conducting-researchlisted

# Conducting Research (Phase 1) ## Overview Phase 1 of the branding process: understand the organization before you design anything. Research informs future decisions — it should never justify decisions already made. Understanding comes from reading strategic documents, interviewing stakeholders, experiencing the brand as a customer, and auditing everything the organization already says and shows. Research is a dance between the intuitive and the intentional. ## When to use - At the very start of a new identity, rebrand, repositioning, or merger — before strategy or design begins. - When you need consensus on the business problem, the brand's essence, or the constraints the new identity must work within. - When you must present learnings to senior management to close the research phase. - Do NOT use this to make design/strategy decisions — that is a later phase; here you only gather and synthesize. ## Goals of research - Understand strengths and weaknesses vis-à-vis competitors. - Discern internal values and stakeholders' collective vision for the brand. - Discover any constraints within which the new brand identity must be built. - Establish consensus on the business problem to solve. - Uncover the essence of the company. ## Baseline information to request Request and read these before any interview: mission, vision, values statement, value proposition, org chart, strategic planning documents, business plans, annual reports, financial statements, investor communications,