Understood? Or undervalued?

If you're not the former, you'll be the latter. And being undervalued is dangerous territory for any business, any brand, or any leadership team.

So, our aim with every client is to make sure of the "understood" part. Starting sometimes with the problem they're trying to resolve: have they understood the real challenge, or the true reason why they're in this position? (It's why one client told us, "You didn't give us what we wanted. You gave us what we needed.")

You have to be crystal clear in every aspect of your brand.

Who are you for? Remember that "marketing" starts with the word "market", and so should your strategy. Some of our most valuable work with clients has been in identifying who their real clients, customers or prospects are.

What do you do for them? Our clarity challenge for clients is for them to answer this question in one word - a verb. One law firm 'strengthens'. An accountancy firm 'builds'. An insurance company 'creates certainty' (which, we accept, is two words).

Why should they choose you over your competitors? What makes you better - not just 'different', and certaintly not necessarily 'unique'? (Isn't the concept of the USP the most time-wasting, effort-exhausting idea in brands and marketing?)

Where do you want to be in 3 years' time? What will you need to be great at? What won't you need to bother with? What should change, and what should not change?

And so on.

Any relationship, business or personal, only works with commitment. And nobody commits to something they don't understand - in terms that mean something to them. It's why we've carried the idea of clarity in the 300 or so client projects we've completed. And it's why those clients have achieved real value.

Clarity, as they say, precedes success.