One-sentence answer: Corporate strategy comes first, and brand design serves the implementation of corporate strategy.

1. Corporate strategy is the "steering wheel", and brand design is the "execution power"

Corporate strategy determines which path the company will take, what market to enter, and who to solve what problems.

Example: Is it the high-end market or the mass market? Is it a differentiated route or cost leadership?

Brand design is a tool to help companies express this strategy, win user recognition, and build trust and preference.

Example: High-end brand vision emphasizes "texture, scarcity, and quietness"; mass brands may highlight "accessibility, liveliness, and cost-effectiveness".

2. Problems that will be caused if the priorities are reversed

If brand design is done without a clear strategy, it is easy to have a brand image that is "good-looking but not practical".

No matter how beautiful the design is, if the target market, value proposition, and business model are not clear, the brand will be difficult to sustain.

If the corporate strategy is clear, but the brand design does not match, user perception will be misplaced.

Example: It is obviously a science and technology major, but it uses a cute and childlike brand vision, which makes it difficult for users to build trust.

3. How to form a good cooperation relationship?

The order is suggested as follows:

1. First determine the strategic direction of the enterprise (market positioning, target group, core advantages, profit model, etc.);

2. Extract the "core brand proposition" in the strategy, that is, "who we are, who we want to be remembered by, and what we rely on to be remembered";

3. Then carry out brand design (logo, visual system, tone of voice, story structure, etc.);

4. Finally, brand design must also feed back to the enterprise strategy and continuously optimize through market response.

Enterprise strategy is direction and logic, and brand design is expression and connection. Only brand design guided by the correct strategy can truly have vitality and commercial value.