How do you figure out what parts of the truth are relevant and worth sharing with your audience, what parts of it are boring and not worth mentioning? How do you use truth to emotionally engage your customers and prospects? How do you keep the relationship fresh so they don’t leave you for a smarter, sexier, more honest brand?

Our experience shows us that there are four steps integral to uncovering brand truths and determining which contribute to a believable, differentiating, relevant, memorable and deliverable brand story: 1.) Peel back the onion; 2.) Analyze the competitive idea space; 3.) Identify the true relationship drivers; 4.) Get intimate with the consumer.

1. Peel back the onion.Take a good hard look at your brand, from an outsider’s perspective. Where did it come from? What does it offer of value? How has it been presented in the past? What is it’s current positioning and current market position? How about the people behind it? What are they thinking and saying? How do they act? What do they really believe? What do they think of the consumer? Tell the truth and nothing but the truth.
2. Analyze the competitive idea space. Take a look at all of your competitors. Reverse-engineer their brand communications to see where they are focusing, how they are positioning their brands. What are they saying? How is it different, and how is it the same? Is it the truth? After you’ve completed this, you should have a good idea where there is saturation and where there is opportunity in the world of ideas.
3. Identify the true relationship drivers.Identify all of the attributes in the category and do a gap analysis to determine which of these are the relationship drivers for the category, and for your brand. Are the drivers tangible or intangible? Which attributes do you need to do well just to be considered? Which offer the highest return on investment and which aren’t worth spending time or money on?
4. Get intimate with the consumer.Among consumers, what are their current perceptions of the category as a whole, your brand and those you compete with? What keeps them up at night? What interests them, makes them happy, and can improve their quality of life. Focusing on the relationship-building drivers, ladder up the list of attributes to get to the place that resonates with consumers emotionally. What they are willing to believe about your brand that is somehow different and more desirable than the competition?

The bottom line: it may not be so plainly evident, or as easy as telling a lie, but uncovering the truth is the key to finding a position that will move your brand upmarket.