Corporate branding is all about promoting a company’s identity, values, and overall reputation to create a memorable impression among customers and other key stakeholders.
In practice, it often includes brand positioning and messaging, executive thought leadership, media relations, owned content and social media, and crisis management.
At our agency, we work on more than 300 corporate branding campaigns each year, and no two are ever the same. Yet with every campaign, the same key questions always come up, ranging from how long a branding effort should last to what success actually looks like and how to measure it.
In this article, we explore the 9 most common questions we’re often asked to help you craft a campaign that truly resonates and sets your brand apart.
For many of our clients, this is the first question they ask. And it’s understandable, they’re time-starved and under pressure to deliver fast results that attract investment, secure top talent, and most importantly, drive revenue.
However, the truth is, there is no definitive length.
Corporate branding campaigns depend entirely on your objectives, how your company is currently perceived by stakeholders, and the challenges your sector faces.
For instance, if your objective is to support the launch of a startup from the ground up, your campaign is bound to be much more intensive than an established firm.
There are numerous reasons for this.
Startups typically have little to no brand recognition. This means campaigns must work harder to build awareness from scratch.
They often need help clarifying their purpose, tone of voice, and key messaging. Though we always value action over strategy, it’s normal for initial planning to take longer.
They lack ambassadors. Without testimonials, startups rely heavily on media engagement and thought leadership to gain trust.
Startups face significant competition. They’re not the only player in their industry racing to attract investors, partners, and talent.
Even larger campaigns require attention to detail. So, corporates can't afford to assume their size will speak for itself.
This is particularly crucial if the business is also dealing with the added challenge of shifting negative public perceptions shaped by a previous or ongoing crisis.
In such a case, the campaign must work harder to demonstrate real change. Not just through messaging, but real action.
Lastly, depending on the challenges facing your sector, your company may find it harder to execute a campaign compared to one in an adjacent industry.
For instance, tech leaders may struggle more to generate cut-through with the media than those in finance if the tech sector is facing layoffs or regulatory scrutiny.
With this in mind, always do your due diligence prior to launching a campaign to ensure they perfect their messaging and hit the ground running.
While it can be difficult to foresee the outcomes of a corporate branding campaign, an increase in followers and website traffic are good signs of improved visibility and credibility.
As already mentioned, this might lead to high-value contracts, investment, and fresh talent opting to join your business.
That said, corporate branding and PR should never be seen as a lead-gen engine.
Blurring these lines can dilute your brand message, undermine long-term trust, and set unrealistic expectations about what PR is designed to achieve.
In our view, the best outcome is when you begin to receive inbound inquiries from journalists wanting to cover your business.
It tells that the public views you as industry leader, which is a powerful position to be in. And the longer you sustain that visibility, the more opportunities will come your way organically.
As an executive thought leadership agency, we always advise founders, CEOs, COOs, and other members of the C-Suite to lead corporate branding campaigns themselves.
Doing so shows stakeholders that you genuinely care about their concerns, building trust and boosting confidence in your leadership. It also gives you more control and visibility over the campaign’s progress.
You decide what journalists and publications to speak with, what issues to tackle, and the extent to which you’ll do so, by lending your voice across podcast, broadcast, conferences, and much more.
When you resonate well, our research shows that you can significantly boost your bottom line.
This approach shouldn’t change whether you are launching a new product, entering a new market, or resolving a crisis. Visible leadership is one of the most powerful tools you have.
Again, involvement can vary depending on the corporate branding campaign.
But on average, executives can expect a 50/50 split.
Why?
PR agencies or internal comms teams rely on insights, approvals, and general availability to shape an authentic narrative.
Executives are the face of their brand. Their voice, presence, and personal credibility are often central to campaign success.
Corporate branding campaigns move quickly. A delayed sign-off or lack of engagement can slow momentum and limit impact.
Stronger client relationships yields better results. This is true in almost any setting, but especially in PR.
If a high level of involvement feels like a concern, it might be worth re-assessing whether now is the right time to launch a campaign.
In our experience, strong brand positioning starts with a core message that’s authentic to who you are, but that also challenges the status quo in a credible way.
The goal is to stand out, spark interest, and signal leadership without straying from what makes your brand believable.
Your product or service should serve as the foundation that backs up your story and makes it real.
A cloud infrastructure provider, for instance, might lead with themes of resilience and scale. A sustainability consultancy, on the other hand, could focus on impact and credibility.
But what really differentiates you is how you defy expectations.
In finance, a traditionally risk-averse space, a bold, future-facing message can help your brand stand out.
Meanwhile, in tech, where disruption is expected, it’s often clarity and trustworthiness that make the biggest impact.
You also need to tune in to the current conversation.
What are journalists covering?
What themes are gaining traction?
What are your stakeholders demanding action on?
Whether it’s AI, climate change, or social responsibility, aligning your narrative with timely issues makes your brand more relevant, and much more likely to resonate.
Crafting this kind of positioning doesn’t happen overnight. But with careful planning and consistent refinement, your narrative becomes sharper, compelling, and ultimately more powerful.
Most corporate branding campaigns we work on centre around media coverage.
It’s still the most credible way to prove you’re a trusted industry authority and completely transform your online profile with articles and media mentions.
That said, it’s best to have sensible expectations regarding how well your campaign will perform.
Going into a campaign eyeing coverage in the Wall Street Journal is likely to lead to disappointment. When brands expect this, it’s usually because they’re unaware of how the media works.
Different outlets vary widely in terms of the companies they feature, the types of stories they publish or commission, and the editorial standards they follow.
A better approach is to focus on building strong, consistent coverage across relevant tier-one, trade, and specialist media, where your audience actually is.
Then, as the coverage you earn snowballs, you’ll hopefully secure coverage in nationals and even broadcast media, which still remains the most trusted channel.
Want to know our top tips for securing coverage?
Lead with insight, not ego. Journalists want smart takes, not sales pitches.
Stay timely. Tie your story to what’s happening in the world right now.
Offer strong spokespeople. Confident, media-ready voices make all the difference.
Think niche before national. Specialist outlets often deliver higher impact and faster wins.
Finally, stay consistent.
As soon as you pause media engagement, you lose momentum as the coverage you’ve earned slowly drops out of the news cycle and your brand visibility begins to fade.
Though it might not seem obvious, social media goes hand-in-hand with all other PR activities.
It not only acts as a difference-maker that convinces journalists to write about you, but also provides a vehicle to amplify the reach of your coverage.
This is thanks to how easy and efficient it is to regularly share key messaging and company updates with stakeholders, and to grow a steady following over time.
Clients' main concern is usually the time commitment required to perform well on platforms like LinkedIn.
To succeed, you need to post up to three times a week with a well-diversified content mix, including long-form text posts, multimedia content, whitepapers and reports, team updates, and other key announcements.
But in our experience, the commitment is 100% worthwhile, arguably even more so than media engagement.
When a brand lacks visibility online, social media often becomes the second point of research for stakeholders, journalists, and potential clients. So, it's needs to be a priority.
While you can create accounts across several platforms, we recommend prioritising LinkedIn and YouTube.
If you plan to produce a podcast, which we suggest you do, you can include platforms like Buzzsprout, Spotify, and Apple podcasts, too.
Almost 3 in 4 companies have experienced a corporate crisis in the last five years. This isn’t including the added pressures of sector-wide challenges, economic uncertainty, or reputational risks tied to social and political issues.
That’s why, before any client undertakes a corporate branding campaign, we always advise having a crisis communications plan in place.
Avoid overconfidence at all costs. As we’ve seen, even the most secure firms, like CrowdStrike, can face some of the most significant crises in their sector’s history.
So, what does a crisis communications plan look like?
Clear roles and responsibilities. Know exactly who’s handling internal comms, media relations, legal sign-off, and stakeholder updates before a crisis hits.
Pre-approved holding statements. Have templated, flexible messaging ready to go for fast response across channels.
Media and social protocols. Set guidelines for what to say, who says it, and when, especially on high-risk platforms like X and LinkedIn.
Regular scenario training. Run crisis simulations at least twice a year to keep teams sharp and systems tested.
It’s crucial to get these basics right. Otherwise, you risk unknowingly worsening a crisis, prolonging it, and seriously damaging your brand.
When our working relationship with a client comes to a close we're often asked this question.
Our advice? Prepare for the next campaign.
The way profile building works is that campaigns typically snowball.
The visibility you gain from one campaign, through media coverage, stronger search engine presence, and social media growth, lays the groundwork for the next.
That’s why we recommend treating campaigns not as one-off events, but as chapters in a long-term visibility strategy.
The most successful companies we work with are those that continue investing in their profile, even when they’re not actively launching a product, entering a market, or managing a crisis.
Unsure about what this looks like in practice?
Keep publishing. Continue to share insights through blogs, LinkedIn posts, whitepapers, and owned media.
Stay engaged with journalists. Reach out with relevant commentary when news breaks.
Track your media performance. Use tools to monitor press hits, search visibility, and sentiment, and use these insights to plan your next pitch.
Line up your next milestone. Whether it’s a funding round, leadership hire, or market entry, be ready to build your next campaign around it.
In short, momentum is maintained by thinking ahead. The moment you stop showing up, people stop paying attention.