✅ Brand Audit Checklist

Key Ingredients for Building a Strong Brand: A Must-Have Checklist for Restaurant and Hotel Managers.

Jul 28, 2023

A well-crafted brand attracts customers, builds loyalty, and sets your business apart from the competition. However, maintaining brand impact requires consistent effort and periodic evaluation.

That's where a brand audit comes in. By following this checklist, managers can ensure that their brand consistently reflects their core values, connects with their target audience, and drives business growth.

Brand Analysis

Objective: (Why are you conducting this analysis?)

Example:

Identify the brand's strengths and weaknesses
Uncover roadblocks and suggest improvements
Gain insights into growth opportunities
Strengthen the brand's overall effectiveness

Core Identity

What is the brand name?
Why is it named that?
What products or services does the brand offer?
Is the mission statement clearly defined and aligned with its overall objectives?
Does the vision statement reflect the brand’s long-term aspirations and goals?
What are the brand’s values?
How would you describe the brand's personality?
Who are your customers?
Where are your customers located?
What associations should the brand name evoke?
How do you want the brand to be perceived in the marketplace?
What's the primary image you want the brand to convey?
What needs to change (if anything) to make your brand's core identity more effective?

Verbal Identity

How would you describe the brand's tone of voice?
What is the brand strapline?
What are the key messages?
Are the brand's taglines, slogans, and key messages effectively conveyed in the value proposition?
How would you summarise your brand in less than 280 characters?
What are the brand's main selling points?
What unique value do your customers receive from the products/services?
What must change (if anything) to make your brand's verbal identity more effective?

Visual Identity

What is the company logo?
Does the logo effectively represent the brand?
Is the colour palette as contemporary as it could be?
What typography do you use in your brand? Why?
How well does the visual identity reflect the brand's personality?
How well is the brand reflected visually in the marketplace?
How well does the branding differentiate the company from the competition?
Is the visual branding coherent with the message?
What must change (if anything) to make the brand's visual identity more effective?

Internal Brand Analysis

How would you describe your company culture?
Do our employees recommend the brand to their friends and family?
Do our employees feel proud to work with the brand?
What do reviews on recruitment websites say?
What must change (if anything) to make the brand's internal perception more effective?

Marketing Analysis

Is our website easy to navigate and conducive to conversion?
Are marketing emails being opened? Are the links being clicked?
Are we advertising through optimal channels?
Is the brand's messaging clear, concise, and aligned with its target audience?
Are packaging and printed materials representative of the brand values?
What do users find when they search for the brand on search engines?
Are storytelling efforts driving engagement, awareness and traffic?
How strong is the brand's equity in the market?
What must change (if anything) to make the brand's marketing more effective?

Customer Experience Analysis

Are customers recommending the brand?
What ratings do we have on OTAs, Google, TripAdvisor, Just Eat and other review websites?
Are our brand values consistently communicated and demonstrated throughout all brand touchpoints?
Does the brand consistently portray its personality across different communication channels?
What are the key associations that customers have with the brand?
What is the level of customer loyalty and brand recognition?
What must change (if anything) to strengthen your brand's reputation?
What must change (if anything) to make your brand's customer experience more effective?

Competitor Analysis

List the top three competitors' brands.
Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of competitors' core, verbal, and visual identities.
What distinguishes you from your competitors?
What makes you better than your competitors?

Brand Evaluation

From the results of this brand-audit process, how effective do you consider your brand to be? Why?
What opportunities would help you improve your brand?
What KPIs will you use to track your brand's effectiveness in the marketplace?
How will you measure brand awareness in the marketplace?
How will you measure brand-related referral traffic?
How will you track your brand-related earned media value?
How will you compare that earned media value to your competitors'?
How will you measure your brand-related social media effectiveness?
What type(s) of customer research will you conduct to measure your brand's effectiveness?
What are your key takeaways from this brand audit?
What is your first action item to improve your brand?