across all those stakeholders, but principally for the people who are paying for it: the C-suite.
We talk the language of the C-suite to get to a brand positioning which is highly relevant for them and which has power in the market.”
When should organisations rethink or refine their brand strategy?
Martin MacConnol:
“Brands shouldn’t keep changing. A brand should have a consistent spine to it, but they need to update for changing circumstances.
One trigger is internal change. If you’ve made acquisitions or investments, the brand position you had is probably no longer right. New teams and directions bring in new DNA, and you need to reflect that. Another trigger is when the outside world changes. There’s no point maintaining a brand positioning if the market outside is fundamentally different.
You have to ask:
- are we still relevant?
- does the market still understand us?
- does the brand reflect the organisation we are today?”
How does Wardour future-proof brand strategies?
Martin MacConnol:
“We are curious, as an agency. We talk to lots of people, lots of clients, we read the books, we study industry trends, and we stay on top of where brand strategy is going. But we also try to stay above trends. Trends come and go; what’s really important are the fundamentals: how does your brand actually drive your business forward? That’s what your CEO and C-suite care about.
We think in terms of the language of the C-suite and give clients a brand that delivers against priorities like:
- team retention,
- premium positioning,
- cross-selling,
- and commercial growth.”
How is AI changing brand strategy?
Martin MacConnol:
“AI is absolutely changing every facet of working life, so of course it’s affecting how we do brand strategy.
To be pretentious for a moment, when it comes up I think “odi et amo”. I hate and I love. What it allows us to do is crunch more data points more quickly. It allows us to see more constellations in the sky, more insights at one look than we can do without the AI lens through which to look. That allows us to come up with a greater number of profound insights more quickly. But we’re also sceptical. Even the best AI models get a lot wrong. We firmly believe in the ‘rubbish in, rubbish out’ principle.
Where AI is really strong is when we put in our own insights and use it as a sparring partner to challenge, perfect and refine what we’re learning.”
What business outcomes should a strong brand strategy deliver?
Martin MacConnol:
“Brand projects shouldn’t just create something pretty. They should deliver meaningful platforms for CEOs and C-suites to drive growth.
A strong brand should:
- improve staff retention,
- support recruitment,
- help businesses command premium prices,
- make clients stickier,
- and support cross-selling across the organisation.”
What’s a favourite and successful Wardour brand strategy project that you worked on?
Martin MacConnol:
“I really enjoyed working with Gates Cambridge. It was on the smaller end of projects, but it was certainly one of the most fun. They wanted to give new impetus to their brand around their 25th anniversary, and to drive awareness of the impact the Gates Scholarship has had on the world.
We came up with a brand strategy within the wrapper of their existing brand to show what they had achieved over 25 years. They found it a really powerful tool for engaging alumni audiences, prospective students and the Gates Foundation itself.”
“Brand projects shouldn’t just create something pretty. They should deliver meaningful platforms for CEOs and C-suites to drive growth.”
Above all else, what do you think of when you think of a strong, successful brand strategy?
Martin MacConnol:
At Wardour, we believe effective brand strategy is built on:
- storytelling,
- audience insight,
- stakeholder collaboration,
- differentiation,
- and commercial impact.
Whether we’re refining an existing brand, repositioning an organisation after acquisition, or building a new brand strategy from the ground up, our focus remains the same:
creating brands that connect with audiences and drive measurable business growth.
