Why Brand Strategy Should Come Before Design: A Guide for SMEs and Challenger Brands

When building a brand, it’s tempting to start with the exciting parts: logo design, colour palettes, or typography. After all, these are the visible expressions of your business. But too often, brands dive straight into design before they’ve answered the most important question: what do we want to be known for?

The truth is, design without direction risks creating a brand identity that looks good but fails to connect with the right audience. A strong brand begins not with visuals, but with clarity of purpose, positioning, and a clear unique selling proposition (USP).

Why Strategy Comes First

Your brand identity should reflect your values, your mission, and the problem you solve for customers. Without first defining your USP and strategic positioning, even the most creative logo or sleek website won’t deliver long-term impact.

Think of it this way: your visual identity is the clothing your brand wears. But before you choose the outfit, you need to understand the personality, ambitions, and story of the person wearing it.

That’s why the starting point should always be questions like:

What do we want our brand to stand for?

How do we want to be perceived in our market?

What makes us different from competitors — and why should customers care?

Once these foundations are in place, design becomes far more powerful. Every visual choice — from colours to fonts to tone of voice — can then work in harmony to tell a consistent and compelling story.

Designing a brand logo on a computer

The Common Mistake Businesses Make

Start-ups and SMEs in particular often begin with design because it feels tangible and quick. But this approach can lead to wasted resources, confused messaging, and the need for costly rebranding further down the line.

Instead, taking time at the outset to define the strategy not only saves money but also builds a brand identity that stands the test of time.

Why a Fractional Marketing Director Can Help

This is where working with an experienced marketing strategist early in the journey pays dividends. It doesn’t need to mean a huge retainer or expensive agency project. Many fractional CMOs and consultants, myself included, offer flexible, cost-effective models where we help you help yourself.

For example, I often work with clients on a “do and learn as you go” basis:

• Running short workshops to define USP and positioning.

  
  

• Providing clear frameworks so founders can apply learning as they build.

  
  

• Acting as a strategic sounding board while the team implements day-to-day activity.

This approach ensures you get senior-level expertise at the critical early stages, without carrying unnecessary overheads.

Building Your Brand the Right Way

By starting with strategy, you’ll not only end up with a logo and colour palette that look great, but a brand identity that truly resonates with your customers and gives you a competitive edge.

Some of the most successful challenger and SME brands today didn’t begin with big budgets or flashy designs — they started with clarity. They defined who they were, what they stood for, and why their offer mattered. From that foundation, they were able to build marketing that punched above its weight and created a strong emotional connection with their audience.

For example, I recently worked with a challenger brand entering the grocery and homewares space. Rather than jumping straight into packaging design, we first clarified their USP, mapped out their competitive positioning, and built a clear go-to-market plan. This strategic work gave them the confidence to brief designers with a strong sense of purpose and direction. Within the first year, they secured international distributors and retail listings — a result of leading with strategy, not design.

When smaller businesses get this right, they can compete effectively with much larger players. Your clarity of purpose and focus on your USP will become the differentiator that helps you carve out space in a crowded market.

So before you brief a designer, take a step back and ask: have we defined what we want to be known for? If the answer is “not yet”, that’s the moment to bring in an experienced marketing partner to help you shape the foundations.