TUSI services | Strategy
Brand strategy and positioning for organizations
Brand strategy is a decision about who the brand speaks to, what it promises and what makes it different. TUSI develops the brand platform, positioning, messaging architecture and rollout plan for Iranian organizations and holding groups: the foundation on which the name, the identity and the brand experience are built.
Brand strategy is a decision, not a document
Every organization needs a clear answer to a simple question: why should anyone choose you? TUSI helps Iranian organizations and holding groups find that answer through research, conversations with leadership and a close understanding of their audiences, then turn it into clear decisions about positioning, messaging and the brand experience.
At TUSI, brand strategy is the starting point for everything that follows, from brand architecture and naming to visual identity, campaigns and customer experience. Design that skips this foundation ends up being redesigned sooner or later.
Why you
Clarify why the organization exists and what genuinely sets it apart.
Position
Choose the place the brand wants to hold in people’s minds.
Path to action
Turn the strategy into a plan teams can follow.
What we do
Brand platform
Purpose, mission, vision, values and brand promise: the core that every later decision refers back to.
Positioning and differentiation
Your core audiences, the arena you compete in and the distinct reason to choose you.
Brand personality and voice
How the brand speaks and behaves, as the basis for writing, design and how people act at every touchpoint.
Messaging architecture
A core message and supporting messages for each audience: customers, shareholders, employees, partners and regulators.
Brand architecture and portfolio
For holding groups and multi-business organizations: how the parent brand relates to its subsidiaries, with rules for naming and presentation.
Rollout plan
Implementation priorities, key touchpoints, an internal launch plan and measures to track the impact.
“The quality of a brand project depends less on the quality of the consultant than on the structure that makes the decisions.”
When you need this
Growth through subsidiaries
A holding group with dozens of companies, each with its own name, logo and message, and no single picture of the group in people’s minds.
A new mission or a new market
The business has changed, but the brand still tells yesterday’s story.
More competition, less difference
Competitors’ offers look alike and customers see no reason to choose you.
Before a rebrand
Leadership feels the identity is dated, but it is not yet clear what should change and what should stay.
A gap between brand and culture
What the organization says to the outside world does not match what employees and customers experience.
How we work
Discover
Discovery sessions and leadership interviews, an audit of the current brand, a competitor review and research with audiences and customers.
Define
Synthesize findings, identify opportunities to stand apart and run strategy workshops with the leadership team to choose a direction.
Develop
Write the brand platform, positioning, personality and messaging architecture, and test them with key stakeholders.
Embed
Turn the strategy into brand guidelines, an internal communications plan and a brief for identity and experience design.
Selected work
Tadbir Economic Development Group
Brand renewal for a holding group with around 100 subsidiaries in energy, telecoms, pharmaceuticals and industry, with a focus on brand architecture and portfolio.
Iran Transfo Group
Rebranding an industrial group with 15 affiliated companies and a presence in global markets.
MCI Business
The brand for MCI’s enterprise services unit: from scattered execution to one orderly whole.
Frequently asked questions
What is brand strategy?
Brand strategy is a long-term plan that defines who the brand serves, what value it offers and how it differs. Positioning, key messages and brand personality all come from it, and it guides design and communications.
How is brand strategy different from visual identity design?
Brand strategy decides what the brand says, to whom and how it differs. Visual identity translates those decisions into a logo, color, typography and imagery. An identity without a strategy remains a matter of taste and rarely lasts.
Who from our organization needs to be involved?
The CEO or a board member must take part in the key decisions. Alongside them, the heads of marketing, communications, HR and the business units join the discovery sessions and workshops.
How long does a brand strategy project take?
It depends on the size of the organization, the number of subsidiary brands and the depth of research. We set a precise timeline after the first discovery meeting, in the project proposal.
Is brand strategy only for new organizations?
No. Most of TUSI’s strategy projects have been for established organizations that have grown, merged or changed their mission, and whose brand needs to catch up with a new reality.
What happens after the strategy is written?
The strategy is the basis for the next steps: naming, visual identity, rebranding, customer experience and communications campaigns. TUSI can carry all of them forward with the same team, so the brand stays coherent.
How are fees for a brand strategy set?
Fees are set after the discovery meeting and confirmed in the proposal. They depend on the size of the organization and the number of subsidiary brands, and on the depth of research: leadership interviews, audience research and a competitor audit. The number of strategy workshops matters too, as does whether rollout and brand guidelines are in scope.
Why TUSI for brand strategy?
Three reasons. Experience with strategic projects for holding groups and large organizations such as Tadbir, Iran Transfo and SANA. An interdisciplinary team, from marketing researchers and sociologists to strategists and designers, that stays with the strategy through to execution. And a working knowledge of Iran’s cultural and organizational context, built since 2013.
Related services
What story does your organization’s brand tell today?
In an introductory meeting, we review your organization’s brand together and map out a recommended path.
