Brand strategy

What does IW Agency do in brand strategy?

Brand strategy is the set of decisions about what a brand stands for, who it is for and why anyone should choose it over the alternatives. In a group with several brands or several countries, it also decides how those brands fit together. At IW Agency, we work on four parts: brand positioning, the brand platform, brand architecture and design strategy. Design strategy is the part that turns the decisions into something people actually see.

Brand positioning

Brand positioning is the choice of the place a brand should hold in the customer's mind and in the market. We map competitors, customers and business goals, then develop a few clear options. Together with you, we choose the position that can be defended, whether in one market or across several. You get a decision, not a list of possibilities.

Brand platform

A brand platform records what the organisation agrees on: belief, promise, personality and the proof behind them. It has to work when a decision is being made, not only when it is presented. When teams sit in different countries, it is the shared reference they all work from. Read more about what a brand platform is and when you need a new one.

Brand architecture

Brand architecture sets how the brands in a portfolio relate to each other. They can sit under one masterbrand, stand on their own or land somewhere in between. The question becomes urgent with acquisitions, mergers, new product lines and brands that cross borders. Our guide compares masterbrand, endorsed and house of brands.

Design strategy

Design strategy translates the position into a brand system: rules for how the brand looks, sounds and behaves in every channel and on every pack. This is where strategy becomes something customers meet. It is also where strategy stops being a document.

Selected work

Our strategy work ranges from dairy and food portfolios to an organisation with more than 1,200 local communicators. Three examples show the range.

Arla. We have worked with Arla since 2007. The task covers a broad product portfolio and a clear ambition. Arla aims to drive progress across the dairy category, improve life for people and the planet, and become a loved brand. Our work spans design strategy, the brand system and packaging. The strategy and the portfolio carry all the way to the shelf, not just into a governance document.

Svenska kyrkan. As society evolved and new generations formed different relationships to faith, the Church of Sweden risked losing cultural relevance. The challenge was also structural. More than 1,200 local parishes each communicate on their own. We developed the strategy and a shared brand the parishes can gather around. This is brand architecture at scale. A multinational group faces the same question when every country has its own voice.

Hazelight. As the game studio grew, a gap became clear between who it was internally and how it was perceived from the outside. Our strategy work closed that gap. The result was a position that matches the studio's own picture of itself.

We have done strategy work for other clients too. Grundfos needed a new strategic and communicative direction as the company sharpened its global ambition on sustainability and climate impact. For Jernhusen, Sweden's largest railway real estate company, we developed strategy, a brand system and guidelines. For Göteborgskex, we developed the strategy when private labels began imitating Swedish cookie classics.

See more of our work.

How do we work with brand strategy?

We work in five steps, from the business situation to a finished expression in design and communication. Each step builds on the one before. A decision made early sets the frame for what follows.

1. The situation. We start with the business: goals, markets, competitors and how the brand is perceived today, internally and externally. With several countries, we look at each market that matters. The gap between the internal and the external picture is often the most important finding.

2. The position. We test a few distinct options against the business goals and choose one. You make the decision. We give you what you need to make it.

3. The platform. The position is written as belief, promise and personality. Each part is backed by proof in what the organisation actually does.

4. The architecture. If you have several brands, or companies coming together, we decide how they should relate to each other. We also decide what to lift, merge or phase out.

5. The expression. The strategy becomes a brand system, design and guidelines, as it did for Jernhusen. This step decides whether the strategy gets used.

Step five is why we keep Strategy and Design together. A strategy that no designer, copywriter or product manager can work from changes nothing.

Why choose IW Agency?

IW Agency works in brand, design and communication, and has done so since 1992. The agency was founded as Identity Works and changed its name to IW Agency in May 2025. It is the same company. You can read more in Identity Works is now IW Agency.

From our office in Stockholm, we work with clients across Sweden, the Nordics and internationally. We are around 50 people.

Strategy and Design sit under one roof. The team that chooses the position also builds the brand system. For Arla, Jernhusen and Svenska kyrkan, the work moved from strategy to system and guidelines within the same engagement.

For the full offer, from strategy to identity and communication, read about our work as a brand agency.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a brand strategy cost?

Four things set the price: how many brands are included, how many markets the strategy must cover, how much research already exists and whether the work includes design and rollout. Positioning one brand in one market is a smaller engagement than a new architecture for a portfolio across several countries. We give a quote once the scope is clear.

How long does brand strategy work take?

The same factors that set the price set the timeline, plus one more: how many people in leadership need to stand behind the decisions. In international groups, that often includes regional and local management. Research and analysis can be planned. Alignment is what usually takes time, and it cannot be skipped.

What is the difference between a brand strategy and a brand platform?

A brand strategy is the set of decisions: position, audience and architecture. A brand platform is the written form of those decisions that the organisation works from: belief, promise and personality. The platform is part of the strategy, not the whole of it.

When should brand architecture be reviewed?

Review brand architecture after acquisitions and mergers, before launching a new product line and when customers cannot tell how your brands fit together. If you are facing a launch decision, read about choosing between a brand extension or a new brand.

Do we need a brand strategy agency if we have an in-house strategy team?

Often yes, for what is hard to see from the inside. Hazelight is an example. The gap between the internal and the external picture only became clear when someone from outside put the two side by side.

Get in touch

Are you weighing a new position, a new brand platform or how your portfolio should fit together across markets? Write to us at hello@iwagency.com or call +46 8 506 360 00. Tell us where you stand today, and we will start there.