A brand audit is an assessment of a brand's current state that compares three perspectives: how the company talks about itself, how customers perceive it, and how it comes across compared with competitors. It is based on interviews with customers and employees, a review of all communication outputs, analysis of mentions and reviews, brand search data, and a comparison of visual and textual communication with the market. The aim is to uncover contradictions – for example between a claim of top-tier support and reviews describing slow response times – and inconsistencies across channels. The output should be a prioritised list of concrete steps, not a descriptive report. It is worth carrying out an audit before a major investment in communication or before a decision on rebranding.
See also: Rebranding, Share of search, Online review management.
