Brand audit is a detailed analysis of your company/brand that shows where your brand is sitting within the market.

A brand audit enables you to spot your business strengths, opportunities, threats and areas of improvement based on statistical data and real customer insight against your competitors.

The problem here is that while companies develop and grow, their brand does not grow commensurate with personnel and revenue.

Traditional brands that were born and developed years before the digital age have a more serious challenge. They may not be compatible with digital media, such as websites and other social networks.

Our brand audit process includes three phases:
Brand Strategy Audit, which focuses on the inner branding, the Brand Design Audit, which reviews the visual appearance, and the 360° Brand Audit/Comprehensive Audit, which includes a survey of the brand's competitive landscape as well as an in-depth analysis of the brand touchpoint being audited and a select few of its top competitors.

Holtmann

Holtmann Group (Holtmann GmbH & Co. KG, Mesomondo GmbH and Expomondo GmbH) has been an integrated service provider for trade shows and events since 1950, headquartered in Langenhagen, Germany.
Holtmann is one of the leading trade fair and event service providers in Germany and the world.

In 2018, as Holtmann Design- and Brand Consultant, along with rebranding and brand strategy transformation, the definition and design of a distinct image and identity for Holtmann and Holtmann Group Companies was put on the agenda.

The first step was to audit the brands/companies and their current position on the market and among competitors.
In the 360° Brand Audit Holtmann brand audit, more than 50 factors such as Brand Strategy Audit (Brand name, message, and claim, brand essence and purpose, brand values, brand vision, brand mission, brand purpose, brand architecture, brand story), Brand Design Audit (Logo, colors, typography, imagery, visual language, design system, graphics, illustrations, icons), and Brand Communications (Website, social media channels, E-mails, company presentations, catalogues and brochures, exhibition, campaigns) were reviewed and revised.

After the analysis of the companies, it was time to look at the competitors. More than 100 exhibition companies in Germany and all over the world were carefully analyzed. In the future, this document will form the basis for writing strategy and brand design.

After three months of deep research and analyzing more than 100 international trade fair and event companies in Germany, we found about 30 companies that use the word Messe+Event in their subclaims, title or slogan. More than twenty companies also had black and white in their corporate colors.

My suggestion was to define a brand architecture and create a new (sub) brand with a completely different and unique image, as well as to develop Holtman with a completely fresh approach.

Holtman Since 195O was born as an umbrella brand (Dachmarke) of orange and white as a main color, silver and anthracite as the accent color. Traditional Holtman but, instead of black and white, a combination of gray, anthracite and orange was chosen as the accent color.

There were no other trade fair and event companies in Germany at that time using such a corporate color combination. Our goal was to create a new, relevant brand with an emphasis on design rather than construction. There are two distinct images that are created in the minds of the audience; one, the serious color of anthracite and white symbolizing the company's seventy years of experience; and the other, an orange and white combination symbolizing a young and ambitious approach to gaining market share.

Sometimes, in order to know where we are heading, we must first know where we are.

How can a brand audit help you build a better brand?

We invite you to attend our Brand Workshop in order to achieve better results. The goal is to gain a better understanding of you, your brand, and your brand vision. This will enable us to provide you with the most effective brand strategy, brand design, and brand growth.