Brand Strategy for SMEs: What Really Matters
- 9 hours ago
- 5 min read
In short: A brand strategy defines what a company stands for, who it is relevant to, and what sets it apart. It consists of the brand core, positioning, target audience and values, and it comes before any campaign, not after. According to a PwC study, Swiss SMEs that skip this step regularly leave margin on the table.
Many Swiss SMEs spend money on advertising before the brand itself is defined. The result: high costs, little impact. In a country where over 99 percent of all market-oriented companies are SMEs, and these account for two thirds of all jobs (Swiss Federal Statistical Office, SME Portal), competition for attention is fierce. Companies that spend on advertising first and only later ask what their brand actually stands for are building on shaky ground. A solid brand strategy reverses this order, and that is exactly what this article is about.
What a brand strategy actually is
A brand strategy is not a logo, a slogan or an advertising campaign. It is the foundation that makes all of these things meaningful in the first place. Specifically, it answers three questions:
What does the company stand for?
Who is it relevant to?
What credibly sets it apart from others?
This is sometimes also referred to as brand identity, or in more traditional marketing terms, corporate identity. At its core, it means the same thing: a binding foundation on which design, communication and campaigns can then be built. Everything else is cosmetics on a foundation that does not yet exist.
Why many SMEs skip this step
For small and medium-sized companies, it is often not a lack of will but a lack of time. Day-to-day business demands quick results, and a new website or an advertisement feels more tangible than strategic groundwork.
A sales study by PwC Switzerland, involving around 120 Swiss family businesses and SMEs, offers a revealing finding: the more profitable a company, the more often it has clearly defined and internally anchored its strategic success positions, in other words, what it stands for and what sets it apart. Many companies still have work to do here, with the result that margin is unnecessarily given away.
This tends to show up later: campaigns fall flat because no one is quite sure who they are meant to address. Employees cannot explain in their own words what the company stands for. And every new communication effort feels like starting from scratch, because there is no shared foundation to build on.
The building blocks of a solid brand strategy
A brand strategy that holds up consists of a few clear elements.
Brand core. The core describes what a company fundamentally stands for, independent of individual products or services. It changes little over the years and serves as a reference point for all further decisions.
Brand positioning. Positioning defines where a company stands in relation to other providers and what sets it apart. It answers the question of why customers should choose this company rather than another.
Target audience. A brand that tries to please everyone ends up appealing to no one in particular. A clear understanding of who is being addressed makes every piece of communication more precise and effective.
Values and tone of voice. Values do not show up in lists of buzzwords, but in how a company communicates and which topics it engages with. Tone of voice ensures these values are experienced consistently across all channels.
Brand strategy and campaigns are two different things
A common misunderstanding is treating brand strategy and campaigns as the same thing. A campaign is time-limited and pursues a specific goal, such as launching a new offering. Brand strategy, on the other hand, is long-term and does not change with every season.
This distinction matters. Without a strategy behind it, even the best campaign falls flat, because it does not contribute to something bigger. With a clear strategy in place, every single initiative becomes a building block that strengthens the brand as a whole. In line with this, a joint study by PwC and gfs-zürich shows that a credible, safe environment for their advertising is becoming increasingly important for 82 percent of the Swiss companies surveyed. In the end, that too is a question of trust, not just reach.
Values as a differentiating factor
In a high-price market like Switzerland, an interchangeable offering is no longer enough. Deloitte Switzerland notes that many Swiss companies now see consistent investment in sustainability as a genuine opportunity for differentiation and innovation, rather than merely a cost factor. A credible set of values is therefore not a nice-to-have on the margins of a brand, but can be part of its core, provided it is genuinely meant and shows up in the company's everyday practice.
How a brand strategy takes shape in practice
A brand strategy does not emerge at one person's desk, but through dialogue. It typically begins with an open conversation about the company's current situation, goals and challenges. Only then can the brand core, positioning and values be worked out in a way that genuinely reflects the company's reality, rather than simply sounding good.
This is exactly the principle we follow at MANGROVES when working on our own brand. Before we support Swiss SMEs with their brand strategy, we asked ourselves the same questions: What do we stand for, who are we relevant to, and what sets us apart. The result is our own brand core, which shows up, among other things, in our commitment to mangrove reforestation with One Tree Planted, concretely and as a lived commitment rather than an advertising promise.
Conclusion
A brand strategy is not a box-ticking exercise, but the precondition for investments in design and communication to pay off at all. Companies that clarify the foundation first save themselves costly detours later on.
If you would like to find out what a solid brand strategy could look like for your SME, you can find more on our approach at mangroves.agency/brand-experience.
Frequently asked questions about brand strategy
What is the difference between brand strategy and corporate identity?
Brand strategy is the overarching framework that defines what a company stands for and what sets it apart. Corporate identity, or brand identity, is its visible and tangible expression, for example in design, language and presence.
How long does it take to develop a brand strategy for an SME?
This depends on the size and complexity of the company. What matters more than the timeline is the quality of the initial dialogue, since the brand core and positioning only hold up if they genuinely reflect the company's reality.
Does a small SME really need its own brand strategy?
Yes, smaller companies in particular benefit, because a clear positioning helps them hold their own against larger competitors without needing a comparable marketing budget.
What comes first, the brand strategy or the advertising campaign?
The brand strategy. A campaign without a strategic foundation falls flat, because it does not contribute to something bigger and its impact remains isolated.
How are values and brand strategy connected?
Values are part of the brand core when they are credibly lived. They act as a differentiating factor, especially in a market like Switzerland, where interchangeable offerings barely stand out any more.
Sources
Swiss Federal Statistical Office / SME Portal: SMEs in figures, companies and employment
PwC Switzerland: 2023 Sales Study, family businesses and SMEs
PwC Switzerland / gfs-zürich, commissioned by the Swiss Media Association: Study on credibility and advertising environments
Deloitte Switzerland: Pulse of Switzerland, sustainability as a differentiating opportunity
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