The Brutally Honest Brand Health Check You Need

Think your brand’s in great shape? Let’s find out.

Source: Le Monde Gourmand

Think your brand’s in great shape? Let’s find out.

Most founders don’t need another “how to” guide. They need a mirror. Something that cuts through the noise, calls out the gaps, and forces the uncomfortable but necessary questions. This is that mirror.

It’s the exact diagnostic we run inside Smack Bang before we build, scale, or course-correct a brand. Blunt, practical and often, the difference between a pretty brand and a profitable one.

If you’ve ever wondered why your growth feels slower than it should be, why your messaging isn’t sticking, or why you’re losing customers to brands you know aren’t as good, this will show you, in black and white, where the leaks are.

Unlock it, run your brand through it, and you’ll know exactly which levers to pull to create the kind of brand that doesn’t just look the part, it owns its category.

Think your brand’s pulling its weight? Run it through this blueprint and you’ll know (in about five minutes) whether you’re sitting on a growth engine or a glossy liability. No fluff, no filler, just a straight-up diagnosis of where you’re winning and where you’re leaking momentum.

Warning: once you see your weak spots, you can’t unsee them.

The Brand Blueprint

Smack Bang’s strategic reality check for founders who want to build unforgettable, culture-shaping, and category-defining brands.

"Brand isn’t how your company looks. It’s how your company wins." — Tess Robinson

This is the framework we come back to, every time. Whether we’re building a brand from the ground up or pressure-testing one mid-pivot, this blueprint keeps us honest.

It’s not a checklist for “looking good.” It’s a system for making strategic brand moves that drive growth, spark loyalty, and carve out space in culture. Equal parts business lens and creative gut-check, it’s how we help brands do more than just exist. It’s how we help them matter.

If you’re a founder, marketer, or creative operator wondering whether your brand is truly pulling its weight, start here.

How to use this:

1. No sugarcoating. This is where clarity outranks ambition.

2. Spot the weak spots. Your unchecked boxes = your growth ceiling.

3. Prioritise. A beautiful brand won’t save a broken business model. Sequence matters.

4. Act. A strategy without execution is just a Pinterest board.

The Brand Blueprint Diagnostics

Measure what matters. Fix what’s holding you back.

1. Clarity of Purpose

• You have a one-line brand purpose statement that is externally facing, not just internal.

• At least 80% of your team can recite your purpose without reading it.

• Your customers use language similar to your purpose when describing your brand.

• Your purpose shows up in external comms at least once every 3 touch points.

• It hasn’t changed dramatically in the last 2 years.

2. Category Breakthrough

• You can name exactly what makes you different from your top 3 competitors — in fewer than 10 words.

• Your positioning is NOT based on generic tropes (e.g. “we care more” or “premium quality”).

• Your founders, investors, or advisors can clearly articulate your “why now” story.

• Your brand would feel out of place if copied and pasted onto a competitor’s product.

• Customers use language like “finally,” “needed this,” or “never seen this before” in feedback.

Sourced: Tince Studio

3. Audience Obsession

• You have defined 1–2 hero customer archetypes — and can describe them beyond age/gender.

• You’ve run at least one customer interview/focus group in the last 6 months.

• Your messaging documents contain actual phrases or words lifted from your audience.

• Your most popular content/posts were informed by customer insights, not just instinct.

• You can name the top 3 emotional needs your brand solves.

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