What’s the Difference Between Brand Alignment and Message Alignment?

3 min readJun 5, 2021

One of our most popular services is our brand alignment. But oftentimes, brand alignment can get blurred in the host of similar-sounding-but-not-exactly-the-same kinds of service. So what’s the difference between them and how can they both help you attract and retain customers? Let’s take a closer look.

What is Brand Alignment?

Brand alignment is, simply put, making sure that all of your marketing materials and interactions reflect your brand’s story — what you want your brand to stand for (and stand out for) in the minds of your customers.

Well-known companies that do brand alignment well include Apple, Coca-Cola, Patagonia, and many more. But just by mentioning their names, you think of things like sleek, future tech, old-fashioned soft drinks, the care and conservation of nature, and nearly everything they do (with the exception of New Coke, we won’t go there), is a reflection of those brand values.

What is Message Alignment?

If brand alignment is making sure that all your marketing collateral tells a similar story and further reinforces your brand, then message alignment makes sure that that story aligns with the values your company holds dear, and what you want to be known for.

For example, for decades, Apple suffered from a mismatch of brand alignment and message alignment. They created what they thought people wanted rather than actually taking the time to understand what people really wanted. In those days “think different” wasn’t such a great idea when every piece of software and program on the market sold more because it was IBM-compatible.

What’s more, Apple was incredibly expensive. The tech may have been better but the tradeoff for the high cost wasn’t worth it for many businesses, and so for years they lagged behind, only finally rebranding and re-emerging with new, cutting-edge tech and the style and message alignment to match it.

Why are They Important (and Separate?)

It’s easy to think that you can roll brand alignment and message alignment together into one big amalgamated lump, but in this case, it’s better not to muddy the waters too much, since although they’re similar, they both deal with important sections of your overall marketing strategy. It’s a good idea to work on them concurrently, but also separately so as to not get too tangled up in getting clear on your brand philosophy, mission statement and similar points that you’ll need to nail down before you start working on alignment.

Why Do Current and Potential Customers Care about Brand Messaging and Alignment?

They don’t — at least not directly. However, they do like knowing that they’re dealing with a brand that’s known for the kinds of values that they admire. For example, nature enthusiasts and those involved in surfing, climbing, hiking and other outdoor sports purchase Patagonia products because they’re a company that holds the same values and is known for its quality and its dedication to conservation.

People don’t buy brands, they buy the values that the brand supports and aligns itself with. For that reason, many are all too happy to wear that brand’s logo as a statement of their support. Of course this isn’t true for all consumers everywhere — but it’s good to get your messaging and brand alignment on point and solidified so that you can reach more of the target audience with which your brand values resonate.

How Can Workdom Help You?

Our on-demand marketing and design teams are available to help you create a core brand messaging strategy, as well as to help you reach and retain more clients by creating a cohesive brand voice and message alignment that helps you to grow your business exponentially! Our dedicated, chat-based, on-demand marketing service helps you save money by putting experts to work right where you need them most.

Originally published at https://www.workdom.io on June 4, 2021.