1) Branding without positioning. That’s like building a house without a foundation. Positioning makes clear your target audience, category, value proposition and differentiation. Without it, your brand will have no rational support—no reason for being.

2) Branding without a strategy. That’s like building a house without an idea of whether it is the Taj Mahal or a one-room cottage. Without a strategy, how will you determine what your brand personality, emotional connection, and brand experience should be?

3) Focusing on advertising before your product is ready to deliver real value to the market. Advertising will only shine a big spotlight on your deficits. You may get brand awareness but you won’t get brand equity.

4) Branding without consistent implementation—in your visual branding, your messaging, your actions, your products and your relationships. Branding is dynamic. You need to prove yourself everyday.

5) Branding without engaging the influencers. You need to condition the market before throwing your brand over the wall. Let key influencers understand and participate in what your brand is all about. Online and offline, they will help you accelerate adoption of your brand.

This list is probably different from most that you’ll see because other lists of branding mistakes usually focus on brand implementation. My focus is the strategy that drives implementation. What do YOU think is a strategic branding mistake? I’ll post the best comments in a future blog.