Dig down to build up

Dig down to build up

Do-it-yourself tools
Agency level brand strategy

Brand Labs is an agency proven brand strategy system that you work through at your own pace. It is loaded with tools and exercises that will force you to dig deep into your business. It’s a pivotal journey that will lead your team to undeniable truths and brand solutions that will measurably improve your business. Build something special. Get started now.

FOR: Entrepreneurs · Exec Teams · CMO’s · VIP’s · Agencies · Students

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Scaling Up Services
podcast.

Can branding actually drive business results?

Listen to Matt Watson, Creator of Brand Labs and Founder of Watson Creative, discuss how branding and this program will transform your business in ways you never thought possible. This 28 minute podcast provides a quick overview of the Watson Creative/Brand Labs brand strategy system. Click below to listen.

Trusted by over 600 businesses

large and small

Take a position,
and own it.

Without a blueprint, you can’t build a home. Without a strategy, you can’t build, sustain, and grow a brand. More than your logo or tagline, your brand is the expression of your vision—a manifestation of how you relate to your customers and the world-at-large. Brand labs will help you think about your brand and market differently. It’s a series of proven processes that combine innovative methods with tried and true industry tools that have been refined over decades of experience.

You will gain focus. Brand Labs will complement the experience of a seasoned CMO, further the career of a designer or small agency, and better set up a bootstrapped entrepreneur for success.

Collaborative Tools

Brand Labs Includes

Presentation ‘ready’ workbooks in both Keynote and Powerpoint, as well as over 2-hours of educational step-by-step video tutorials leveraging real-world examples, case-studies and concepts.  Additionally, numerous worksheets, games, exercises, and detailed instructions. Finally, we will send you one multi-channel digital marketing report on your company and key competitors.

Slow or Fast
Deep or Shallow

Go at your own pace

Leverage proven tools as you work to manage your brand. Whether you’re a Brand Strategist, CMO, or business owner, these tools will help you objectively make decisions and more importantly, intentionally guide your brand forward.

Perfect for Workshops,
offsite and retreats

Gain Alignment with your Team 

Create an immediate impact on short-term goals, while strategically building long-term equity. Brand Labs is a proven process that will help your organization create brand experiences that will drive demand, build loyalty, and redefine your industry – regardless if you’re a service, product or nonprofit business.

Team Oriented

Good brands reflect their people

Building your brand is as much about building your team. Team-building games and exercises are one of the most  powerful ways to bring people together. Brand Labs’ are is designed to not only give you guidance for developing and strengthening your brand, but are as an avenues for getting all members of your organization on the same page and giving them a sense of ownership in the process.

Shape your culture,
through unavoidable habits

Keep your team focused

One of the most powerful change-agents is your environment. It can shape culture through unavoidable habits. To that end, we’d included vector based source files of our key tools so you can leverage them in your boardroom, war rooms, marketing department – wherever you need to keep the learnings from brand labs top of mind for your team.  

Even though much of Watson’s work is focused on digital, we’re still a big proponent of the analog world. Environments where your team works the wall, whether it be a 3-year plan, a consumer journey or an evolving 12 month marketing calendar.   Analog is still 6x the impact of digital.

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The Origin of Brand Labs

Matt Watson

Cofounder of Brand Labs and founder of Watson Creative

I started my career working for Lippincott’s New York office where I learned the classic principles of brand design, strategy, and management. I then spent over a decade at NIKE learning how to undermine those philosophies. In 2012, my father was dying of cancer and my wife was having our first child… and I did something totally insane. I quit my job at NIKE and started a business…with a baby on the way. OMG.

So maybe my story isn’t exactly like yours, but I do know what it’s like to fight for a dream and to build a business. Today, WATSON CREATIVE (the parent company to Brand Labs) serves over 50 professional sports teams, dozens of iconic brands, and over 300 small businesses. My clients benefit from a combination of those experiences – an admixture of classic structure and bold, irreverent strategies.

For years I had been teaching these principles at Universities, Industry Summits, and to CMOs. Interestingly enough, some of the best Brand Strategies develop when internal stakeholders of an organization do a lot of the legwork – immersing themselves in our brand strategy process. To that end, we created Brand Labs. It is a great tool for exec teams, CMOs, remote businesses or businesses that are simply too small to afford an agency.

BRAND LABS consists of three different in-house branding kits. Each come with some level of consulting from our team – you’re not in this alone. Each KIT is a series of exercises, processes, strategies, and tools that you’ll independently work through at your own pace. From our experience, the entire process is a pivotal journey that will lead you and your team to undeniable truths and brand solutions that will measurably improve your business. We’ve also seen it align, focus and define the culture of an organization.

You’ll have access to an immense set of resources including in-depth instructions, video tutorials, case studies, research articles, and an ever-growing library of interviews, downloads, and intellectual property. Additionally, we can pull reports and analytics to enrich your insights and decision-making as needed. Finally, upon completion of the Brand Strategy Lab, the WATSON CREATIVE executive team will provide recommendations, insights, and a Brand Evaluation Report to recap your Lab.

I’ve started a successful business and advised some of the most well-known executives, as well as hundreds of small businesses, across the world. Brand Labs will make your business better.

Matt Watson

Experience

  • 11 yrs at NIKE
  • 13 Fortune 100s
  • 43 Fortune 500s
  • 587 Local Businesses
  • 51 Nonprofits
  • 61 Pro Athletes
  • 53 Pro Teams
  • 9 Celebrities
  • 2 U.S. Presidents

Select your Brand Labs à la carte

Select à la carte

1 // Brand Audit

Often there’s a disconnect between what you think your brand is and what the consumer says it is. Set a baseline to objectively understand your brand, competitors and industry with a fresh perspective. We will provide you the tools and resources to set the foundation for developing your competitive advantage.

We’ll arm you with the tools for objective analysis:

    • Strategy Audit – Brand Architecture, Positioning, etc.
    • Omnichannel Marketing Audit – Digital reports provided and diagnostic tools
    • Competitive Analysis – Audit, baseline, develop insights and score competitors.
    • Brand Analysis – Audit entire ecosystems of communication strategies

Module Includes

    • How-to guides in PDF format, as well as detailed video tutorials, including case studies
    • Workbooks in PDF, Powerpoint and Keynote
    • How-to guide for learning the basics of ‘Primary, Ethnographic and Secondary Research’
    • Collaborative discovery worksheets, games and tools
    • Digital Audit & Report emailed to you
      • One performance test of your website
      • One digital marketing analysis of your company and up to 5 competitors.
    • Resource library with a trusted list of links related to research and tools

Buy $550

2 // Consumer 360

This is one of the most transformational experiences to go through – objectively learning to listen and learn from your consumers. Building a picture of your consumer gives you focus, evolves your business plan, and ensures that relevant and targeted content is reaching your audience.

We’ll arm you with the tools for analysis:

    • Develop a consumer research approach and plan
    • Build consumer profiles, segments and prioritized personas
    • Forecast trends and organize a mindspace driven calendar
    • Optimize the consumer journey – Conversion Pathway and strategies
    • The consumer decides – baseline inspiration and narrative qualities.

Module Includes

    • How-to guides in PDF format, as well as detailed video tutorials, including case studies
    • Workbooks in PDF, Powerpoint and Keynote
    • 12 Consumer Macrotrends
    • How-to guide for learning the basics of ‘Primary, Ethnographic and Secondary Research’
    • Collaborative discovery worksheets, games and tools
    • Resource library with a trusted list of links related to research and tools

Buy $500

3 // Brand DNA

Brands have the power to inspire, lead, and change industries and culture. The Brand DNA takes a look at your positioning and helps you define and manage the life of your stories. It helps you really connect with your consumers – making the intangible, tangible.

We’ll arm you with the tools to set direction:

    • Position, Leverage & Harvest  (Mission/Vision/Position or Mantra)
    • Brand Architecture  (3-year line plan and develop your Brand Drivers)
    • Brand Filters  (Archetypes & Direction)
    • Brand Story (Brand Promise, Manifestor and onliness statement)
    • Three Brand Narratives, by Tear – Attract, Engage and Capture

Module Includes

    • How-to guides in PDF format, as well as detailed video tutorials, including case studies
    • Workbooks in PDF, Powerpoint and Keynote
    • 10 Design Trends for 2020
    • Collaborative discovery worksheets, games and tools
    • Resource library with a trusted list of links related to research and tools

Buy $500

4 // Activation Map

It’s time to ignite, launch, and sustain your brand. Our Activation Map is far more than a marketing plan. It’s a unique strategy for sustainable growth that shapes and informs the core of your business plan.

We’ll arm you with the tools to set direction:

    • Build a Brand Marketing Scorecard across the Price, Place, Promotion, Product
    • 3-Yr Growth (Marketing) Strategy / Highlevel 12-Month Marketing Calendar
    • Learn to create an omnichannel media plan
    • Develop an Ignite, Launch & Sustain plan

Module Includes

    • How-to guides in PDF format, as well as detailed video tutorials, including case studies
    • Workbooks in PDF, Powerpoint and Keynote
    • Collaborative discovery worksheets, games and tools
    • Resource library with a trusted list of links related to research and tools

Buy $500

Save $250 with the Module 4-Pak

Take the whole journey. Choose all 4 and make one of the best decisions for your brand.

Buy now ∙ $1800

QUESTIONS?

Yes, you most certainly can. The Brand Labs system was designed to allow its users, regardless of experience, to complete each module without the need for additional guidance. A vast array of resources are provided for your reference.

For sure. In fact, the Brand Labs process is even more powerful when worked through with a team, so it is encouraged for you to do just that.  Additionally, the exercises are a great way to facilitate discussions at offsite events and meetings.

Typically you can work through all of this in a total time of about 40 – 60 hours. This time is commonly distributed over a number of weeks or months. With that said, it really depends on how deep you immerse yourself on each step. Remember, this is important work. You don’t want to “breeze” through it. Taking your time and digging deep will reveal incredible insights into your brand and launch it to the next level. However, it is not always beneficial to get hung up on every last detail. Sometimes you just need to make a decision and move on.

No, but you do need to have a concept of what you will be branding. Brand Labs will not help you develop the idea behind your brand, that is up to you. What it will do is help you develop criteria and focus for your brand-to-be.

Yes. The brand strategy techniques offered in Brand Labs are applicable across all types of businesses. Whether you are B2B or B2C, are a product or service based business, or even an individual developing a personal brand, you will benefit from the Brand Labs’ process. This system has been effectively used time and again, from fortune 100 companies to small, local entrepreneurs just getting started.

When you have completed all four modules in the Brand Labs program, you will have a foundational portfolio that will accompany your business plan and all briefs for communications, design and creative. In other words, you will have a plan that will serve as a reference for all decisions going forward. One of the biggest costs associated with hiring an agency is developing a brand strategy. The work that you complete in the Brand Labs process can be taken to an agency and implemented almost immediately. This will save you money by saving them time.

Of course. Our senior team is happy to work with you on an hourly basis for consultation services as you work through the Brand Labs process. Contact us for more information.

Absolutely. The Brand Labs process is the same used for Watson clients, so transitioning from Brand Labs to Watson to implement your newly developed strategy is seamless. Contact the agency for more details. In addition, if you would like to inquire about hiring Watson’s full design agency to develop your brand or work on a rebrand, contact the agency for more details.

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All content, methods and strategies are © by Watson Creative – 2021