The Let’s Canoe Framework™

Our brand strategy framework turns research into a clear plan for growth

The framework has five phases, and one principle guides our thinking in each phase.

The principle

We start by assuming nobody has found the better answer yet.

We believe the right answer to a growth problem usually sits outside the brief, so we go looking for that answer before we sketch a logo or write a line of copy.

The brief tells us where the client thinks the problem is, and we use the brief as our starting point. From there we look for the source of the problem and bring back answers the client didn’t think to ask for.

The principle shows up in how we plan a project. We take one creative pass with no constraints, then a second pass with the budget in the room. Our team works through the possibilities together and brings the strongest ideas back into a project that still has to fit the agreed scope and timeline.

Keep looking

“The world is full of ideas and solutions. Half of our job is remembering that and refusing to settle for the first idea on the table.”

Brian Murnion, Co-Founder & Director of Strategy

Clients leave with a clearer strategy than the one they walked in with, plus an identity and messaging built on that strategy.

Skip ahead

Book a 20-minute fit call and we’ll tell you whether we’re the right team for your brand.

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Our process

Each phase has its own focus and deliverables

The phases move in order, but a finding in a later phase can still send us back to revise an earlier decision.

1

Discovery

We review your brand and marketing, interview your customers and stakeholders, study your search and analytics data, and research your competitors and market. Each decision in the later phases traces back to something we found in discovery.

You leave with

  • Brand and marketing review
  • Competitor and market analysis
  • Audience and customer research
  • Search and analytics baseline

2

Positioning

We turn the discovery findings into a clear strategy that names who the brand serves best and what sets it apart from competitors. This phase also settles the brand architecture when a company has more than one brand or product line.

You leave with

  • Positioning statement
  • Audience definition
  • Differentiators and value proposition
  • Brand architecture decision

3

Identity

Our design team builds the visual system on that strategy, including the logo, color palette, typefaces, and the design language that ties them together. We only replace a logo when the strategy shows the current logo is holding the brand back.

You leave with

  • Logo system, type, and color
  • Design language
  • Application samples

4

Brand narrative

We develop the brand’s voice and story, which covers how the brand sounds and what it talks about. We document the voice so your messages stay consistent no matter who on your team writes the copy.

You leave with

  • Brand voice and story
  • Messaging architecture
  • Key messages by audience

5

Activation system

We build the brand book, asset library, application guidelines, and rollout plan, then support your team through the rollout.

You leave with

  • Brand book
  • Asset library and guidelines
  • Rollout plan and support

Case study

We used this framework for the Northern Hotel’s brand and marketing

Our discovery research for the Northern Hotel in Billings covered the hotel’s market and guests, along with how the hotel showed up in search. The positioning phase gave the Northern a clear strategy built on what sets the hotel apart in its market. Our team turned that strategy into a new website and a campaign built around new photography, and we still manage the hotel’s day-to-day marketing.

The Northern now ranks on page 1 for hotel searches in its market. The case study covers the website and the campaign, along with the search data behind that ranking.

Read the Northern Hotel case study See all case studies →
Northern Hotel brand campaign photo in the hotel lobby, from the Let's Canoe brand strategy engagement

Timeline

You can start with a Growth Roadmap or a full brand strategy engagement

Both offers follow the same framework. The Growth Roadmap is a six-week growth plan built on your brand strategy. We research your market and competitors at full depth and set the strategy and brand voice, then document a plan for the remaining phases. The brand strategy engagement covers the same research and strategy over three to four months. Our team then designs the visual identity and writes the brand narrative and brand book, and we put the strategy to work across your campaigns, website, funnels, email flows, and partnerships.

Growth Roadmap · six weeks

DiscoveryCompetitor analysisMarket analysisProduct analysisPositioningBrand voiceGrowth planVisual identityBrand narrativeBrand bookGraphic designVisual storytellingCampaignsWebsiteUXCustomer journey mappingA/B sequencingBrand videoMarketing channelsConversion funnelsAudience segmentsNew marketsEmail flowsPartnerships

Brand strategy engagement · three to four months

DiscoveryCompetitor analysisMarket analysisProduct analysisPositioningBrand voiceGrowth planVisual identityBrand narrativeBrand bookGraphic designVisual storytellingCampaignsWebsiteUXCustomer journey mappingA/B sequencingBrand videoMarketing channelsConversion funnelsAudience segmentsNew marketsEmail flowsPartnerships

The solid pills show what each offer includes.

The free brand score rates your brand in about three minutes if you want a quick look before choosing an offer.

Context

The classic brand strategy frameworks organize the brand you already have

The brand pyramid

The pyramid stacks a company’s attributes and benefits up to a brand essence, which gives structure to the brand as it stands today.

Keller’s CBBE model

Keller’s model builds brand equity in stages, from awareness up to resonance with customers.

The golden circle

The golden circle starts with why the business exists and works outward to what it sells.

The Let’s Canoe Framework

Our framework finds uncontested market space for your brand, and one senior-led team builds the brand and puts it to work wherever customers come across your business.

What the model addressesBrand pyramidKeller’s CBBEGolden circleLet’s Canoe Framework
Market and competitor research———✓
Audience definition—○—✓
Competitive positioning○○—✓
Purpose and values✓○✓✓
Visual identity———✓
Voice and messaging○—○✓
Goals and measurement—✓—✓
Activation and brand guidelines———✓
Uncontested market space———✓

✓ addressed  ·  ○ partly addressed  ·  — not addressed. The first three are thinking models that a good strategist can extend, and the columns show what each model covers without those extensions. Our guide to brand strategy frameworks has the full comparison, including brand archetypes and the brand key.

All three models are useful, but none of them shows where your market has open space. Our framework looks for that open space in discovery and positioning, then ends with an activation system your team uses in its day-to-day marketing. Our guide to brand positioning covers the thinking behind the positioning phase.

Brand strategy makes your marketing compound over time

You invest in the strategy once, and from then on your campaigns, hires, product launches, and customer conversations start from the same foundation. New campaigns take less effort because your team already knows who the brand serves and what to say.

A business without a clear strategy keeps spending on marketing and new hires, but each campaign has to start from zero.

Choose how you want to start the conversation

The free brand score is a good first step if you’re still researching. If you’re comparing agencies or have a project in mind, book a call or send us a message.

Researching

Self-assessment

Answer fifteen questions in about three minutes to get a score that shows your brand’s strengths and gaps.

Get your free brand score

Evaluating

20-minute fit call

Talk with us for 20 minutes to see whether we’re the right fit for your business.

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Specific project

Send a message

Tell us what you’re working on, and we’ll reply within a day.

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Anna and Brian Murnion, co-founders of Let's Canoe in Billings, Montana

Anna and Brian Murnion, co-founders and owners

Our senior team leads your brand strategy from start to finish

Brian Murnion, our co-founder and chief strategist, leads each brand strategy engagement and manages the in-house team that designs and builds your marketing. We take on a limited number of engagements each quarter so the senior team that sets your strategy stays involved through production.

Read more about the team →

These answers cover the framework and how an engagement works. For broader questions about brand strategy, see the brand strategy page or book a free fit call.

The framework

What is a brand strategy framework?
A brand strategy framework is a repeatable process for finding who a brand serves best and what sets it apart, then turning those findings into decisions the whole business can use. Our framework has five phases, which are discovery, positioning, identity, brand narrative, and an activation system that ties the other four together.
What is the Let’s Canoe Framework?
The Let’s Canoe Framework is the five-phase process behind each of our brand strategy engagements. The process follows one principle, which is to assume nobody has found the better answer to your growth problem yet and to keep looking until we find that answer. Our brand strategy service takes your business through the framework from discovery to activation.
What is the principle behind the framework?
We start by assuming nobody has found the better answer yet. We use the brief as a starting point and keep looking for answers the client didn’t think to ask for, and that habit shapes each phase of the framework.
What makes your brand strategy process different?
The senior team that scopes your project manages and leads the strategy and marketing with our in-house team, so nobody hands your project off to mid-level staff. We also keep looking past the brief for answers the client didn’t think to ask for.

Phases and delivery

What are the five phases of the framework?
The five phases are discovery, positioning, identity, brand narrative, and activation. Discovery researches your market and customers, and positioning turns those findings into a clear strategy. Our design team builds the visual system on that strategy, and the brand narrative gives the brand its voice and story. The activation phase turns the first four phases into a brand book and asset library your team can use without us in the room.
Do the phases have to go in order?
The phases go in order, but a finding in a later phase can send us back to revise an earlier decision. Positioning might turn up a gap in the research, for example, and send us back into discovery to close that gap.
What does each phase of the framework produce?
Each phase ends with documented deliverables. Discovery gives you research on your customers and competitors, and positioning turns that research into a clear strategy. Identity delivers the visual system, and the brand narrative documents the brand’s voice and the key messages for each audience. The activation phase produces the brand book and asset library your team works from after the engagement ends.
Who leads a brand strategy engagement?
The senior team you meet on the first call stays with your project from start to finish. Brian Murnion, our co-founder and chief strategist, leads each engagement and manages the in-house team that designs and builds your marketing. We take a limited number of engagements each quarter so the senior team stays involved through production.

A brand agency in Billings, Montana. We set the brand strategy, then build the marketing on top of it, with one senior team from strategy through production.

406-998-7901
team@letscanoe.com
119 N 29th St, Billings, MT 59101

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