You've done it! You've crafted your brand strategy. 

You're confident your strategy will invigorate your culture, inspire innovative product ideas and improve your customer experience.

And it will. But the strategy is just the start - you need a savvy implementation plan to engage your team, align your business and create effective customer communication.

Sound like hard work?

It doesn't have to be! Engaging the team, refreshing the identity, clarifying your marketing, and aligning the team is the exciting bit! It's the culmination of your investment and hard work, and where you get to see and start 'living your brand' in the real world!

Each project is different, but here are my recommendations for your next steps:

Step 1: Don't get excited and jump straight into a rebrand!!!

Your new strategy may require updating your brand assets, identity, and logo. But it's not a given. It's worth doing a brand audit to assess the need before going ahead.

If you are updating your brand look and feel, I recommend launching your strategy separately from your visual identity. The team needs to understand the thinking behind the strategy and what it means for them without the distraction of a shiny new logo or assets.

Step 2: Form a Change Committee to steer the implementation and agree goals

This allows you to align key teams, such as HR, Ops, Marketing and Sales. This team will establish the goals and roadmap to deliver the change to internal stakeholders and clients.

Step 3: Focus on your internal launch first

Start the process by engaging your team. These are the people who drive the customer experience and form your culture. If they're not on board with what and why you're doing this, it simply won't work. 

Steps 4 onwards

Your next steps will vary in content and order depending on your business strategy, but areas to consider include:

* Integrate your values, behaviours and principles into your HR and recruitment processes

* Align departmental strategies with the new strategy, assess goals where needed

* Brief your identity refresh or rebrand if needed (an audit may help first)

* Inform Marketing who can plan new content to incorporate the new positioning

* Bring your customer experience in line with your strategy across all brand touchpoints 

* Ensure your innovation efforts are aligned with your positioning and values

* Share your shiny new brand thinking with clients, customers and suppliers.

There are plenty more, but by planning an implementation roadmap, you'll ensure that your brand strategy doesn't just exist as a concept but is a living, breathing part of your business.

A Consultant who has lived and breathed the development of your strategy can add value facilitating the implementation process