June 2025
How a brand evaluation exposes your strengths and weaknesses
Rather than looking at this as a “brand overhaul” that happens 4 times a year, look it this as a systematic process of reflection and evolution.
Okay, let’s be honest, if we do it all, most of us treat brand evaluations like dental appointments.
We know they’re important, but we rarely go until something feels seriously wrong. And at that point, it’s a kneejerk reaction to get out of “pain” rather than a proactive part of our strategy.
Which is a major part of the problem. Because by the time something feels “off” with your brand, it usually means things are really out of alignment. (Things that probably could have been caught and corrected with regular brand evaluations.)
To avoid this ugly cycle of “chasing pain,” we practice quarterly brand evaluations.
And we’ve found that to make them as holistic – and helpful – as possible, we have to evaluate brands through the lens of design thinking.
Design thinking = a methodology grounded in empathy, insight, and experimentation.
Rather than looking at this as a “brand overhaul” that happens 4 times a year (which frankly, sounds completely exhausting and relatively pointless), look it this as a systematic process of reflection and evolution.
By the time something feels “off” with your brand, it usually means things are really out of alignment.
Brand evaluations done right
A brand evaluation isn’t a cosmetic audit of your logo or typography and it’s not a bunch of tweaks to your tagline or website headlines.
Sure, it usually includes at least some of those things, but done right, a brand evaluation is a comprehensive analysis of how your brand functions as a system, both externally and internally.
Here’s what a brand evaluation considers:
- Perception: How the world experiences and interprets your brand.
- Promise: What your brand says it stands for.
- Performance: How well your brand actually delivers on that promise.
- Alignment: How much your team, communications, and customer touchpoints all support a unified brand experience.
A good evaluation should be able to highlight any areas where trust might be in danger of eroding or where delivery is undershooting expectations.
(You know what they say: underpromise and overdeliver!)
Brand evaluations should also show you things like where you’re gaining ground in the market without realizing it.
And what customers are saying about your brand that you should be capitalizing on.
A good evaluation should be able to highlight any areas where trust might be in danger of eroding or where delivery is undershooting expectations.
Performing a brand evaluation now (and quarterly)
Annual evaluations are too reactive. They tend to focus “backwards” on what already happened, which is usually when it’s too late to respond effectively anyways.
By doing your brand evaluations quarterly, you can start a real-time learning loop where you test, observe, adapt, and repeat.
This quarterly rhythm creates space for:
- Micro-adjustments before big issues come up.
- Quick responses to market shifts or competitor strategies.
- Structured feedback loops between your team and your customers/clients.
Plus, a lot of times, your brand is growing and changing faster than you realize.
Things like hiring a VA or project manager, a new product or service on the market, and even social media campaigns you didn’t initiate can change how your product or services are being perceived.
Quarterly reviews are a good way to make sure you’re paying attention to the changes before they become an issue – or a missed opportunity – for you.
Quarterly reviews are a good way to make sure you’re paying attention to the changes before they become an issue.
Using “design thinking” for your brand evaluation
If a typical brand evaluation asks, “How do we look?”, design thinking goes in a very different direction to ask, “What’s going on under the surface?”
Here’s how we use design thinking to reframe the brand evaluation process:
1. Empathize
Figure out what’s happening on the outside rather than just guessing or assuming what your audience needs or values.
You can do this with your own qualitative research by conducting:
- Customer interviews
- Journey mapping (following how a new client or customer feels after onboarding/purchasing from you)
- Analysis across your social channels to uncover emotion (not just opinion).
Rather than just collecting quantitative data, this process helps you find blind spots and friction points you may not have recognized. Or may not have realized were actually a big deal.
2. Define
Too many brand evaluations end with vague observations (“Our awareness is low”) instead of actionable insights (“Our messaging doesn’t resonate with our target audience”).
Define problems clearly and precisely based on user insights.
For example:
- “We’re attracting the wrong type of leads due to incorrect brand positioning.”
- “Our brand purpose isn’t being conveyed when we actually speak with customers.”
- “Clients see us as reliable but not irreplaceable.”
In other words, this step requires you to take the raw feedback you found in step 1 and turn them into patterns that help you choose priorities.
3. Ideate
Come up with as many different potential ideas and solutions as possible.
For example, based on the above problems you defined, you might explore:
- A new messaging narrative.
- Tweaks to the way you speak with customers that reinforce brand values.
- Additional services you can offer to increase your value with clients.
4. Prototype
Design thinking encourages you to create tangible representations of ideas to test and refine them.
Don’t try to implement broad changes all at once. Start small.
For example:
- A/B test revised messaging on one landing page.
- Pilot a new onboarding flow for the next 2-3 customers only.
- Offer the new service(s) on your next couple of discovery calls and track the response/acceptance rate.
Prototyping forces you to validate assumptions with reality before investing too heavily into one idea.
5. Test
This last step helps you close the loop by testing ideas with real people. Watch for both quantitative and qualitative signals that your ideas are working.
For example:
- Are people interpreting your message the way you intended?
- Do new customers feel more connected to the brand?
- Does client behavior reflect stronger loyalty?
And once you’ve collected the results…act on them.
Design thinking isn’t linear, so remember that the tests you make this quarter become input for the next evaluation cycle in another 3 months!
Design thinking isn’t linear, so remember that the tests you make this quarter become input for the next evaluation cycle.
But what should you evaluate?
A useful brand evaluation is going to help you assess things like your visuals, customer perception, brand awareness, positioning, equity, and value only if you know the right questions to ask.
Try starting here:
1. Are you attracting the right people?
Look at the last few inquiries or clients you’ve taken on.
- Do they align with your ideal client profile?
- Are they motivated, respectful, and ready to pay for the value you offer?
- Or are you saying “yes” to the wrong people just to fill your pipeline?
Brand clarity directly impacts who shows up at your (virtual) door so misaligned leads are a red flag that your visual identity, positioning, or messaging needs tightening.
2. Do people quickly understand what you do and why they should care?
Test this by asking someone outside your industry (or better yet, ask an ideal client/customer) to read your website or social bio.
- Can they explain your offer in one sentence?
- Do they “get” why you’re different from others in your space?
If people are confused or indifferent, don’t assume it’s a “them problem.” Assume that it’s a problem with your brand messaging.
Clear, benefit-focused language matters way more than clever slogans or cute product/offer names.
3. Is your visual identity working for or against you?
Your logo, colors, website, and even your invoice design say something about your brand so you want to make sure what they’re saying is aligned with how you want to be perceived.
- Do your visuals feel cohesive and intentional? Or are they pieced together?
- Do they reflect the quality and price point of your services?
You don’t need to look like a Fortune 500 brand (that’s probably not even what you’re going for), but your visuals should feel polished enough to build trust and distinct enough to feel like they represent you and resonate with your ideal customers.
4. Are you being consistent everywhere you show up?
Consistency builds trust and inconsistency quickly erodes it.
- Are your email tone, IG posts, client proposals, and follow-up messages speaking the same “brand language”?
- Or do things feel disjointed and ad hoc?
Create a few brand “rules of thumb” to guide how you show up, even if it’s just you doing everything by yourself.
5. Are you still excited about your brand?
You’re part of your brand. Heck, sometimes you are the brand.
So, if you feel burned out or uninspired with how your business shows up in the world, your audience can probably feel it.
Ask yourself:
- Does your brand still reflect the work you want to do?
- Are you proud to send people to your site or portfolio?
- Have you grown, but your brand hasn’t caught up?
A quarterly evaluation is a great chance for you to reconnect with your purpose and realign the brand to fit who you are now.
Your brand isn’t something you design once and then preserve like a keepsake.
Keep testing, learning, and evaluating
One thing we’re always reassuring clients about is that your brand isn’t something you design once and then preserve like a keepsake.
It requires you to constantly check in on who you serve, how you serve them, and why they should trust you.
And if you do all that, the reality is that your brand will have to change.
Your clients change. You change. The market changes.
If your brand doesn’t keep pace, it will quietly start creating friction in the form of missed connections, lukewarm leads, confusion around your value, or even client relationships that drain instead of energize you.
A quarterly brand evaluation grounded in design thinking creates a consistent space for you to pause, observe, learn, and adjust. It’s how you avoid expensive misalignment and keep your business feeling clear and exciting – to your clients, of course. But also to yourself.
You don’t need a big team or fancy tools to do this well. You just need a willingness to keep asking:
Is this still working?
And if not, what would serve better now?
That one question, asked consistently (might we suggest quarterly 😉) will keep your brand relevant and resonant with your people.