Question 1

What is brand strategy?

Accepted Answer

The first phase of a branding process. We define your position in the market and write your brand narrative, based on what's already true in your organisation. You come out of it with a sharp positioning, a brand narrative that holds up, and a leadership team that agrees on who you are.

Question 2

Does brand strategy work in B2B too?

Accepted Answer

Especially in B2B. The purchases are big, the decision sits with multiple people, and the process takes a long time. The best proposal doesn't automatically win; the company that's clearest upfront about what it stands for does. A sharp brand gets you on the shortlist before the conversation even starts, and means you compete less on price. The idea that branding is only for consumer brands costs B2B companies exactly that head start.

Question 3

How long does the strategic phase take?

Accepted Answer

Seven to nine weeks. We need that time to go into the organisation, talk to clients, and sharpen the choices.

Question 4

Can't we just start with a new logo or a website?

Accepted Answer

You can, but then you're building on sand. Form without direction collapses fast and is expensive to fix. That's why we always start with strategy. The identity and the website come after, and then they actually hold up.

Question 5

Is brand strategy a one-time thing, or something ongoing?

Accepted Answer

Both. You lay the foundation thoroughly in the strategic phase. After that it's your guideline, one you adjust every time your company enters a new phase.

Question 6

Who is this for?

Accepted Answer

For B2B companies that deliver good work, but whose brand has fallen behind what they're now worth. Often there's a turning point: an acquisition, a succession, a new market, or fast growth. Usually it's the marketer or the commercial lead who first sees the brand no longer fits and brings us in. We involve leadership from the start, because the choices we make together affect the whole organisation, from sales to the people you hire.

Question 7

What does a brand strategy cost?

Accepted Answer

That depends on the scope and the size of your organisation. We always build a proposal tailored to you. The strategic phase can also stand alone as a starting point, if you want to lay the foundation first before moving on.

Question 8

What is brand identity?

Accepted Answer

Brand identity is the phase in which your brand takes shape and finds its voice. We translate your positioning into a concept, a verbal identity with tone of voice and tagline, a visual identity covering logo, typography, colour and visual language, and a system for motion. The result is a brand that looks, sounds and feels consistent everywhere, supported by a brand guide your team can use independently.

Question 9

What's the difference between brand strategy and brand identity?

Accepted Answer

Brand strategy defines what you stand for, your position and your story. Brand identity makes that visible and felt: how your brand looks, sounds, and feels. The strategy is the direction, the identity is the form that follows from it. That's why we do them in that order, not the other way around.

Question 10

Can you just design a logo or visual identity?

Accepted Answer

We design a complete identity, not a standalone logo. A logo that does not grow from your positioning is decoration, and decoration may attract attention for a moment before fading away. What stays with people is a brand that evokes the same feeling everywhere. That is the work, and we deliver it as one cohesive whole.

Question 11

Does brand identity work in B2B too?

Accepted Answer

Especially in B2B. Buyers often compare companies that look similar on paper and form a preference early. An identity that consistently evokes the same feeling helps people recognise and take you seriously before the conversation even begins. The idea that a polished identity is only for consumer brands costs B2B companies precisely that advantage.

Question 12

Do we need to do the strategy with you too?

Accepted Answer

Preferably, because the identity follows from the positioning. If you already have a sharp, shared strategy in place, we first assess whether it is strong enough to build on. If not, we start there, because an identity built on a weak foundation will not hold up.

Question 13

Who is this for?

Accepted Answer

For B2B companies whose identity has fallen behind the value of the business. There is often a turning point involved: an acquisition, a spin-off, a new product or a new market. At moments like these, your brand needs to show who you are now, not who you were three years ago.

Question 14

What does a brand identity cost?

Accepted Answer

That depends on the scope and size of your organisation. We always create a tailored proposal, usually as a continuation of the strategy phase.

Question 15

What is brand culture?

Accepted Answer

Brand culture is your brand as it is lived on the inside and expressed through the behaviour of your people. We sharpen your core values, translate them into concrete behaviour, embed them in your onboarding and leadership and show how the culture comes across through your employer brand. The result is a culture you can actively shape and that feels consistent from the outside.

Question 16

What's the difference between brand culture and employer branding?

Accepted Answer

Employer branding is how you present your brand culture to the outside world as an employer. First, we make sure the culture is genuine and visible in everyday behaviour. Only then do you have something real to communicate and use to attract the right talent. Employer branding without a culture to support it is a promise you cannot keep on day one.

Question 17

Does this also work for attracting technical talent?

Accepted Answer

Especially there. In a region where the biggest names are competing for the same technical talent, you are unlikely to win on salary alone. What does work is a brand that lets people feel what you offer that a larger employer cannot: ownership, direct communication and a culture they can genuinely be part of. That starts on the inside and becomes visible on the outside.

Question 18

We already have core values. What do you add?

Accepted Answer

Core values are often appealing words that do not guide behaviour. We translate them into concrete actions: what does a value mean in a conversation with a client, in how you say no or in how colleagues address each other? That is how a value moves from the wall into the workplace.

Question 19

Who is this for?

Accepted Answer

For B2B companies with a strong culture that remains invisible from the outside or is at risk of fading as the organisation grows. There is often a turning point involved: a change in leadership where the story lives in one person's head, rapid growth that makes it harder for new people to understand the intention or a fight for talent you are losing on reputation.

Question 20

Do you do this once, or as a process?

Accepted Answer

Usually as an ongoing process or retainer, because embedding a culture takes more than a one-off workshop. We lay the foundation and stay involved while it becomes part of everyday behaviour and grows with your organisation.

Question 21

What does brand culture cost?

Accepted Answer

That depends on the scope and size of your organisation. We always create a tailored proposal.

Question 22

Why do so many acquisitions fail?

Accepted Answer

70 to 90% fail to reach the expected value, and the biggest cause is culture, not the numbers (BCG, McKinsey). Two ways of working don't automatically become one. Without a shared story both teams recognise themselves in, people leave and what made the deal valuable dilutes.

Question 23

What if we're the party being acquired?

Accepted Answer

Then you don't want to dissolve into the bigger whole. Your identity, your best people and your customers were the reason you got bought. A sharp brand story helps you hold on to what made you worth buying, even as the owner changes.

Question 24

Which brand should lead after an acquisition?

Accepted Answer

Not automatically the biggest or the oldest. The brand that carries the most trust with the customers you want to keep should lead. Sometimes that's the acquirer, sometimes the acquired party, sometimes a new brand that rises above both.

Question 25

When do you start on brand strategy in an acquisition?

Accepted Answer

Preferably before closing, not months after. The longer your brands sit side by side without direction, the more the market fills in who you are on its own, and the more expensive it becomes to reverse that.

Question 26

What does business succession have to do with branding?

Accepted Answer

At a founder-led company, the brand is often never made explicit: it was the founder himself. His network, his judgment, his way of working. At a succession, that needs to be detached from the person and captured, otherwise the story leaves with whoever is handing over.

Question 27

When do you start on the brand during a succession?

Accepted Answer

Before the handover is complete, while the founder is still there. The story is in his head, so he needs to be there to get it out. Waiting until after the handover means reconstructing what's already gone.

Question 28

What's the difference between founder-led and founder-inspired?

Accepted Answer

Founder-led means the company runs on the founder's presence. Founder-inspired means his vision is captured and anchored in the organization, so it keeps working even when he steps back.

Question 29

Does this also apply if the successor comes from outside?

Accepted Answer

Yes. An appointed director can't inherit the founder's story and has to formulate one. For him, a sharp positioning is the instrument to make the new phase visible, in his first year.

Question 30

Should a new product get its own name or fall under our brand?

Accepted Answer

That depends on how far it stands from what you do now and on who needs to buy it. If it's close to your core, it strengthens things under your brand. If it targets a completely different audience, a separate name can actually help. The choice should come from strategy, not from enthusiasm about the launch.

Question 31

Why doesn't our brand work automatically in a new market?

Accepted Answer

Because your existing brand is built on relationships and recognition in your current market. In a new market or region, no one knows you, and the personal introduction disappears. There, the story has to do it alone, and that requires a brand that speaks for itself.

Question 32

We've had multiple names over the years. What now?

Accepted Answer

That's called brand architecture, and at most companies it's history rather than a choice. We sort out what deserves its own name, what falls under a parent brand and what can disappear, so customers understand again how everything connects.

Question 33

When do you start with this?

Accepted Answer

Before you launch or enter the new market, not after. The positioning of the new thing determines how you bring it to market. Adjusting afterwards costs more and is visible to your customers.

Question 34

Is a visual identity the same as a brand?

Accepted Answer

No. Your visual identity is the visible part: logo, colour, typography and imagery. Your brand is what remains in the mind of the market. A visual identity shows your brand, but it isn't the brand itself. At Stuurmen, we define the strategic choice first and then create the design that expresses it.

Question 35

Can I just have a visual identity made?

Accepted Answer

Yes, sometimes that's exactly what you need. We still make sure there's a sharp choice underneath, so the identity isn't simply attractive but unmistakably yours. Otherwise, you're paying for a new look without moving your position forward.

Question 36

How often should you renew your visual identity?

Accepted Answer

You should renew it when the brand falls behind the company you've become, for example after an acquisition, a move into a new market or significant growth. Age alone is not a reason. And when you do renew it, don't discard every recognisable element at once or you risk losing the brand memory you've built.

Question 37

What's the difference between a visual identity, a brand identity, and a rebrand?

Accepted Answer

A visual identity is the design. A brand identity combines that design with the strategic choice and tone behind it. A rebrand reassesses the entire brand, usually because its position has shifted. A new visual identity is therefore not automatically a rebrand, and a rebrand involves more than a new visual identity.

Question 38

What's the difference between brand identity and brand strategy?

Accepted Answer

Brand strategy is the choice: who you are and what you stand for. Brand identity makes that choice visible and tangible. The strategy gives direction, the identity gives form. More on that in what is brand strategy, and what isn't?

Question 39

What's the difference between brand strategy and brand identity?

Accepted Answer

Brand strategy determines what your brand stands for and who it's for. Brand identity is the form that follows from it: your logo, your colours, your typography, your tone of voice. The strategy is the choice, the identity makes that choice visible and audible. An identity without a strategy underneath is decoration.

Question 40

Is brand strategy the same as marketing?

Accepted Answer

No. Brand strategy determines who you are and what you stand for. Marketing then brings that to the outside world. Branding and marketing aren't the same thing: the strategy sets the direction, the marketing covers the ground. Start with marketing without a brand strategy, and you're paying for attention your brand can't hold onto afterward.

Question 41

Why do most brand strategies fail?

Accepted Answer

Rarely because of bad design. Mostly because nothing changes afterward. A large study among more than 1,300 companies found that 82 percent say they run a fully developed approach, but only 21 percent actually get value from it. A brand strategy that gets delivered as a document and never settles into behaviour steers nothing. Execution therefore counts at least as much as the choice itself.

Question 42

How long does it take to develop a brand strategy?

Accepted Answer

At Stuurmen, the strategy phase takes seven to nine weeks. During that time we go into the organisation, talk to your people and your customers, and work towards one positioning and one story everyone stands behind. You'll keep refining a brand for years after that, but the foundation is in place by then.

Question 43

Does a small company need a brand strategy too?

Accepted Answer

Yes, though the question is more when than if. Once you're past a handful of people, everyone starts telling their own version of who you are, unless there's a strategy that fixes it. It's precisely the companies that do good work and still run on their network that eventually hit the edge of it. A brand strategy is what moves that edge.

Question 44

What is brand strategy?

Accepted Answer

The first phase of a branding process. We define your position in the market and write your brand narrative, based on what's already true in your organisation. You come out of it with a sharp positioning, a brand narrative that holds up, and a leadership team that agrees on who you are.

Question 45

Does brand strategy work in B2B too?

Accepted Answer

Especially in B2B. The purchases are big, the decision sits with multiple people, and the process takes a long time. The best proposal doesn't automatically win; the company that's clearest upfront about what it stands for does. A sharp brand gets you on the shortlist before the conversation even starts, and means you compete less on price. The idea that branding is only for consumer brands costs B2B companies exactly that head start.

Question 46

How long does the strategic phase take?

Accepted Answer

Seven to nine weeks. We need that time to go into the organisation, talk to clients, and sharpen the choices.

Question 47

Can't we just start with a new logo or a website?

Accepted Answer

You can, but then you're building on sand. Form without direction collapses fast and is expensive to fix. That's why we always start with strategy. The identity and the website come after, and then they actually hold up.

Question 48

Is brand strategy a one-time thing, or something ongoing?

Accepted Answer

Both. You lay the foundation thoroughly in the strategic phase. After that it's your guideline, one you adjust every time your company enters a new phase.

Question 49

Who is this for?

Accepted Answer

For B2B companies that deliver good work, but whose brand has fallen behind what they're now worth. Often there's a turning point: an acquisition, a succession, a new market, or fast growth. Usually it's the marketer or the commercial lead who first sees the brand no longer fits and brings us in. We involve leadership from the start, because the choices we make together affect the whole organisation, from sales to the people you hire.

Question 50

What does a brand strategy cost?

Accepted Answer

That depends on the scope and the size of your organisation. We always build a proposal tailored to you. The strategic phase can also stand alone as a starting point, if you want to lay the foundation first before moving on.

Question 51

What is brand identity?

Accepted Answer

Brand identity is the phase in which your brand takes shape and finds its voice. We translate your positioning into a concept, a verbal identity with tone of voice and tagline, a visual identity covering logo, typography, colour and visual language, and a system for motion. The result is a brand that looks, sounds and feels consistent everywhere, supported by a brand guide your team can use independently.

Question 52

What's the difference between brand strategy and brand identity?

Accepted Answer

Brand strategy defines what you stand for, your position and your story. Brand identity makes that visible and felt: how your brand looks, sounds, and feels. The strategy is the direction, the identity is the form that follows from it. That's why we do them in that order, not the other way around.

Question 53

Can you just design a logo or visual identity?

Accepted Answer

We design a complete identity, not a standalone logo. A logo that does not grow from your positioning is decoration, and decoration may attract attention for a moment before fading away. What stays with people is a brand that evokes the same feeling everywhere. That is the work, and we deliver it as one cohesive whole.

Question 54

Does brand identity work in B2B too?

Accepted Answer

Especially in B2B. Buyers often compare companies that look similar on paper and form a preference early. An identity that consistently evokes the same feeling helps people recognise and take you seriously before the conversation even begins. The idea that a polished identity is only for consumer brands costs B2B companies precisely that advantage.

Question 55

Do we need to do the strategy with you too?

Accepted Answer

Preferably, because the identity follows from the positioning. If you already have a sharp, shared strategy in place, we first assess whether it is strong enough to build on. If not, we start there, because an identity built on a weak foundation will not hold up.

Question 56

Who is this for?

Accepted Answer

For B2B companies whose identity has fallen behind the value of the business. There is often a turning point involved: an acquisition, a spin-off, a new product or a new market. At moments like these, your brand needs to show who you are now, not who you were three years ago.

Question 57

What does a brand identity cost?

Accepted Answer

That depends on the scope and size of your organisation. We always create a tailored proposal, usually as a continuation of the strategy phase.

Question 58

What is brand culture?

Accepted Answer

Brand culture is your brand as it is lived on the inside and expressed through the behaviour of your people. We sharpen your core values, translate them into concrete behaviour, embed them in your onboarding and leadership and show how the culture comes across through your employer brand. The result is a culture you can actively shape and that feels consistent from the outside.

Question 59

What's the difference between brand culture and employer branding?

Accepted Answer

Employer branding is how you present your brand culture to the outside world as an employer. First, we make sure the culture is genuine and visible in everyday behaviour. Only then do you have something real to communicate and use to attract the right talent. Employer branding without a culture to support it is a promise you cannot keep on day one.

Question 60

Does this also work for attracting technical talent?

Accepted Answer

Especially there. In a region where the biggest names are competing for the same technical talent, you are unlikely to win on salary alone. What does work is a brand that lets people feel what you offer that a larger employer cannot: ownership, direct communication and a culture they can genuinely be part of. That starts on the inside and becomes visible on the outside.

Question 61

We already have core values. What do you add?

Accepted Answer

Core values are often appealing words that do not guide behaviour. We translate them into concrete actions: what does a value mean in a conversation with a client, in how you say no or in how colleagues address each other? That is how a value moves from the wall into the workplace.

Question 62

Who is this for?

Accepted Answer

For B2B companies with a strong culture that remains invisible from the outside or is at risk of fading as the organisation grows. There is often a turning point involved: a change in leadership where the story lives in one person's head, rapid growth that makes it harder for new people to understand the intention or a fight for talent you are losing on reputation.

Question 63

Do you do this once, or as a process?

Accepted Answer

Usually as an ongoing process or retainer, because embedding a culture takes more than a one-off workshop. We lay the foundation and stay involved while it becomes part of everyday behaviour and grows with your organisation.

Question 64

What does brand culture cost?

Accepted Answer

That depends on the scope and size of your organisation. We always create a tailored proposal.

Stijn de Jong

Stijn founded Stuurmen in 2016. For him it comes down to making choices: daring to say what an organisation is not, so it becomes clear what it does stand for.

What matters to Stijn

"Average genuinely puts me in a bad mood. Not ugly or bad, at least you can have an opinion about that. It is the flat, safe work you forget the moment you have seen it.

Average looks harmless, but it is the busiest place in the market: everyone lines up neatly and tomorrow nobody remembers who you were.

Kill off the average™ is my way of pushing back. We do not invent a nicer story, we bring out what is already there."

Dive deeper

Your visual identity is not your brand

The gap between brand strategy and brand behaviour

Employer branding doesn't start with HR

Branding vs. marketing and the crucial difference

Stuurmen officially recognized as a Masters Company 300 member

Kill off the average™: Unleash Your Brand's Potential