Winery · pre-rebrand
Before investing in redesign.
Full audit prior to a redesign project. Outcome: the problem was not visual identity but the value proposition. Saved the cost of the rebrand.
A rigorous external look at your brand: how it is seen from outside, where the gaps lie between what you say and what you do, the real perception the market holds. Independent diagnosis with a concrete action plan.
You are considering changes to identity, naming, positioning. Before redesigning, it pays to know what to keep and what can be left behind.
New CEO, new ownership, recent merger. New leadership wants to understand the real state of the inherited brand before deciding.
Good campaigns that don't convert, motivated teams with flat numbers. The audit detects whether the brand is the invisible problem.
What works in your current market may not translate elsewhere. Audit focused on international scalability of the positioning.
Interviews with leadership, marketing, sales, customer service. Document review: brand book, plans, past campaigns, communications.
Competitive analysis, market perception (current customer, ex-customer, non-customer), sector benchmark, digital presence and aided awareness.
I contrast what the organisation says with what the market perceives. I identify critical gaps and underused opportunities.
Final document with diagnosis and prioritised action plan. Presentation to the leadership committee with discussion and commitments.
A brand audit delivers the external contrast that no internal team can give to its own brand:
I pinpoint the precise distance between what your brand thinks it communicates and what the market actually perceives.
There are almost always brand assets (story, attributes, iconic products) that the organisation underestimates and the market values.
Nearby brands, emerging substitutes, trends that could make you irrelevant. Better to spot them in time.
I detect inconsistencies between declared identity and actual customer experience. What is brand and what is marketing.
The report is not only diagnosis — it includes an action plan prioritised by impact, effort and dependencies.
An independent external report lends legitimacy to brand decisions the internal team alone could not defend before the board.
Full audit prior to a redesign project. Outcome: the problem was not visual identity but the value proposition. Saved the cost of the rebrand.
Diagnosis of an inherited brand for the incoming generation. Identified which assets to respect and which to update without breaking continuity.
Practice with correct campaigns and stalled results. The audit revealed that positioning didn't differentiate from the most obvious competitor.
Brand materials, communications from the last 24 months, metrics, internal manuals. What is said inside and what comes out outside.
Interviews with customers and non-customers. Social listening, press, Google. How the market actually sees you, not how you think they see you.
Cross-cutting of 8 dimensions: identity, value proposition, voice, audiences, consistency, perception, competition, opportunities.
Executive diagnosis + prioritised action plan. Presentation session to leadership committee with questions and debate.
An audit delivers most value at specific points in a brand's life cycle. These four are the most typical:
You are about to invest six figures in a campaign. Auditing beforehand avoids amplifying structural brand problems with mass advertising.
Reputational crisis, public exit of a founder, sector scandal. Post-event audit to understand real damage and the recovery trajectory.
You are moving from direct sales to channel, from B2C to B2B, from regional to national. The previous brand may not hold up under the new business profile.
M&A, merger, IPO. A brand audit can be part of the intangible due diligence that increases or protects the valuation.
Between 4 and 6 weeks for a full audit with primary market research. Lighter versions (document review + internal interviews only) can be done in 2-3 weeks. Very deep audits with broad quantitative research can reach 8 weeks.
Yes, almost always. Qualitative interviews with a sample of current customers, ex-customers and non-customers (between 12 and 25 interviews depending on budget). For broader audits we also include a quantitative survey with a representative sample.
Executive report (15-25 pages) with diagnosis by dimension, critical gaps identified and a prioritised action plan. Appendices with research detail. Presentation to leadership committee with discussion and commitments.
Yes, with a scaled audit. A light audit (internal interviews + document review + benchmark) has a cost affordable for SMEs and delivers real value. The point is not to audit by halves — the diagnosis must be complete even if the research is proportional.
No. A full audit makes sense every 3-5 years or when significant changes occur (strategic, market, ownership). Between full audits, I recommend lighter annual reviews — quicker and cheaper, enough to keep a finger on the pulse.
First 45-minute session, free of charge and no commitment. If we fit, I send you a detailed proposal within 5 days. If we don't, you take away a useful initial diagnosis.