Brand message hierarchy: Organize your brand messages

When a brand is being renewed, there’s a temptation to jump straight to the visual identity. Logo, colours, typography – they’re tangible and easy to discuss. But before a single colour palette is opened, you need to know what you’re saying and to whom. A message hierarchy is the tool that puts your messages in order — and it must be done before the visual identity, not after.

What do you want to say? Many want to say everything. Lots of information, technical specs, benefits, features, sustainability programmes, product developments, model variations, financing options and so on. All of these have their place, but there is no reason to blast every thought in your head at a potential customer’s eyes and ears at once.

You can of course write marketing messages without a hierarchy. But that’s like preparing a twelve-course meal without recipes. With luck you might succeed, but most of the time you probably won’t.

What is a message hierarchy?

Let’s recall Maslow’s hierarchy of needs from school psychology. The pyramid-shaped model is grounded in basic needs and builds toward more elevated and abstract ones. Communication hierarchies are typically pyramids too. They are built from broad foundations and sharpen as they reach the top.

A simple message hierarchy begins with the basic sales claims, features, or benefits of a product or service – those that apply to competitors as well. This forms the base of the pyramid. In the middle layer we record things that are already somewhat differentiating, but not yet unique. At the very top we shape the things that are truly unique – what competitors cannot claim. It is this point at the top of the pyramid, or at most a handful of ideas, that we then highlight in our marketing messages.

The hierarchy can also be viewed another way. And it may become clearer if we turn the pyramid upside down – it then, surprisingly, resembles a sales funnel!

In this model we start from evidence – the elements that differentiate the brand or product from competitors, upon which the brand is built. The evidence must be indisputable. Not claims, but things that stand up to closer scrutiny. And they should be findable, because how else are you in business? Ask yourself: is your product genuinely the easiest to use on the market, or do you just want to say so? Is it truly cost-effective, or have you hidden process costs that customers don’t immediately notice?

Don’t choose things as evidence that might be true. But do think broadly – don’t limit yourself. Genuine, verifiable evidence is worth its weight in gold in the next step: formulating your key messages (which you can also call brand messages). If the evidence consisted of short bullet points, key messages refine them into concise sentences that describe the value of your product.

A few examples! When the evidence is “the most affordable on the market”, the key message could be “more effective than competitors at half the price”. Or if the evidence is “simplifies your painting process”, the key message might be “save 5 minutes on every product paint”.

You can build key messages from other material too, but evidence is a good starting point.

What value proposition do key messages lead to?

A value proposition always describes the benefit experienced by the customer – value! It can be practical, meaning how the product works and solves the customer’s problems. Value can also be measured in money – is the economic benefit of the product greater than its purchase price? But value is also often social or psychological – how do others regard the use of the product and its user, or how does the product make the user feel about themselves?

This brings us to the brand promise. If it is, for example, “Save up to 15% on your insurance premiums”, then all the messages and things above it must support that. 

The onion model: layers of meaning

A third way to think about the hierarchy between messages is as a kind of onion-like layering.

The first layer is clarity. The recipient must understand what you are offering – and understand it the way you intend. The second layer is relevance. Is what you’re offering something that fits the recipient’s needs? After that we reach value. Does the potential customer genuinely want a solution like yours? And if so, why would they choose you over your competitors (differentiation!)? When you have thought through all these layers carefully, your marketing communication will guide your future customer forward in the buying journey with ever greater probability.